Rob Parker was officially inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame at their annual convention and career fair in Birmingham, Ala., one of the industry’s most prestigious honors. Parker currently works at FOX Sports Radio with Chris Broussard on The Odd Couple and is the founder and editor of MLBbro.com, a platform dedicated to covering Black and brown major leaguers. He has had a 37-year career in journalism through which he has broken boundaries while inspiring the next generation of reporters, normalizing multiplatform presences in a time where media was significantly more compartmentalized than it is today.
“Thank you to NABJ,” Parker said as he received the honor from the NABJ luncheon. “There’s nothing better than being honored by your own people – your peers – so this is very special to me. I want to thank my family, my friends, [and] all the people who have supported me throughout the years… all my mentees – they fuel me [and] they inspire me every day… How I got here is that plenty of people helped me along the way, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Parker began his work in journalism as the first Black sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press before contributing to a number of local television outlets. He had previously been with the New York Daily News and made his return back to the locale in 1995 to work for Newsday. In 2005, he began national coverage as a contribution across ESPN programming before moving back to local television in Detroit, Mich.
During his first year with FOX Sports Radio in 2018, Parker was honored by NABJ as its sports journalist of the year – and he continues to mentor the next generation as an associate professor at the University of Southern California (USC). Today, he is focused on his responsibilities with FOX Sports Radio and MLBbro, and has podcasts on both platforms.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Rob,” Julie Talbott, president of Premiere Networks, said in a statement. “He truly deserves this recognition for his trailblazing career in sports journalism, and for his continuing efforts to elevate and mentor the next generation.”
In addition to Parker, ESPN Head of Event and Studio Production Dave Roberts was also welcomed into the Hall of Fame. Roberts oversees production for the network’s signature studio shows, including Get Up, First Take and NBA Countdown, and he will also manage The Pat McAfee Show, which will debut on ESPN this fall. He was on hand to express his gratitude for the honor, and started his speech by reading off of the teleprompter and recalling the week he found out about the honor. It happened to coincide with his promotion to an executive vice president at ESPN and his wedding to his fiancé, T’Erica, a ceremony that had several ESPN personnel on hand.
“It is our collective responsibility to never become complacent in respect to this fight for tangible progress,” Roberts said. “If you’re starting your career journey, I urge you to strongly consider the decision-making path, and always look for opportunities to give back to those deserving and those responsible for taking the lead in this journey. We all must lift up each other, and that must be one of the priorities for each and every one of us.”
Roberts concluded his speech by announcing a donation from The Walt Disney Company and ESPN of $20,000 to go towards the existing scholarship programs run by NABJ. Both he and Parker are grateful for the guidance and support they received from the organization. They and the other Hall of Fame inductees, which include Randall Pinkston, Sheila Dean Brooks and Roy S. Johnson among others, will look to foster the next generation of media professionals and continue the fight for equality.
