Former Jets reporter dies

Paul Needell, a longtime Rockville Centre resident and sportswriter who covered the New York Jets for two major newspapers, died on Jan. 24, of complications of multiple sclerosis. He was 57.

Needell and his wife, Cathy, moved to Rockville Centre in 1989, where they raised three sons.

He wrote about the Jets from 1983 until 2010. “He was always interested in being a writer,” Cathy recalled. “He wrote for his high school and college papers. He started as a copy boy at the New York Daily News and worked his way up.”

In 1983, Needell was assigned to the Jets beat by the Daily News. He worked there until 1996, when he took his knowledge of the team to New Jersey and started writing for the Newark Star-Ledger.

Many of his fellow sportswriters paid tribute to Needell. He was remembered for his honesty, likability and fairness. Even players and coaches liked him, his colleagues said.

“A great newspaperman, a better friend,” ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini wrote on Twitter.

“He was a really nice guy,” his wife said. “He was a nice and fair guy. What he showed you is what he was.”

Needell is also survived by his sons, Eric, Evan and Alex; and his parents, Marty and Marcia.