If you work a 9 to 5 Monday through Friday job, chances are you get out of bed, take a shower, have breakfast and you tell your loved ones “I’m off to work.” Depending on what you do for a living, you may tell friends and family “I love my job” or “I hate my job.” But if you ask Ross Tucker about his broadcasting portfolio, there are two words you will never hear him say when talking about what he loves to do.
“I never say to my wife I gotta go to work,” said Tucker. “I never call it my job. I just always say I gotta do a game, I gotta fill in for Dan Patrick, I gotta do a podcast or I gotta do a show. Whatever it is, it’s almost like to me to call it work or a job is almost like insulting to people who have real jobs and actually work.”
For Tucker, his “job” and his “work” is mainly centered around football and that is something that the former NFL lineman is passionate about.
And now that we’re onto the football off-season, Tucker can actually take his foot off the gas just a little bit while still continuing to work…excuse me…do what he loves to do. From the first Eagles pre-season telecast through his NFL and college broadcast schedule and through the Super Bowl, Tucker did a game every weekend and that involved a lot of travel.
“It’s a long season certainly but I thoroughly enjoy it and love every second of it,” said Tucker. “Every job has pros and cons but I absolutely adore my job.”
That job also includes his “Ross Tucker Football Network” that has been a part of the DraftKings network for four years. That network includes the “Ross Tucker Football Podcast,” “Fantasy Feast,” “The Business of Sports,” “College Draft” and “Even Money.”
Tucker also writes a weekly column for “The 33rd Team,” a website founded by former NFL General Manager Mike Tannenbaum.
So, while his weekend excursions for games have stopped until August, Tucker remains busy.
“This is one of the benefits of having the career I do is I go really hard during the season and in the off-season, I do have the freedom to take trips,” said Tucker during our phone conversation as he was travelling from a ski weekend with his high school friends in Colorado to meeting up with his family for more vacation time in Utah.
“This is the flip side of all the travel during the season is in the off-season you get to enjoy yourself a little bit more. Unlike some guys, I’m never totally unplugged because people count on (my podcast) as kind of their daily 25-minute update on what’s going on in the NFL.”
All of Tucker’s podcasts are extremely popular and he considers himself fortunate to be in the position to have successful podcasts and to have built up quite the following. Tucker was doing a podcast before the explosion of the technology that has certainly changed the landscape of sports radio.
In 2009, a couple of years after he retired from playing football, Tucker was contacted by ESPN about writing for their website and to host their podcast.
Tucker said yes, but…
“I had no idea what a podcast was,” admitted Tucker. “I had never even heard of it. I was able to build up an audience. Now, it’s very difficult because there are so many other podcasts out there. There are so many active players doing things that it’s hard to build an audience from scratch now.”
Not only can Tucker break down a game and talk about the x’s and o’s in a very informative and passionate way, but we’re now in the midst of the time of year that also piques his interest. NFL free agency is underway and that is something that Tucker pays very close attention to. Contract mumbo jumbo is not something that every member of the media is enthralled with, but Tucker loves it.
In fact, had he not gone into broadcasting, Tucker had interest in being in a team’s front office.
“Even when I was a player, I’ve always really been into the business side,” said Tucker. “I’ve had a couple of people over the years gauge my level of interest, but I always thought I would be more interested in working in a front office than getting into coaching. If I had gotten into that side of the business, I think I would have tried to be a General Manager in the NFL as opposed to a Head Coach.”
When he’s not calling a game for CBS or Westwood One, hosting a podcast, or writing an article, Tucker is keeping an eye on his non-broadcasting ventures.
During his last year as a player in 2007, Tucker launched “Go Big Recruiting,” a tool that helps student-athletes get recruited to play college football.
Last year, Tucker started MyFrontPageStory.com, a website where you can order a personalized newspaper story as a gift item for events like birthdays, anniversaries and retirements.
“It’s something I’m really passionate about in terms of giving it as a gift especially for Moms and Dads and Grandmas and Grandpas,” said Tucker. “It’s just really cool to make them the subject of their own cover story and it’s a keepsake that you can keep forever.”
Tucker has already accomplished a lot in broadcasting, but there’s always room for more…yes even with Tucker’s hectic schedule.
This past football season, Tucker was part of the NFL on CBS’s 7th crew and called a handful of games while also calling five college football games for the network on broadcast television.
So, what’s next?
“The bigger games I can do, the more games I can do on broadcast for CBS, the better,” said Tucker. “It’s a thrill. I really love it. People can sense that when they hear me call a game. I love football. It’s my first love and I am extremely passionate about it. I don’t care if I’m calling a high school game. I don’t care what it is.”
High school, huh? I’m wondering if I can get Ross Tucker to Long Island next season to do a high school football telecast with me.
Hopefully, he can fit it into his busy and successful schedule.
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.
