Jim Trotter is an award-winning journalist and author who recently retired after nearly four decades as a reporter or columnist at ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The San Diego Union-Tribune, NFL Network, and The Athletic.

A former president of Pro Football Writers of America and current member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, Trotter was inducted into the media wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023 and was named "Journalist of the Year" that summer by the National Association of Black Journalists. In 2021, he received the "Excellence in Media Award" from the National Coalition of Minority Football Coaches, and in 2024 founded the Work Plan Pray Foundation to provide scholarships and resources to aspiring sports journalists at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

Trotter has appeared on numerous national radio and TV shows and in 2015 authored the book “Junior Seau: The Life and Death of a Football Icon”.

A 1986 graduate of Howard University, he resides in San Diego and is a lecturer at San Diego State University.