In his 11th year detailing cars for players of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, it would have been understandable for Gee Scott Sr. to never envision a career in the talk radio world.
After all, Scott had previously worked as a door-to-door salesman before a chance meeting led to him working as “just a guy washing cars” for players and employees of the franchise, never giving a career in any media, let alone a news/talk radio format, a second thought.
But, as is often the case, life had other ideas for Gee Scott Sr.
Using his connections with the Seahawks, Scott began hosting a podcast, which led to an interview with the popular running back Marshawn Lynch. After the interview with “Beast Mode” went viral, Scott began to see more media opportunities.
After a stint hosting on then-710 ESPN in Seattle, Scott Sr. moved to sister station KIRO Newsradio 97.3, becoming the first regular Black voice on the venerable station. After joining the station in 2018, he now hosts The Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin Show from 9 AM-Noon on the Bonneville International outlet.
Despite his success and ascension with the Seattle news/talk station, Scott Sr. admits he struggled in the space, mentally, until the final months of 2023 after being in the medium for more than a decade.
“I did not truly believe that radio was for me until about the last three to six months. I’ve had impostor syndrome this entire time,” Scott admitted. “I’ve been in a space where I’ve been trying so hard just to make sure that I don’t fail…This is no one else’s fault. This was my fault. In life, the most important thing is belief. Belief is more important than talent. Because if you believe, whether you’re right or wrong, it doesn’t matter.”
When asked about the process of finding his voice on the air, the Seattle midday host shared a shift in mindset included embracing his personality and what set him apart from others in the community to begin with.
“It took almost 10 years. It almost took the entire time that I’ve been in radio, and I’ve just recently realized that ‘Oh, I don’t have to sound like that person. I don’t have to be as smart as that person. I don’t have to know this specific topic like this person. Oh, wait, you mean to tell me that there is a space for me?’ So, I believe right now, in what I do, nobody can do what I do. Wanna know why? Because they’re not me,” he said.
“That’s why they can’t do what I do. So it took me almost 10 years to realize that the most important thing in this space is to be you. You can’t be this person or that person. It took me almost 10 years to realize that ‘Oh, I’m enough.’ And so when people open up that folder, and whenever your favorite soda is, if it’s right if it’s Dr. Pepper, if it’s Mr. Pibb if it’s a Pepsi whatever it is. So you have to be you, and there’s gonna be people that don’t like you. And you gotta be okay with that.”
Many in the business have aspirations of eventually reaching a national audience with a syndication deal. Gee Scott Sr. admits he couldn’t be less interested in the development of his career.
“I’m staying local. I’m staying with my people. I will tell you that they couldn’t pay me enough to go on a national level and do this. I’m staying local,” Scott declared. ” Why? The reason why I believe that the platform that I’ve gotten today is because of the people here that are local. That’s why I always want to stay living with them.”
Scott was quick to note he — in his view — isn’t a trailblazer for other aspiring Black hosts in Seattle. He argued outlets like Converge Media and former radio host Eddie Rye Jr. as pillars of hope for Black media members in the Seattle market.
He did say, though, that a deep belief in oneself can carry even the most disadvantaged and unlikely people to great heights.
“The only thing that separates me and someone else, I actually believe I can do it. Somebody else might have more talent than me to actually do it. So I don’t think it’s necessarily me that does that. The motivation might be that employers and people looking to hire folks like me, maybe it might be easier because they’ve seen it happen with me,” said Scott Sr.
“I was a car detailer for the Seattle Seahawks for 11 years, man. That was my experience for radio. So maybe this will encourage news stations or program directors across the country to be like, ‘You know what? That person doesn’t have a background, but I like that person. And he or she has an opinion.’ That’s all it is.”
Having the experience of working for the Seahawks, especially during the franchise’s heights as a Super Bowl winner and contender, helped shape the view of his potential future. And despite being gone from the organization for more than a decade, Gee Scott Sr. shared he still carries lessons and values he learned from his time with the NFL club.
“I watched all of those young men come in, and I saw regular people coming in every single day, working as a day to do something spectacular. People ask me all the time ‘What did they do?’ They came to work every day. That’s all they did. It really is that simple,” said Scott Sr. “You just gotta come into work all the time. That 11 years, being behind the scenes, really gave me a lot of courage to understand ‘You just gotta work hard.’ I attack doing radio the same way I watched those guys attack football.”
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
