The Regina Leader-Post says long-time sports editor and columnist Bob Hughes died early Tuesday morning at age 69.

According to an article on the newspaper’s website, Hughes started his career at the Leader-Post as a copy boy in 1962.

Ten years later, he was a sports editor, known for his colourful columns about the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Hughes became managing editor of the Leader-Post in 1988, then its executive vice-president in 1994.