Jay Harris: Battle with prostate cancer, returning to ESPN, and the evolution of sports media

Welcome to Season 5 Episode 22 Featuring- Jay Harris

Make sure you check out Season 2 Episode 6 with Jay, to learn more about hsi upbringing and his road to ESPN. Check it out here: https://thedaylanshow.buzzsprout.com/1145969/episodes/8681431-season-2-episode-6-featuring-jay-harris

Jay Harris returns to share a candid account of discovering prostate cancer, choosing surgery, and rebuilding life with clarity and purpose. The story begins with family history and a routine physical that flagged a PSA of 6.3, then moves through MRI, biopsy, and a PET scan that blessedly showed no spread. Faced with equal odds between radiation and surgery, he chose to remove the prostate to preserve future options. Four weeks later he stepped back onto the SportsCenter set, guided by a medical plan and a mindset that health is not a solo project. He’s since turned his platform toward men’s health, urging men—especially Black men—to get screened, learn their history, and drop the “tough it out” act that keeps too many from early detection.

What resonates most is the chorus of support. Jay credits his wife and kids, colleagues like Hannah Storm and Brian Custer, and a flood of strangers who reached out after his Good Morning America appearance announcing his prostate cancer.  Those messages became a living map: what to expect from surgery, how to manage uncertainty, and how to speak plainly about intimate topics without shame. That transparency counters a culture where men often hide pain and skip checkups. Jay argues that vulnerability is a survival skill and a leadership trait. When we talk about cancer openly—symptoms, side effects, decisions—we trade isolation for information and transform fear into action. The result is a practical blueprint for community-driven healing.

Jay’s professional life adds another dimension. Despite the velocity of social media and the shift to digital, he insists the core of journalism remains unchanged: gather facts, write with clarity, ask better follow-ups, and refine the story until it’s ready for air. He urges aspiring sports journalists to stop waiting and start building—intern, write daily, cut a reel, learn to interview, and join professional networks. 

Away from the desk, Jay’s center of gravity is simple and strong: family, golf, and music. He finds peace walking the course, even on bad rounds, and spends winter fine-tuning bass and guitar. 

This is what Jay left me with in terms of legacy: "be a good teammate, a good journalist, a good dad, and a good man. Awards and headlines fade; character endures." That clarity is the heartbeat of this conversation: health as a daily practice, work as a craft, and life as a gift worth protecting. If you’ve waited on a checkup, call today. If you’re stuck at the start line of your career, take one step. The future favors people who show up early and often.

Beyond grateful to be able to do this, moments like this bring joy to my heart. Every episode is a blessing, every conversations is cherishing, so thank you guys for supporting me, and allowing me to co

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Chapters

• 0:42 Welcome And Guest Reintroduction
• 2:45 Jay’s Background And Career Snapshot
• 3:43 Prostate Cancer Discovery And Treatment
• 8:44 Community Support And Not Feeling Alone
• 10:39 Returning To ESPN And Finding Joy At Work
• 12:47 Why Giving Back Matters
• 14:13 Living As A Survivor And New Perspective
• 16:25 Advice For Hard Seasons: Speak Up
• 18:45 Penn State Coaching Take
• 20:44 Music Tastes And Old-School Vinyl
• 23:04 Hobbies, Golf, And Family Life
• 24:30 Advice To 21-Year-Old Self
• 26:17 Guidance For Graduates Entering Sports Media
• 30:58 What’s Changed In Media, What Hasn’t
• 32:57 Dream Dinner Guests And Legacy
• 34:47 Gratitude, Shoutouts, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:22

Welcome to the Dylan Show. What's going on, y'all? So good to see you. So grateful to have you here. I'm Dalen Flowers. If you're new, welcome to the Dalen Show. If you're new, please hit that subscribe button really quick. It's free, it only takes a second to do, and it allows us to keep having great and meaningful conversations like this one that you're about to enjoy. So welcome to the Dayland Show. Appreciate you guys for tuning in. Um, this is uh gonna be very fun for me. Uh I'm welcoming back to our guest today for the second time ever. Uh, and I'm super excited to have him back on. Uh, we're gonna have a great conversation and a plethora of things to talk about. But uh, let's introduce our guest today, Mr. Jay Harris. Woohoo!

SPEAKER_00: 1:04

Woohoo.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06

Sir, so good to see you. Uh appreciate you for giving me some of your time. Um, really quick, just how's how's life treating you right now? How's everything going on your end?

SPEAKER_03: 1:14

Fantastic. No complaints. I don't particularly like the cold weather that's starting or the rain, but um I can I woke up to see it, so I'm good.

SPEAKER_01: 1:24

Amen. Amen. I will agree to that statement. My sinuses, if people are listening to my voice, are taking over a little bit because of the weather change, so I definitely agree to that statement.

SPEAKER_03: 1:36

I said I can hear it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:38

So please deal with me as you hear my voice go through, like Mr. Harris just elaborated with. Uh, but like I said, this is Jay's second time on the show. I had him on season two, episode six. I will leave that episode in the description of this episode if you want to check it out. If you're new and you weren't here around that time we first did that, uh, that was about four years ago. And it's uh been a heck of a ride for me to continue going through this journey and doing it. So appreciative that I'm able to still do it and appreciate that I'm able to bring some people back on, like Mr. Hare. So again, thank you so much for joining me. Um, really quickly, I know for people that may not know a lot about you, they may want to just get to quickly know you. So if you don't mind, just could you briefly kind of give people a description about who you are, uh where you're from, uh just maybe some things you've been able to do across your lifetime to get you where you are today, sir?

SPEAKER_03: 2:25

Um I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Um I got my bachelor's in communications from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Um married with two kids. Um I work at this place called ESPN and I do this show called Sports Center. I don't know if you heard of it. Um and I'm a cancer survivor, so that's a lot. It's not everything, but that's that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_01: 2:58

That's enough. I think, like I said, for people that are new and haven't checked out uh my episode with Jay during season two, episode number six, go check that out. You'll get a little bit more of an understanding of his background, where he grew up, uh his college experience and things like that that got him to ESPN. Um so this episode is gonna be a little bit uh uh about uh more things that have happened since then and some uh more recent things. But but Jay, uh I just want to start. You mentioned Cancer Survivor. Uh earlier this June, you know, you announced uh your battle with prostate cancer. Um could you just, I guess, go through that in terms of the process that maybe you went into actually finding out this news? And I am very aware of your message in terms of your social media presence and aging black men to understand it, go get checked up and go, you know, talk about these things. Could you just talk about a little bit of your process throughout the the this summer and through now with cancer and as well? Why is it so important for you to kind of just advocate for men and black men specifically to just really get checked on prostate cancer and cancer in general?

SPEAKER_03: 4:04

Uh sure. My dad um had about with prostate cancer. Uh he did the uh radiation and he beat it. So it was always something that um my doctor and I looked at, watched for. You know, they they every time you fill out a medical questionnaire, they ask you about your parents and pre-existing conditions and did your parents have blah blah blah blah blah. And I will check yes, I checked yes for prostate cancer, for cancer, for prostate cancer. So I had my annual physical, did my blood test, and my PSA um was at 6.3.

unknown: 4:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 4:41

And my doctor said, That's high. Yeah, I'm sending you to a urologist. Uh, went to the urologist, and the urologist uh gave me the the the finger in the rear end to to see if my prostate was soft or hard, and and it wasn't it was not the the texture or the it didn't feel right to her. She sent me to get an MRI, and the MRI said, Yeah, um, we think it's cancer. That's what the machine said. So I had to get a biopsy, um, and the biopsy confirmed it. So after that, it was just the decision of what to do after the biopsy. I got what's called a PET scan, which scanned my entire body to see if the cancer has spread. It had not. It had stayed contained in my prostate. And um I decided to have the surgery to remove my prostate and take the cancer out with it, uh, as opposed to doing the radiation. Um, the chances are of a of a good outcome were about equal for both. Uh, I chose the surgery because I wanted radiation to be an option at a later date, just in case something happened. Um and that was on June the 10th. And four months later, uh, my first blood test that I I have to return four clean blood tests over the next year where my PSA is basically negligible negligible. And uh my first blood test was just that. It was pretty, it was pretty perfect. Um, so I have three more to go. So my doctor says, Yep, I got it all, you're cancer free. And um now I'm just trying to get men to one get checked, two, just to talk about your health in general. It's like we it's something that um we don't do a good job of. You know, we are men, we are tough, we can defeat anything. We just just put some Robotussin on it. You know, I just uh give me some ginger ale and some crackers and I'll be fine, you know. No, no, no. Go to the doctor and get checked and follow your family history. And if you if you if you catch things early, good outcomes are very possible. If you do nothing and the duct something is found late, bad outcomes are very possible. So it's it's our choice. And uh, I believe in choosing life, so that's what I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_01: 7:17

Yes, sir. I love that. Um there is a there's a quote uh from Store Sky before he passed away that has really just stuck in my head since the first time I heard it, and it was at his Espie Award ceremony that year. Uh, and he said, You live and you fight like hell, and when you get too tired to fight, you lay down and rest, you let somebody else fight for you. I want to ask you, throughout these past couple months, throughout this year, honestly, who have you relied on? Who have you laid your your head on those shoulders? Who have been your backbone and people to really just continue to uplift you and help you feel loved and courageous throughout the this past year, throughout everything that you've been going through internally?

SPEAKER_03: 8:02

I mean, I'll start in my house. I start my wife with my wife and kids, first of all. Um my main co-anchor Hannah Storm, who had about with uh breast cancer, which was caught very early. Yeah, uh, she kind of held my hand through this, and did my as did my co-worker Brian Custer, who went through the prostate cancer uh over a decade ago. So every question that I had, I you know, I asked him, and he pulled no punches. He told me he gave me the real deal on everything, and I appreciated that because that's how I think we should be able to talk to each other, just be real. What should I expect? What's gonna happen? What's this? What's that? Um, and funny thing is after I um after I told my story on Good Morning America with Michael Strahan, um, and then turned my phone back on after we got done in the studio, it had just blew up text messages, yeah, social media, direct messages from people who either had the same procedure that I was getting ready to have, and they were giving me what happened with them and telling me I'd be okay, and if I needed anything, just to just to holler at them. Um, people who had, you know, were going to have the same procedure after mine, saying, I'll I'll keep me updated on yours, I'll keep you updated on mine. People who had relatives that had gone through it, or you know, whatever, you know, my dad had it, and it's been 20 years, and you'll be fine, you'll be good. And I'll give you his number if you want to, because he'd love to talk to you, that kind of a thing. So I have when you go through something like that, you think you're alone. And I learned very quickly that I was I was nowhere near alone, nowhere near. Um, and I I ended up, you know, I have very intimate conversations with pretty much complete strangers, uh, because we're talking about um how to save our lives, yeah. Um, which is pretty cool to me. So my my my um my tribe is big and I'm very appreciative.

SPEAKER_01: 10:16

Yes, sir. When you were finally able after a few months to get back to ESPN and get back to work, uh just talk about your emotions and feeling to kind of get through all this process and just be back doing what you love. What was it like actually getting back to ESPN and being around your your coworkers and your peers in that environment once again after just kind of going through a good optimistic journey, but you know, being away from what you love to do for a few months?

SPEAKER_03: 10:43

I took four weeks off, so it was only one month. Um, and I think they kind of started me back slow because on my schedule, I'd have one or two shows a week, and I'm like, really? And they're like, Yes, shut up. It's like, okay, whatever you say. Um, they were quite cool. I mean, it was I got welcome back, I got hugs, I got I got shucks, people even during it. I got cookies, I got flowers, I got food delivered, dinner delivered, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, you name it. Friends and co-workers came through for your boy. It was it was fantastic. Um, they just, you know, wanted to make sure that I was good, wanted to make sure that are you sure you are you sure you should be back? See my doctor said four weeks, it's been four weeks, but are you sure? Because you can go home and sit down for another four weeks if you need to. It's like, no, I'm uh I'm good. I'm good. And once the show would start, you know, I'm back to my thing. I wouldn't, I didn't have time to think about what I had been through or um what's what's to come because you know I had a job to do, which to me is more like it's more fun than a job. I always joke with young folks that I I haven't worked in a while. Uh I I have a get-to job. Yeah, like Ernie Johnson of TNT said, he gets to do what he does with inside the NBA. And I get to do what I do. It's it's I love my gig. I love it. Um, so it was that kind of real family type, welcome back. If you do something to hurt yourself, we'll beat you up and send you home. That kind of a thing. It was great.

SPEAKER_01: 12:26

You have um you've always been very active in terms of going to schools, going to events, being involved in the community and kind of just sharing your wisdom with people or being involved in different community researches and things like that. Uh, I want to just ask you simply why is it so important for you to kind of give back, give back your voice, give back your message, give back your wisdom? Because I feel like whenever I see you, you're always at an event, you're always speaking to young kids, you're always, you know, giving some motivational speech advice and people. Why is it so important for Jay Harris to be active in his community and kind of uplift his voice to other people that may need it sometimes?

SPEAKER_03: 13:05

That's really easy because people did it for me. And I have to pay it forward. I really don't have a choice.

SPEAKER_00: 13:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 13:13

None of us, none of us have gotten where we are, wherever that is, by ourselves. All of us have had some help, some guidance, some circumstance where someone did something to help us get somewhere. So I acknowledge that. I embrace it. So it's my responsibility to turn around and do the same thing that people did for me. I don't I don't have a choice.

SPEAKER_01: 13:44

Um what is because I know we're not in September anymore, but I know September was prostate cancer awareness month. Uh, what did that mean? What did that month mean to you? And how have you maybe kind of looked at it differently this year, maybe to years come prior to this year in terms of just everything that you've been through through 2025?

SPEAKER_03: 14:05

Bro, I don't remember it in years past. It was almost like when you have kids, you don't remember not having kids. Yeah. Like your life starts when the kids are born. Um my like my my life started when I woke up from surgery. It was a brand new reality. Um so it was it was it was weird. Um because I was like you you mentioned, I I don't mind supporting. I I'm I'm a community-minded person, done a lot of events for a lot of good people. Um ESPN and its association with the V Foundation, uh, chief among those, a lot of stuff for cancer research and you know, cancer in general. But you know, when it's when it's you, when I'm the I'm the person who you know holds up the sign as a cancer survivor, it's weird. Yeah, it's it's really strange. Um but also with it comes a big responsibility because now I'm there as a light to someone else or support for someone else in a real way. I mean, going and doing events um is fine, but once it happens to you, you have a totally different perspective. Yeah. Um, I guess a different appreciation for what you're doing, and a different appreciation for life, a different understanding. So it all of that probably hit me all at once. And I'm not gonna lie and say that I was able to process it and there's all good. I'm still processing it, yeah, and probably will be processing it for as long as I live. And that's fine. Yes, sir, because it's a lot to process, and a continuing education is not a bad thing, it's certainly better than no education at all.

SPEAKER_01: 16:03

Yes, sir. I love that. Thank you. Um, if you could give a piece of advice to someone that is uh in the midst of facing some adversity, whether it's within cancer, whether it's within life, whether it's within a death in their life, what advice would you want to give someone to maybe just help uplift their day, help uplift their week, their month, whatever it is? What advice would you want to tell somebody that may be in the midst of a struggling battle right now in their life?

SPEAKER_03: 16:31

You're not alone. I know that sounds cliche, but you're not alone. Find someone you love and trust and share whatever's going on, and you'd be surprised to find out how not alone you are.

SPEAKER_00: 16:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 16:45

Uh, how not unique your circumstances are, no matter what they are. There is someone who can relate. And don't be shy about approaching those folks and asking them questions and and sharing and being a little vulnerable and talking about things that you know that maybe may be private or perceived to be private or societally private. I tell folks like my dad went through prostate cancer, and I I don't remember having a conversation with him about it. Yeah, like a deep conversation. Now I pro I probably overshare with my son, but I feel I have to because his grandfather had it, his dad has it, um, my brother, his uncle, um, he's right now they're watching to see, they're watching him because he's got he's got what they believe is cancer, but you know, they're gonna watch it. Um but at least he's aware and they're aware of it. So my son needs to know these things. Yeah, so yeah, don't don't don't keep it to yourself. Just don't do it. Talk. It's okay. It it's whether it's someone you know, sometimes it's easier just to talk to a complete stranger. It's no shame in that. None. No shame in sharing your pain or whatever's going on. No shame at all.

SPEAKER_01: 18:23

Yes, sir. Um I asked you a sports question. Yeah, I'm not you can ask me whatever. Um, what are your first initial thoughts about Penn State firing James Franklin? I feel like it's really a big topic right now, a hot topic, and just a little bit surprising to I think a lot of the college football fan base. But uh, what are your first, what were your first reactions to hearing the news that Penn State had fired James Franklin?

SPEAKER_03: 18:48

I wasn't surprised. I mean, he's he's got a great record against good teams and a horrible record against really good teams.

SPEAKER_00: 19:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 19:01

And Penn State views itself as a really good team and a really good program and an historically relevant program um that hasn't been as relevant as they would like over the past few years. They've gotten close. Yeah, he's gotten them close. Um I thought a$49 million buyout was a hill too steep to climb, yeah, but apparently not. Um I hope that their next coach or their choice for next coach, I hope they hit.

SPEAKER_00: 19:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 19:38

Um I I hope it works for them. Sometimes, sometimes it's it's it's there's an old song, and it's this is not about coaching, it's about marriage. There's an old song, it's cheaper to keep her. Um sometimes it's it's better than you know hang with what you know and try and work it out as opposed to going searching for something else. The grass is not always greener. Sometimes the grass, you'll find a nice yard, and you'll be like, Yeah, I'm glad I moved. Sometimes it's like I should have stayed, I should have stayed. We should have stayed, I should have kept him. So I hope it works. Yeah, I hope it works for him.

SPEAKER_01: 20:20

You know, I love that you mentioned that song, Larry, because I love Johnny Taylor. And there is something that I wanted to ask you wholeheartedly, and then now that you bring up that song, Larry, I do want to ask him now because I didn't get to ask you this a couple years ago, but I want to know, Jay Harris, what does your music taste look like? Who is Jay Harris's favorite music artist, maybe bands, group? Who do you listen to on a day-to-day basis? I would really, really love to know that.

SPEAKER_03: 20:44

Who uh day-to-day. You know, I don't I probably need to listen more to music. I've done a lot of podcasts. Um, I've always been a big Prince fan.

unknown: 20:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 20:54

I mean, uh Prince, my dude.

unknown: 20:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 20:59

Um I'll look at like I'll look at my alarms. I have an alarm set for uh Sheik. Uh let me see who else. James Brown.

unknown: 21:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 21:09

Um, as you might imagine. Um shucks. It's a it's it's all over the place. Um it's it's all over the place. Uh from a um Sean Stockman, the Boys to Man has a really good podcast uh on that note, what's what it was called. And he just had uh Kwame, the the rapper on. And I used to love Kwame. So I, you know, I I went back in and started digging out old Kwame records and just listening to you know the style of the music back then in the early days of hip-hop, and and um like this this is some good stuff. Yeah, so my musical taste goes all over the place, but it probably starts with prints.

SPEAKER_01: 21:54

For the younger generation, could you explain what a record is? I know they may not know what a record is.

SPEAKER_03: 22:00

You see, it's this circular thing, it's this disc that has grooves, and you drop this thing on it, it's called the needle, and the sound goes from the the disc that turns into the needle into your speakers. It's a Google it, Google record, and you'll probably get a better explanation. And try to YouTube a video of the record, that'll be good for it.

SPEAKER_01: 22:18

There you go. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_03: 22:20

Um, or vinyl, that's what the kids call them these days. I'm gonna collect vinyls, it's it's the same thing.

SPEAKER_01: 22:24

Okay. I see you're you're keep the kids are keeping you up to date a little bit. Yeah, that's fine. Um, I also want to ask a little bit of a more fun question as well, because I I don't think I necessarily got to ask this in depth when I had you on a few years ago, but I outside of work, what do you what are your hobbies? What do you do to refresh your mind to keep you happy? What do you do outside of work when you're not working? What is Jay Harris doing on his free time to have a little bit of fun?

SPEAKER_03: 22:51

Um, whatever I'm told by the people in my house, that's probably the first thing.

SPEAKER_01: 22:56

Great answer.

SPEAKER_03: 22:57

Uh, thank you. Thank you very much. Um, the golf course is my happy place. Okay, even when I'm playing crappy, I don't care. I am outside and the sun is shining and the birds are flying, and it is just beautiful. And I prefer to walk as opposed to riding in the cart, uh, because you get a little exercise when you walk, and it's just it's just great. So I try to play golf. Um, since it's gotten a little cold, I pick my bass back up. So I'm playing um playing with my bass. That's gonna be that's my mission for the winter to play my bass more. Um, try to get a little better on the guitar. Um yeah, man. Watch shows with the young man, um go see shows uh that the young lady is in. She's a theater performance major in college, and she's a pretty good singer, uh, pretty good actress. Um so she's my she's my second 401k retirement plan. The boy's the first one. Um, that's what I do when I'm not at work.

SPEAKER_01: 24:02

Okay, all right. Um I'm gonna jump the gun a little bit with you, but okay, I'm 21, Jay. If you could go back to 21-year-old Jay Harris, what advice or what was what would be something you would tell 21-year-old Jay Harris to think about, be prepared for the world? What would you want to tell 21-year-old Jay Harris?

SPEAKER_03: 24:26

I would tell 21-year-old Jay Harris to read more. Okay, I would tell 21-year-old Jay Harris to trust yourself more and don't be so dang shy.

unknown: 24:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 24:37

Um, I would tell 21-year-old Jay Harris to be a little less tentative and take more chances, um, which kind of is akin to trust yourself. Um and I would tell young Jay Harris to take formal lessons for bass guitar because he's I can I'm a pretty good, I can listen to pretty much anything and and after a bit play it. Um but I've the reading and charts, not that great. So I would tell 21-year-old Jay Harris to to take formal lessons and to keep it up. And I would also tell my 21-year-old self to pick up golf. Like I I would have told my 11-year-old self to pick up golf um and to not stop playing basketball because it's the best thing ever to stay in shape. It is. I have a lot of things to tell my 21-year-old self.

SPEAKER_01: 25:40

I feel that's good. That's uh it shows the life experiences that you've had on your own life in terms of you know everything you've been through. Um, I want to stay in this age range because I'm graduating next year. Congratulations. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. But it is so evident from my peers and sometimes myself, but my peers are just in the correlation of I don't know what to do in a few months. I don't know what to what's next. I, you know, I don't have a job lined up, I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't, I don't, I'm I'm scared for the future, blah, blah, blah. So if you were speaking to a group of college students, um, specifically maybe getting into the sports media, sports journalism, sports contact world, what advice would you want to tell them in terms of maybe what to be prepared for and trying to get into this industry, what maybe they should be doing if they have not already done it to get uh maybe comfortable and confident going into the real world? What advice would you want to give someone that's graduating, getting ready to go into the real world, into the same kind of industry that you've been a part of for so long?

SPEAKER_03: 26:49

Well, first of all, I would probably, like if it was a a group of them, group of kids.

SPEAKER_01: 26:56

Yeah, like if you were speaking at an event and there was like, you know, maybe 70 kids there, what would you want to tell them?

SPEAKER_03: 27:01

Well, if they were all getting ready to graduate, I'd probably start by cursing them out and asking what took them so daggum long to ask this question and to talk to me. Because we should have had this question when you guys are freshmen, be honest with you.

SPEAKER_01: 27:12

Fair game.

SPEAKER_03: 27:13

I'd start there. Um, and I'd ask them, well, what do you want to do? Be specific. Tell me what you want, where you want to be in five years. And then I'd based on that answer, I would say, okay, well, here is what since since we're we're starting at zero as as a and you're a senior, uh, have you done any internships since you want to get into broadcasting or journalism? Can you write? Have you do you have any tape thing on tape? If you want to be on air, do you have a reel to show people? Um you want to be behind the scenes? Are you sure? Have you explored every every nook and cranny of a TV or a radio station or a website and there's not a whole lot of newspapers anymore? Um can you write? Can you interview? Um do you are you are you grounded in the foundation of journalism? Because as many people nowadays who I look at your social media following and want to give you a job based on that, if you can't do the work, yeah, I don't care if you have 250 gazillion million people following you, if you can't do the work, they're just following someone who can't do the work. If you if you fashion yourself as a journalist and you can't journal, you can't write, I can't send you out and get a story, you can't interview someone and ask good questions and listen at the responses. And instead of going down your list of questions, maybe you get a response that you need to follow up on. If you can't do those things, what the heck all those followers mean to me? Nothing to me. So, you know, I I would challenge you to try and start in some way doing the job that you want to do in five years, doing that right now and get yourself prepared. Have you met people in the field? Have you taught have you joined organizations? Do you have relationships in your local area with people that are doing what you say you want to do? What kind of groundwork have you laid? I'd ask them all those questions.

SPEAKER_01: 29:22

Okay, thank you. I'm uh I'm ready to run through a brick wall right now, so I appreciate you for saying what you did in the manner that you did. Thank you so much, sir. Uh I'm gonna get away.

SPEAKER_03: 29:33

If I got a little like with it, because I that that really drives me because I've had a lot of people ask me, hey, I'm graduating, can you help? Can you give me some tips?

SPEAKER_02: 29:42

I'm like, no, no, why are you waiting? No. I mean, I do my best, but come on, man. Well, come on, woman. Come on now. Who's who who where are you in school? Who's teaching you?

SPEAKER_03: 29:58

Who advised you? It makes me angry. So I kind of get a little, I'm gonna calm down now, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 30:05

Good. And no, don't you dare apologize for that either, because I understand that. Um, I'm gonna get you out of here soon, but I want to ask you really quick, because when you were saying that, it made me think of wanting to ask you this if anything has changed at all, but when you first were getting into this sports journalism media industry. What are some of the things that maybe you're doing now or that you're noticing now that weren't even a part of this industry when you first started? Maybe it's the media in general, social media in general, things you're maybe having to do behind the scenes for your job. That maybe when you first started, you didn't even think about this was even possible in the sports journalism world.

SPEAKER_03: 30:38

I mean, I mean the whole digital technology social media thing, the immediacy of it. Um I you know, I remember you you'd have to file a story and it would come out in the paper the next day. There was no there was no internet, you couldn't go online and see it. You have to wait and you get the paper delivered to your house in the morning and you read the news, or you'd actually watch TV to find out what's going on. Um, all of that has changed because all I have to do is pick up my phone and I can see stuff literally around the world like that, you know. So all that has changed. Um, but the foundation of my job has not changed. I'm doing I did the same thing today that I did on my first day 22 years ago at ESPN. I came in, I checked the rundown, I wrote what was assigned me, I rewrote it if I didn't like it, or if my coordinating producer says, I think you can do a little bit better on this, or try this angle, or what have you. Uh, and I kept doing that until it was time to go on the air and deliver what I've been working on for the past three or four hours. Um, and that was the same thing I did when I started in radio uh 15 years before that, when I was working for free at the small radio station in in Portsmouth, Virginia. And I would go out and get a story and interview people and write the story and rewrite the story and give it to my news director to check it, and then I would record it and it would go on the air. Um I was, you know, that that that's that's how you grow as a journalist. That's what being a journalist is collecting information, writing stories, uh, and you know, you tell the stories. So yeah, that's yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 32:35

Yeah. Uh Jay, if you have dinner with three people, dead or alive, who would they be? Who would join you at your dinner table?

SPEAKER_03: 32:45

Um wow, that's tough. I have to limit it to three. Um if I had to limit it to three.

SPEAKER_01: 33:00

I usually ask five, but I didn't know if that was gonna be too much. So if you want to do five, you can do five as well.

SPEAKER_03: 33:06

No, well, it'd be my my maternal grandfather and grandmother.

unknown: 33:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 33:12

Um my mom, my dad, and my aunt Margaret.

unknown: 33:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 33:17

They're all they're all none of them, they're all gone. Uh they're all passed away. Uh, those that's who I'd want to have dinner with and talk to and get more knowledge from and tell stories of what I've been doing and introduce them to the fam and all that stuff. Um, show them what Instagram is, uh, take them on a tour of ESPN. Um, that that's what I want to do. It wouldn't be anybody famous, so there are a lot of people, famous people I want to talk to. I I I want to see my mom and my dad and my grandparents. You know?

SPEAKER_01: 33:49

I love that. I love keeping it in the family. Family is something that I talk about a lot. They're my my family's my backbone. So I honestly love, and it's kind of refreshing to hear someone say that. So I love that answer a lot. Um, last thing before I get you out of here, Miss Harris, I want to ask you, um, one of my calling kind of fruits of labor, but one of my big things on here is legacy. Um, you know, just doing things that I want to be remembered for, doing things that I um am passionate about that I love and make sure I'm doing those things in the right manner. Uh so I kind of want to ask you, what legacy do you want to leave behind? What do you want to be remembered for? When people hear the name Jay Harris, what do you always want people to remember about who you are as a person?

SPEAKER_03: 34:28

I don't know. Um, he was a really good teammate. He was funny too. Um he's a good journalist. Um he's a good dad. Um he's a pretty good husband because you know, husbands, you know, can we can never do anything right? Um yeah, he was he was a good dude. And now that's fine with me. I don't have to be, you know, he was on award-winning list or you know, blah, blah, blah. Who cares about all that stuff? That's just a bunch of the whatever. It means nothing. Be a good person. That's what I want to be. I want to be remembered as a good person. That's my legacy.

SPEAKER_01: 35:15

I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_03: 35:17

Imperfect. Try to be good.

SPEAKER_01: 35:21

Thank you, sir. Uh, that hit hard to my heart. I need to hear stuff like that sometimes. So appreciate you for sharing that. Um, and again, thank you for joining me again. It was so good to see you and hear you again.

SPEAKER_03: 35:33

I'm glad we can do it. We've been trying to do this. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01: 35:36

No, thank you for for communicating and and um being persistent with me as well as us trying to figure out our schedules with this. So, again, thank you so much. Um sending my prayers to you and your family and uh wishing the best on everything and all your future endeavors, my friends.

SPEAKER_00: 35:52

Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_01: 35:53

And um so good to see you back on Sports Center as always. Uh continue changing the landscape of the game for everyone uh and for black males and females as well, because whether you realize it or not, you are um inspiring the youth in terms of what you're doing, what you've done. So we appreciate your efforts in terms of what you've done over your lifetime. So thank you so much, sir.

SPEAKER_03: 36:16

You're very welcome. And tell all those young folks that are inspired to hit my Venmo.

SPEAKER_01: 36:21

I'll relay the message. I'll see what I can do, Ms. I'll see what I can do. I'll see what I can do. You know, it it doesn't hurt to try, so I'll see what I can do. Um and as well, I want to shout out uh my my my favorite, one of my favorite people ever, Mr. Nicole Griffin. She's the person that originally got us connected years ago, and so I want to shout out her really quick for that connection years ago. And I've done my best to obviously keep that connection. So I guess I'm doing a little bit of a good job since he's he's come back and shared his grace with us one more time. So uh again, thank you so much, Mr. Harris. Appreciate you for joining us. And um, if you're new, like I said earlier, hit that subscribe button. I hope you enjoyed this. Leave a like, comment something funny so I can laugh. And uh God bless and take care of you all. Thank you so much, Mr. Harris, once again.