BSM Writers
What Do You Do When You Have Been Dislocated?
“I have been laid off three times in my career, never “dislocated” though because I’ve never worked for iHeart.”
“Can you come down to my office for a meeting?”
It is a simple question with ominous implications. Not every meeting that begins with that sentence leads to you being laid off, but every time you get laid off, that sentence is how the conversation begins.
My heart truly goes out to all the now former iHeartMedia employees that heard those ten words last week. I know I am not alone in that sentiment, and trust me, I have been where those people are. I know my sentiment doesn’t do much to help them right now.
I have been laid off three times in my career, never “dislocated” though because I’ve never worked for iHeart. Each time I was scared, angry, and confused as I was escorted out of the building. I didn’t always think the people dropping the axe were the bad guys, but I also didn’t always realize that right away.
Last week’s layoffs employee dislocations at iHeart clusters across the country were not just devastating for the employees themselves. They had a real “writing on the wall” feeling for the whole industry.
I thought it might help this week to talk to some of the people on the receiving end of the dreaded sentence “we’re moving in a different direction.” Some folks wanted to put their name on it. Others wished to remain anonymous as non-competes and severance continue to be negotiated.
There was a wide swath of reactions in the folks I talked to. Some were sad. Others remained positive. Most were both depending on what was being asked.
“My co-host, Jake [Querey], actually called me as I was on my way in asking if I was fired. I told him I hadn’t heard anything, but I got an alert that morning that the social media passwords for the stations had been changed,” Derek Schultz, the former afternoon co-host on iHeart’s Indianapolis sports talker Fox Sports 1260, told me in an email. “He had be asked to come in immediately and we had always joked that once you get that ‘come in immediately’ text, that means it’s over. My SVP and Market President are great guys, who handled the situation very well. I talked with them briefly at the station, was given time to grab some things (they offered to pack up everything else) and was escorted out.”
Despite being on the chopping block, Schultz says he was treated fairly and didn’t hold ill-will towards his bosses. “It was a difficult day for [my bosses] as well because we had three other people in our cluster, which isn’t very large when it comes to staff, get the boot as well. It wasn’t a local decision, so that left me with some shred of pride as I exited for the final time.”
Len Martez, who covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for iHeartMedia’s WDAE, told me that he is thankful for the professional growth he experienced as an iHeart employee. “Even though I walked through their doors with years of experience, I’ve had some quality work experiences at WDAE, from lead hosting shows, to one on one interviews with players, attending community events, not too mention the development of relationships with colleagues, media members & a major city sports radio audience.”
There are two moments that stand out as the most emotionally raw when this kind of thing happens. The first is that moment you realize that you have to let people know what happened. Family members, listeners, friends, they’re all going to have questions. The other moment comes the next morning when you don’t have anything to get ready for and for the first time you realize you have to figure out an answer to the questions “what am I supposed to do with the rest of my life?”.
“I knew the meeting was potentially bad so my mindset was somewhat prepared but you never want to hear the actual words. And I mention that because honestly other than a phone call with my former co-host I went on with my day, told myself I’m invoking my own 24 hour rule, before I address the layoff publicly,” Martez told me when I asked how he first reacted to being laid off.
“I told my wife, who works from home. She started to cry, which was easily the worst part of the whole day,” one host, who wished to remain anonymous, told me. “After that I just sort of zoned out for a little bit. After an hour or so I told the rest of my family, and then let the outside world know what had happened. I was so dazed the entire time that those first few hours feel like a blur.”
Shea Raftus, who was a producer with 97.3 the Game in Milwaukee told me that the toughest part of getting let go was losing an environment where he felt his career was nurtured.
“The hosts and producers I worked with such as Mike Heller, Scott Dolphin, Ted Davis, Jon Arias, Dan Needles, Dario Melendez and Armen Saryan were awesome to work with with. And that’s the sad part: You build all these shows, a chemistry with your hosts and growing following of listeners and boom it’s gone,” he said in an email. “It’s hard to get better at what you do and build your skills up when the plug gets pulled so quickly.”
So what comes next for some of these folks? I asked Raftus if he had a plan to preserve his mental health as he embarks on a new job search.
“The best thing for me right now is to head back home to Houston, which I’ll likely be doing here in a few weeks. I’ve got an incredibly close group of friends down there and being around the people I care about while hitting the reset button is definitely the best thing for my mental health. I would definitely like to stay in the industry as I really love producing, but everything is on the table at this point. If the best thing for me is to take a different but more stable career path that leads to a better and healthier lifestyle then so be it. If something in the sports radio industry comes up that’s a fit though I would love to keep producing.”
Schultz told me he took a day to digest everything before he started thinking about what comes next for him professionally. “After the first 24-hour period, I’ve spent some time each day talking to contacts and shaking trees to see if there are opportunities for me out there, both short-term and long-term. I’m grateful for 8 1/2 years at iHeart Indy and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, so that’s helped my mental health. I have the full support of a terrific family, friends, and colleagues, and annual passes to the Children’s Museum and Zoo for my three-year old, so I’m good.”
Seth Harp, program director and host for iHeart’s 97.3 the Game in Jacksonville (look at this beacon of creativity when it comes to station names!) feels good about his time at iHeart. “I’m proud of what we created in Jacksonville. The station is as strong as it’s ever been. We just completed the best back to back best months ratings wise in the entire decade. Very proud.”
That pride though doesn’t come without concern. When I asked Seth if he has thought about the possibility that he may never work in radio again, he is quick to answer.
“Of course. It’s a fragile business right now and has been for about a decade. I have been a part of two cluster sales in my career and have seen ‘irreplaceable’ people let go.”
It’s the reason that he is not messing around when it comes to his mental health. Seth Harp told me that he isn’t just thinking about how to prioritize it as some sort of abstract concept. He has an actual plan to work through.
“Your mind turns into a blender after something like this,” he says. “Balance is everything when you are in this situation. I employ the T.H.I.N.K method:
- Talk to the people that you love, love you, and that bring you happiness and joy
- Healthy Habits – Find one or two. Do it everyday. Structure while away from structure.
- Indooritis – Get out of the house or apartment. Accomplish something daily.
- No Second Guessing – Save that for your autobiography down the road.
- Kindness – Chances are people that are trying to help have great intentions. Thank them.”
“A handful of potential employers have already reached out, which is promising, but the prospect of shuffling through all of that and trying to pick out the situation that’s going to be the best for me and my young family is daunting,” said a host who chose not to give his name. “This has all been a massive wrench thrown into my life at the worst possible time. Thankfully, I have a significant other and a support system that have been beyond fantastic in cushioning the blow.”
Certainly some of you are reading that with a level of contempt or jealousy. How can that guy complain when it’s clear everything will work out fine for him?
Look, even if you were successful enough in your last role for other stations in the market to treat the news that you are suddenly available as a reason to put their best foot forward, being unemployed is never easy. Empathy and compassion is always more helpful than the alternative. Sports radio is a competitive business, for sure, but right now is a time we all need to be supporting each other and willing to listen when someone that needs it reaches out for help or to talk.
Bomani Jones of ESPN always said something interesting when Kyler Murray was trying to decide between reporting to spring training with the Oakland As or declaring for the NFL Draft. “If you can make millions of dollars doing literally anything other than playing football, do it. Don’t put yourself through what you don’t have to.”
That quote is about the physical toll football takes on the human body, but maybe you could replace the word “football” with the word “radio” in that quote and it works just as well. Now might be a good time to ask yourself “Can I be happy doing something else?”.
This is a highly competitive business. Most of us experience rejection or disappointment way more than we experience major wins. It doesn’t make you a failure or weak to decide that isn’t what you want out of you professional life.
If you’re reading this because you’re one of the people that just lost their job or you’re reading this because friends did and you don’t know how to help, know that I have been there before. My email address is below. You can always reach out for a sympathetic ear. I don’t know if I can do much more for you than just listen, but having gone through this myself a few times, I can tell you that one thing that helps a lot is having someone just listen and not try to offer answers.
It’s a scary time for a lot of people in this business, so if you’re a pray-er say a prayer. If you’re not, figure out a way to do something good for these folks. It’s easy and fair to point fingers at iHeart and say the company is ruining a great industry, but blame only gets you so far. Ask what you can do to help, and then follow through on whatever your friend, who is in a land of fear and confusion requests…within reason, of course.
Those of you that lost jobs are not alone. Make a plan. Work your contacts. Only an asshole wouldn’t be rooting for you right now or be willing to help.
Demetri Ravanos is the Assistant Content Director for Barrett Sports Media. He hosts the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas. Previous stops include WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC. You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos and reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
BSM Writers
Robert Griffin III Wants to Tell Your Story the Right Way
“Even if I do know you personally, I’m not going to bring that to the broadcast because that’s not my job.”
During last season’s VRBO Fiesta Bowl, Robert Griffin III was part of ESPN’s alternate telecast at field level alongside Pat McAfee. Suddenly, the Heisman Trophy winner took a phone call. Once he hung up the phone, Griffin divulged that his wife had gone into labor and proceeded to sprint off of the field to catch a flight. An ESPN cameraperson documented his run and jubilation as he returned home to welcome his daughter, Gia, into the world. It encapsulated just what motivates Griffin to appear on television and discuss football, and why he is one of ESPN’s budding talents with the chance to make an impact on sports media and his community for years to come.
“This was an opportunity for me to go out and be different in the way that the media covers the players and truly get to the bottom of telling the players’ stories the right way,” Griffin said. “I look at this as an opportunity to do that.”
Griffin was a three-sport athlete as a student at Copperas Cove High School, and ultimately broke Texas state records in track and field. In addition to that, he played basketball and was the starting quarterback for the school’s football team as a junior and senior, drawing attention from various schools around the country. He ended up graduating high school one semester early and quickly became a star at Baylor University in both football and track and field.
Robert Griffin III’s nascent talent was hardly inconspicuous, evidenced by being named the 2008 Big 12 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year and then, three years later, the winner of the Heisman Trophy. In the end, he graduated having set or tied 54 school records and helped the program to its first bowl game win in 19 years.
Ultimately, he transitioned to the NFL in a career with many trials and tribulations, but through it all, he never lost his sense of persistence. Nearly a decade later, he returned to college, but this time as a member of the media covering the game from afar. Unlike a majority of former players though, Griffin did not formally retire from playing football when inking a broadcasting contract with ESPN.
“I haven’t retired yet at all,” he said. “I tell everyone that asks me the question that I train every day [and] I’m prepared to play if that call does come. I’ve had some talks with teams over the past two years; just nothing has come to fruition.”
While Griffin’s focus as a broadcaster is undeniable, he never thought about seriously pursuing sports media until his broadcast agent pushed him to do so. He was urged to take an audition at FOX Sports. Griffin broke down highlights and called a mock NFL game alongside lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt. He was not prepared for that second part, but impressed executives and precipitously realized a career in the space may not be so outlandish after all.
Griffin then moved to ESPN where he experienced a similar audition process, this time calling a game with play-by-play announcer Rece Davis. Once the audition concluded, it was determined that Griffin would not only begin working in the industry, but that he would be accelerated because of his ability to communicate in an informative and entertaining style.
As a player, he saw the way media members covered teams – sometimes bereft of objectivity – and therefore saw assimilating into the industry as a chance to change that. Now, he is focused on telling the stories of the players en masse while being prepared to pivot at a moment’s notice.
ESPN’s intention was to implement Griffin on its studio coverage, but once executives heard him in the broadcast booth, the company had a palpable shift in its thinking. He was told he was ready to go out into the field and start calling games immediately, something of a surprise to him. FOX Sports felt similarly. This led to a bidding war between the two entities, which ultimately concluded with Griffin inking a contract with ESPN. He appeared over its airwaves plenty of times as a player, and even participated on a variety of studio shows in 2018 where he was almost permanently placed on NFL Live. This time around though, Griffin was suddenly preparing to work with Mark Jones and Quint Kessenich on college football games. He did not have time to consider the implications of the decision, instead diving headfirst into the craft and remaining focused on what was to come with producer Kim Belton and director Anthony DeMarco at his side.
“These guys took me under their wing, and I’m beyond indebted to them for that,” Griffin said of his colleagues. “They taught me everything that I know about the industry. They taught me everything I know about how to present things to the masses to where it can be easily digestible. They’ve allowed me to allow my personality to shine through.”
Demonstrating his personality was a facet of his makeup Griffin felt was inhibited by playing professional football, but he knows it would have been considerably more difficult to attain a chance to cover the game had he not laced up his cleats. Calling college football games with Jones accentuated his comfort in the booth because of Jones’ adept skill to appeal to the viewers and penetrate beyond the sport.
“He has the way to connect different generations of listeners to hear what he’s saying and perceive it in the same way,” Griffin said. “To me, that’s what we all strive to do in this industry is to be able to find the connective tissue between the fan who is 60 or 70 years old, and the fan who’s in their late teens or early 20s.”
From the beginning, everyone told Griffin to be himself and not adopt an alternate persona in front of the camera. That advice has guided him as he approaches his third year working in the industry.
“It is so hard to maintain a character or try to be someone that you’re not, but if you are who you are every single day, then every time you show up on camera you will be that person,” Griffin said. “I’ve made sure that when I stepped foot in front of that camera, I was going to be myself.”
Griffin identifies his style as pedagogical to a degree, critiquing players as if he was coaching them on the sidelines. He will never look to penetrate beyond football with his criticism, as drawing conclusions and using unrelated parlance could be viewed as indecorous. In short, Griffin III knows what it means to represent ESPN.
“We’re not a gossip website. We’re supposed to be critically acclaimed, prestigious journalists, and at the end of the day, that’s how I try to approach the job that I do. That’s why I got into the business – because I felt like there was a little of that going on, especially during my career, so I would never do to somebody else what was done to me.”
Over the course of his NFL career, Griffin was subject to immense criticism that went significantly beyond the gridiron. For example, sports commentator Rob Parker suggested that Griffin was not fully representative of the Black community and proceeded to question if he was a “cornball brother.” The incident resulted in Parker receiving a 30-day suspension from ESPN, and after he defended his comments and blamed First Take producers in a subsequent interview, the network decided not to renew his contract.
“My goal as a member of the media is to tell players’ stories the right way, and if I don’t know you personally, I’m never going to make it personal,” Griffin said. “Even if I do know you personally, I’m not going to bring that to the broadcast because that’s not my job.”
In addition to broadcasting college football games with Jones on ESPN and ABC, he also appears on-site for Monday Night Countdown, the network’s pregame show leading up to Monday Night Football. Making the decision to add NFL coverage to his slate of responsibilities meant that Griffin would be able to tell more stories and utilize his knowledge of players during their collegiate careers to enhance the broadcast.
The energy that he felt attending tailgates and interacting with fans at the college level gave him a unique skill set to translate to the NFL side, leading him to present the production team with an unparalleled idea for Week 1. He wanted to race Taima the Hawk, the live game mascot for the Seattle Seahawks who flies around Lumen Field prior to the start of each home game. It was an outlandish idea, but one that made sense for television because of the visual appeal it can present.
“If you know anything about hawks, they can fly up to 120-140 miles per hour, so they’re like, ‘There’s no way he’s going to beat this hawk in a race, but we’ll do it,’” Griffin said. “To that crew’s credit, they never once balked at any of the creative ideas that I brought to the table because they want to try different things and be exciting and have fun on the show.”
Griffin ended up winning the race, commencing the new season of Monday Night Countdown with immediate excitement before the Seahawks’ matchup against the Denver Broncos. He thoroughly enjoyed his first year on the show and having the chance to work alongside Suzy Colber, Adam Schefter, Booger McFarland, Steve Young, Larry Fitzgerald and Alex Smith.
“They always tell me, ‘Hey, anything you’re not comfortable with, you just let us know and we won’t do that thing,’” Griffin said of the show’s producers. “My answer always back to them is, ‘Well, I won’t know if I’m uncomfortable with it if I don’t try.’”
While Griffin had what looked like a seamless assimilation into the broadcasting world, he had a difficult moment when using a racial slur on live television in discussing Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. The clip quickly gained traction across the internet, and Griffin issued an apology on his Twitter account for using the pejorative language and claimed that he misspoke.
“I was shocked that it came out in the way that it did, and I immediately jumped on it and apologized because there’s no need to deny,” he said. “You messed up. You move forward, and I think that’s the easiest way to get over those types of things and to get back on your feet.”
The football season at both the college and professional level is undoubtedly a grind, and it requires a combination of dedication, passion and persistence few people possess. Robert Griffin III has garnered the reputation of being an “overpreparer,” often partaking in considerably more information than necessary to execute a broadcast. The information he consumes and conclusions he draws combined with his experience at both levels has cultivated him into a knowledgeable analyst who makes cogent, intelligible points on the air.
“I over-prepare for everything, and 70% of the information that I soak in going into a game or going into a broadcast for Monday Night Countdown, I don’t use because there’s just not enough air time,” Griffin III said. “There’s not enough opportunities to talk on it all.”
At the same time, he makes a concerted effort to make the most of his time with his family and separate himself from the field, engaging in activities including playing ping pong, going to the movies and supporting his children. He also embarks in charity work through his RG3 Foundation and strives to teach his daughters the importance of giving back. The mission of the nonprofit foundation is to discover and design programs for underprivileged youth, struggling military families and victims of domestic violence, and it has made a significant impact since it was launched in 2015.
“Trying to end food insecurity; making sure that our under-resourced youth have access to the things that they need just to survive – talking about food, clothes, books, the ability to learn [and] putting on these after-school programs,” Griffin elucidated in describing the organization’s mission. “We want to have an impact on our community. We mean that with everything in us and have shown that to be the true case of why we do this.”
Griffin’s wife, Grete, serves as the executive director of the foundation and also runs her own fitness business. Staying physically and mentally in shape is something they actively try to accomplish in their everyday lives, and lessons they are passing down to their daughters.
“I’m 33 years old right now, so if I want to continue to train every single day, I can do that for the next 10 years if I need to,” Griffin said. “Not taking hits and being physically fit is also a good thing for your own health, which is something me and my wife are extremely passionate about.”
Although his experience is in playing football and working in sports media, Robert Griffin III does not believe in limiting himself and would consider exploring opportunities outside of sports and entertainment. He wants to become the best broadcaster possible no matter where he is working in the industry and continue finding new ways to be distinctive en masse.
“We’re storytellers,” he said. “We’re here to break down things [and] to tell people a story the right way; things that people are interested in, and that expands across all media levels. We’re not closing the door on anything from that standpoint.”
While he was playing in the NFL, Griffin dealt with a variety of injuries that ultimately kept him off the football field and made it difficult to display his talents. Ranging from an ACL tear, shoulder scapula fracture and hairline fracture in his right thumb, staying healthy was a challenge for him over the time he played in the NFL.
Through surgeries and rehabilitation, he learned how to face and overcome these challenges. It has shaped him into the broadcaster and person he is today as he looks to set a positive example to aspiring football players and broadcasters everywhere.
“The eight-year career that I was able to have thus far didn’t come without roadblocks in the way [and] didn’t come without adversity. Learn from the adversity that you go through and learn from all the things and the lessons that you have that sports teaches you, and then go be able to present that to the masses.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Sports Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on Twitter @derekfutterman.
BSM Writers
Pac-12 Pushing Enhanced Access, Deion Sanders Reeks of Desperation
What good is enhanced access for TV broadcasts or the star power of Coach Prime if those game telecasts aren’t seen?
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
Ryan Brown is a columnist for Barrett Sports Media, and a co-host of the popular sports audio/video show ‘The Next Round’ formerly known as JOX Roundtable, which previously aired on WJOX in Birmingham. You can find him on Twitter @RyanBrownLive and follow his show @NextRoundLive.