More Than Just a Cup of Coffee: Tom Mulhern’s Legacy Lives On

Tom Mulhern spent 15 years as the Wisconsin State Journal’s main beat reporter for the UW football team. (Photo courtesy of Chris Mulhern)

Tom Mulhern’s legacy is marked by powerful honest sportswriting. Ten years after his death, that legacy is guiding the next generation of reporters.

Thanks to a scholarship in his name and a family-led effort to fundraise in his honor, future journalists at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication are learning to tell stories the way Tom did: with heart, integrity and a deep understanding of not only the games themselves but the athletes and coaches who play them.

Established by close friend and fellow SJMC alum Jason Wilde (BA’94) shortly after Mulhern’s death in 2014, the Tom Mulhern Sports Journalism Scholarship supports undergraduate students pursuing careers in sports reporting. This year, to commemorate the 10th anniversary, the Mulhern family launched a commemorative coffee roast – “Mully’s Roast” – to ensure the scholarship continues to inspire future sportswriters.

From the Packers to the Badgers: A Sports Reporter’s Dream Job

(Photo courtesy of Chris Mulhern)

Mulhern (BA’80), began his Wisconsin sports reporting career covering the Green Bay Packers from 1986 to 1998 for a variety of Wisconsin newspapers, including the Appleton Post Crescent, Green Bay Press-Gazette and Milwaukee Sentinel. However, a Badger sports fan at heart, Mulhern’s real ambitions lay in Madison. He joined the Wisconsin State Journal staff in 1998 and, after covering the Packers for his first year, became the main beat reporter for the UW football team in 1999. He immediately made his mark, capturing the humanity of the games and the players.

“I was happy to have him back in Madison, but I mean, the Badgers compared to the Packers seemed a little crazy to me at first,” said Bill Simon, Mulhern’s brother-in-law. “But then I remembered that covering the Badgers as their beat writer was his all-time dream job as a kid growing up in Madison.”

Over the course of his career, Mulhern covered five Super Bowls, two Rose Bowls and a Final Four. He was also named Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year in 2005, 2010 and 2014 for his reporting excellence.

“My dad did it the old-fashioned way, the right way, for his entire career,” said Chris Mulhern, one of Mulhern’s three sons. “He put in the legwork to get to the heart of a story.”

Keeping Mulhern’s Memory Alive

In the ten years since his passing from a rare neurological disorder, Mulhern’s tight knit family has strived to keep his name and legacy alive and fundraise for his namesake scholarship. Several Mallard’s baseball game fundraisers were organized but they didn’t move the needle as much as the family ultimately wanted.

(From left) Will, Tom, Erin, Chris and Greg Mulhern at Chris and Erin’s wedding in July 2014. (Photo courtesy of Chris Mulhern)

“As a family, we’ve been talking about doing a fundraiser for 10 years but it was overwhelming to try to coordinate something like that so we just kicked the can down the road,” Simon said. “One day I was driving somewhere and thinking of the scholarship and I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a coffee in honor of Tom?’”

After getting the green light from his wife and Mulhern’s sister, Kris, and Mulhern’s three sons, Chris, Greg and Will, Simon took the idea to his son, Adam Simon, who owns Lenny’s Lab Coffee Company in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Together, they developed “Mully’s Roast,” a special coffee blend named for Mulhern’s nickname. For every bag sold, Lenny’s Lab will be donating 10% of the profit to the Tom Mulhern Sports Journalism Scholarship.

“If you’ve ever been impacted by journalism, not even just sports journalism, you should be proud to give to this scholarship. That’s what we’re trying to do: promote and support great journalism,” Mulhern said. “Not only do we want to promote my dad’s name and his legacy, but we also appreciate the impact that he had on Madison and UW and the community, whether people met him personally or just read his writing.”

Tom Mulhern Sports Journalism Scholarship: Supporting the Next Generation

The scholarship is awarded annually to one SJMC student who has a strong interest in sports journalism. This year’s recipient, sophomore Grace Cannizzo, was honored to receive the award and carry on Mulhern’s legacy.

Tom Mulhern (right) interviews Melvin Gordon for one of his last assignments at Big Ten Media Day in July 2014. (Photo courtesy of Chris Mulhern)

“Being awarded the Tom Mulhern Sports Journalism Scholarship was a very big honor, as it has provided my family and I financial support, as well as empowered me as I continue on my young career,” Cannizzo said. “I am incredibly passionate about the sports industry and upon learning more about Tom Mulhern, I have since aspired to embody what I believe made him great: his character, passion, curiosity and dedication. I am incredibly grateful for the donors and their support that is pushing and inspiring me to continue to do what I love.”

Scholarships like the Tom Mulhern Sports Journalism Scholarship provide not only financial support to SJMC students but also encouragement to continue pursuing their passion. The Mulhern family hopes that they can provide this kind of support to aspiring sports journalists for many years to come.

“I hope this spurs future fundraising, whether it’s a new roast each year or other opportunities,” Mulhern said. “I hope to grow the dollar amount that we’re able to give out [to students] and the amount of time we’re able to keep awarding the scholarship.”

A Lasting Legacy

As the Mulhern family looks to the future, they’ve also reflected on who Mulhern was at his core: kind, honest and humble.

“When he got sick, there was an outpouring of support and he realized the impact he had and he was like ‘I was just doing my job. I’m just a sportswriter,’” Mulhern’s son said. “I know if he saw that we have a 10-year-old scholarship and students getting it in his name, he would say ‘Why me?’ He would be extremely humbled by the whole impact that the scholarship has had up to this point and inevitably going forward.”

Mulhern’s impact on the Wisconsin sports community lives on through both his family’s efforts to keep his memory alive and the students who, supported by his scholarship, strive to do journalistic work the “right way” – the Tom Mulhern way.

If you are interested in supporting the Tom Mulhern Sports Journalism Scholarship, please visit LennysLabCoffee.com to buy a bag of “Mully’s Roast” or make a donation at supportuw.org/giveto/mully.