Sean Pendergast was doing very well in his career doing sales for a telecommunications company selling phone systems to big companies. In 2001, he got a promotion to sales director and that meant moving his family from Houston to Denver. The next move came in 2004 when another promotion relocated him to Chicago in 2004 to be Vice President of Sales.
But while he was doing well financially, there was something missing in his life. He always had a love for sports radio.
“The higher up I got in the company I was with, the more miserable I got and the more I regretted not trying radio right out of college,” said Pendergast, the co-host of “Payne and Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 in Houston.
Before moving to Houston in 1994, Pendergast was living in Connecticut and listened to sports radio giant WFAN in New York religiously. But when he arrived in Houston, there wasn’t a sports radio station in town.
Call it divine intervention or the karma of a self-professed sports radio junkie moving to the city, but a week after Pendergast arrived in Houston, 610 changed formats to all-sports.
“That was so cool,” said Pendergast. “It was like a sign. I became friends with some of the hosts and would go to a lot of the events. If they were broadcasting at a bar, I would be there.”
Pendergast was making a name for himself as a listener and a frequent caller to the station. In 1997, The Jim Rome Show came to 610 and that was another life-changer for Pendergast. He became a frequent caller and he won the “Smack-Off” a bunch of times. Some of those friends he made at 610 all told him that he should give sports radio a try.
In February 2007, the radio gods agreed.
The company that Pendergast was working for was sold and he was out of a job. With a severance package in hand, Pendergast, who was also going through a divorce at the time, drove home and had to figure out what his next move would be. What he didn’t know while driving home was that something was going on back in Houston that he might be interested in.
After he pulled into his driveway, his phone rang but for some reason Pendergast was paying attention to the temperature on his dashboard.
“It’s negative 11 f****ing degrees outside,” recalled Pendergast. “When the phone rang, it was Chance McClain who was the producer of the morning show at 610.”
As it turns out, a bunch of people were leaving to start a new sports radio station, 1560 “The Game,” and they wanted Pendergast to be a part of it. He moved back to Houston to give afternoons on 1560 a shot. At 38 years old, Pendergast was a paid sports radio host without having been trained to be in broadcasting.
Not bad for the guy who created some buzz by calling Jim Rome’s show.
Even Rome could tell that Pendergast was something special.
“(Jim) offered me a job in 2003,” said Pendergast who was living in Denver at the time. He offered me a job to move to LA and write for him for “Rome is Burning.”
Four years later, Rome called again when Pendergast got the on-air job at 1560.
“He actually called me personally to chat about it,” said Pendergast. “He was just calling to say hey that’s really cool that you’re doing that. We talked for a good 45 minutes and he gave me a lot of great advice. I’ve, since then, actually substitute hosted his show which for somebody who is a Jim Rome listener is like a dream.”
But to make things work financially when he took the job at 1560, Pendergast had to take some part-time jobs to supplement his income after going through his savings and running up some debt. There was also the matter of child support for his three children back in Chicago.
As he was cutting his teeth in the radio business for a couple of years at 1560, he knew that he still needed to make another move. He had to find a way to get to the big station in town.
“I literally sat down in 2009 and jotted down all the things I needed to do to get over to 610,” said Pendergast.
The two most important things he wrote down on that paper was to introduce himself to 610 Program Director Gavin Spittle at every Houston Texans game and also to say “yes” to every opportunity that came his way. He had to show the powers that be at 610 that he had the versatility to do any type of show.
Pendergast’s plan began to pay dividends in 2012 when he interviewed for the vacant morning show at 610. While the job ultimately went to current FS1 host Nick Wright, Pendergast had clearly caught the attention of 610 management. A year later, the afternoon show opened up and this time Pendergast got the job. He had accomplished his goal of being a host at 610.
He was happy, but he wasn’t satisfied.
“I had my foot in the door and then my next goal was to get to mornings and that took five more years,” said Pendergast. “My other goal was to get to Texans gameday stuff. That took a year once I got in the building. Now, I’m doing pre-game and post-game. It’s a journey I’m super-proud of.”
There is no one specific way to break into broadcasting.
There are those, like myself, who knew at a very young age that the goal was to be a sports announcer. For Pendergast, that type of objective came a little later in life but also stemmed from being a passionate sports radio listener.
Pendergast’s journey is living proof that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to.
You didn’t major in broadcasting in college? So what?
“I’m kind of proud of that actually,” said Pendergast. “I like to think that a lot of people might find it inspirational that you could do something that you’re not trained to do. I’m at a point now where the results are speaking for themselves. Our show is doing well.”
Pendergast has been a huge success on the radio in Houston and that makes him very happy. He prefers that community feel of doing local sports radio and wants to continue doing that in Houston. And while he hosts a weekend show on CBS Sports Radio, Pendergast has no intentions of doing a national show full-time.
However, there is one box left to check on his to-do list and it has everything to do with the city he moved to in 1994.
“I just want to do the post-game show for a Super Bowl someday,” said Pendergast. “If I had one dying radio wish, it would be to do the post-game show for the Texans in the Super Bowl. I would die a happy man if we got that.”
After Saturday’s Wild Card round win over the Browns, the Texans are just two wins away from really putting a massive ear-to-ear smile on the face of Sean Pendergast.
Peter Schwartz writes weekly sports radio features for Barrett Media. He has been involved in New York sports media for over three decades, and has worked for notable brands such as WFAN, CBS Sports Radio, WCBS 880, ESPN New York, and FOX News Radio. Peter has also served as play by play announcer for the New Yok Riptide, New York Dragons, New York Hitmen, Varsity Media and the Long Island Sports Network. You can find him on Twitter @SchwartzSports or email him at DragonsRadio@aol.com.
