By Lisa Zimmerman, Player Engagement Insider
The 2016 NFL Sports Journalism and Radio Boot Camp concluded on Sunday, April 17th with the 13 current and former players in attendance armed with competency in new areas and energized to take the next steps in their radio and writing endeavors.
For the fourth year, participants attended a variety of intensive class sessions across a broad spectrum including writing for radio, feature writing, blogging, and ethics in journalism, taught by several staff professors at Bowling Green State University along with media experts Howard Deneroff of Westwood One Radio, talent coach Gerry Matalon (previously a long-time media professional with ESPN) and Jason Romano of ESPN Digital Media.
Some of the attendees, like Je’rod Cherry, already work in radio and came to hone their skills and acquire new ones. Between 1996 and 2004, the now 42-year-old Cherry played safety for the New Orleans Saints, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots with whom he won three Super Bowls.
Since 2009, Cherry has been a radio talk show host and NFL analyst based in Cleveland, Ohio. He has attended the boot camp before and talked about why, in spite of the hands-on experience he has gained over the past eight years, he chose to attend again.
“You can always learn more,” Cherry said. “I can also improve my writing. You always need that skill set. It’s also a great way to network and meet new people.”
Following his retirement from the NFL following the 2012 season, former San Diego Chargers and Atlanta Falcons running back Michael Turner began doing radio with ESPN Coastal Georgia Radio. He too wants to add to his overall journalism acumen and see where this new career might take him.
“Doing [ESPN] has piqued my interest,” he said. “There’s a lot more to it than just getting on the radio and talking.”
With the emphasis on basic and practical journalistic tools, the boot camp also provided a foundation and direction for those who may be contemplating entering into the profession for the first time.
John Michels played left tackle for the Green Bay Packers from 1996-1998, until he was sidelined with a knee injury. Although signed the following season by the Philadelphia Eagles, his knee injury was too severe for him to continue at the same level and the team released him two games into the 1999 season, which ended his NFL career.
Michels went on to become a doctor, specializing in pain management. He now practices in Dallas, but decided to participate in the boot camp to develop journalism skills in the hopes of taking his medical knowledge to a broader audience and thereby being able to help more people. He also misses having a connection to the NFL and working in this environment marries those two desires.
Michels’ close friend, former NFL offensive tackle Ken Ruettgers, now a Transition Coach for NFL Player Engagement, recommended the boot camp to him. Michels jumped at it and came away feeling gratified and energized about moving forward.
“I recognized this as an opportunity to learn some necessary skills to take that next step in life. I intend to do the NFL’s Broadcast Boot Camp to gain television skills as well,” Michels said. “When you watch people on TV they are talented, but they’ve also developed the necessary skills to do what they do. There’s an extreme amount of hard work they put in to refine the skill so they seem so effortless on camera.”
Michels discussed how professional athletes have a unique challenge in transitioning out of the NFL and into their next career and must take advantage of opportunities available to them.
“Being an NFL athlete is like being the CEO of a corporation and then having to start over in the mail room in another industry. But NFL athletes have the same skills as everyone else, we’ve just refined them in athletics, but they translate into other parts of life.”
And for NFL players, they have resources available, such as the boot camps and other continuing education programs, to establish and improve those skills to become successful in other professions.
Lisa Zimmerman is a long-time NFL writer and reporter. She was the Jets correspondent for CBSSports.com, SportsNet New York’s TheJetsBlog.com and Sirius NFL Radio. She has also written for NFL.com.