For this writer, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, dawned with the promise of another glorious spring day in Charlotte. But by day’s end, my life and career had taken a turn I never saw coming. In what is now known as one of the most brutal days in ESPN history, around 100 employees were shown the door in phase one of that year’s layoffs. I was one of those people.
As a researcher for ESPN/SEC Network, I was used to a somewhat irregular schedule, yet I found it particularly strange that I had not been scheduled to work for about a week prior to that fateful day. With the benefit of hindsight, I now understand why.
About mid-afternoon, I received a call from my boss asking me to come into the office. I hopped into my silver Honda Accord and made the 35-minute trip to the building.
By the time I arrived, the news was rippling through the offices, filling the air with a heavy anxiety. With each minute, it seemed, prominent ESPN personalities were sharing with the world via social media that they’d been laid off. Names like Jay Crawford, Trent Dilfer, Len Elmore, Jayson Stark, and Danny Kanell were let go, as well as a host of college sports reporters, including Brett McMurphy, Dr. Jerry Punch, Jeremy Crabtree, Ted Miller, Chantel Jennings, and Jesse Temple.
Call it bright-eyed optimism or call it naivety, but I did not believe anything would happen to our happy little group at ESPNU/SEC Network. Unlike the cutthroat environment in Bristol, Conn., the group of staffers in Charlotte took pride in being the underdog. Several of the producers, researchers, and other production people had already experienced the harsh corporate realities of Bristol, and they decided living and working in Charlotte was better for their careers, their families, and their mental health.
It was well-known by that time that the ACC Network would be launching within the next year or two. I had been told weeks prior that ACC Network was expected to share space and staff with the ESPNU and SEC Network crews in Charlotte. With this knowledge in mind, I fully expected to continue working at my dream job, though I was saddened by the news of the growing list of ESPNers who had been laid off.
I walked into this tense and uncertain atmosphere, where I was called into a conference room with two people I had never seen. They were apparently from the human resources department and had come down from Bristol to tell me and others that we were losing our jobs.
SEC Network would continue operating from the Charlotte studios, but ESPNU’s operations had already been moved to Bristol. Before our short meeting ended, I was given the number to the local unemployment office. Shocked and speechless, I returned to my car, where I sat for about 15 minutes.
Where would I go? What would I do? If I couldn’t make it at ESPN, what chance did I have of making it anywhere else? How would I ever accomplish my dream of becoming a play-by-play announcer? How would I pay my rent?
Weeks before the layoffs, I had sent a link to my play-by-play to one of the coordinating producers. Little did I know that both he and I would be dropped from the company soon thereafter.
Losing a job is difficult; losing a dream is unbearable. When I walked out of those doors, I felt I had just funeralized more than 20 years of memories and aspirations.
Sports media was always the goal for me, and ESPN had always been the standard. I remember spending my Saturday evenings with Ron and Mike, my Sunday evenings with Boomer and TJ, and my weekday mornings with Rich and Stu’s “SportsCenter” highlights playing in the background.
In the end, things worked out (as they usually do). But at the time, I was 25, stunned, and shaken. I’d longed to enjoy an accomplished career at ESPN. Instead, after just one year, I was gone. Thankfully, some of those colleagues had become friends over that year. We’ve kept in touch, and I’ve watched many of them pick themselves up from the asphalt and reinvigorate their careers. Some of them still work in sports media; others have found new ways to make a living.
As another round of layoffs hits, I am reminded that this industry can be as cold as a Connecticut winter. In this day of hot takes and toxic social media chatter, it can be easy to forget that the people you watch on TV are the most conspicuous members of a small army of production people who do what they love in a cruel and volatile industry.
While personalities like Karl Ravech and Ryan Clark, both reportedly included in this latest round of layoffs, are likely far more financially secure than I was in 2017, the sting of unexpected job loss is no less real.
Because I know the anguish that accompanies a layoff, I will not be among those celebrating a job loss or quietly rooting for my least favorite personality to be fired. Instead, I will do what I did nine years ago. I’ll choose optimism and trust that talented, creative people are able to continue doing work that inspires fans and reminds us why we fell in love with sports.
