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Over parts of the last two years, Dustin Fox has had to take several leaves of absence from 92.3 The Fan, the Cleveland-based sports station he was at since 2011. As he was working a five-hour afternoon drive show with Nick Wilson, he found himself dealing with separate issues related to his mental health, which he presumes could have been exacerbated by football injuries.
The pattern of thinking he was experiencing led him down a dark path. Earlier in the year, Fox presumed he was on the doorstep of death and admitted wanting to kill himself, struggling through a mental breakdown where things felt as if they were spiraling.
When Fox announced in late August that he would be leaving 92.3 The Fan after 13 years, it caught people by surprise. Yet he had been thinking on this decision for several months for reasons not related to psychological hardships. For example, the timing of the afternoon shift often necessitated that he prepare in the mornings and work through sunset, rendering it difficult to spend time with his family. It is part of the reason why he opted to ink one-year deals with Audacy and continued to alert its management that his exit would be approaching.
“It was not a surprise to anybody internally at The Fan or anybody close to me at the station or anybody in my life personally that matters or whatever,” Fox said. “Everyone sort of knew that the time was coming, and I’m very lucky and very blessed that my situation is – and I still have other gigs; it’s not like I’m just leaving my only source of income to watch my kids do activities. I’ve worked really hard for my career and where I’m at.”
Fox looks back fondly on his time with the station, which coincided with the flip to the sports talk format on the 92.3 FM band. More of the change related to the timing of the shift rather than the duration itself. In addition to forsaking family endeavors and hosting in studio, he was beginning to find himself enervated from the shift and grew a disdain for his diminished stamina and presence at home.
“I couldn’t even call my insurance agent during the show because I’d have four minutes during a commercial break, and I say that kind of in jest,” Fox explained. “When you’re doing a five-hour talk show, you can’t step aside and not be in it. It’s not like you can sit at your desk at a 9-5 and veg out or look at whatever, Instagram, for an hour.”
With that being said, Fox does not consider himself to have ever held a genuine job and recognizes that the show has assisted others in powering through tragedies, misfortune and discomfort. The connection with the audience came to light in everyday life, a recurring instance of which was listeners citing different parts of the show on the street.
“It just really was rewarding for us and for me to know that we did what we tried to do, which was try to make our show very listenable and very engaging [where] the audience didn’t ever feel like they were below us,” Fox emphasized. “I just wanted them to feel like they were a part of us and one of us.”
The welcoming culture that the station established started with its early days, which included Fox working in afternoon drive alongside Adam “The Bull” Gerstenhaber over an 11-year span. Even though Fox has enjoyed pairing with both Gerstenhaber and Wilson over the years, reviewing the stark dichotomy between them helps evince their strengths. Gerstenhaber’s exit from the station in 2022 did not affect Fox’s desire to move on from the terrestrial radio outlet; rather, he embraced and cherished working alongside Wilson thereafter.
“Adam is very, very hard-headed – one of the best debaters I’ve ever met in my life,” Fox said. “He could argue anything and [is] a great guy. Both are great guys, obviously – I love them both dearly – but different. Nick certainly got me on the backend, and I respect him so much – he’s been through a lot having to move back home, getting a new partner, having to sort of fill the shoes of a pretty big personality and somebody who has done a lot in his career in Adam ‘The Bull,’ so I’m grateful for the time I had with Nick.”
The departure of Gerstenhaber to pursue new opportunities outside of traditional radio was intriguing for Fox, and he has observed the success of his former partner in his venture with Rush Street Interactive. As part of the BetRivers Network, Gerstenhaber hosts numerous podcasts pertaining to football and sports altogether, an arrangement he earned after taking a risk by stepping away from his established job.
“It’s obviously impressive to see that,” Fox said, “so it gave me optimism that I could still stay in the business and not have to do the five-hour time slot.”
Combined with the progress Fox had made in combating his mental health struggles and achieving sobriety, he identified it to be the right time to step away from the daily hosting position. The time he spent off the air was enlightening and gleaned a new prospect on what he wants out of his life, career and children.
“I have no regrets about my decision or anything,” Fox said. “It’s hard to tell people how great it is to be kind of on the other side of this thing. Every day is a gift, and I’ve just been super blessed and happy, and frankly, I’m so happy that I’m still able to have great relationships with the people at Audacy.”
In a transaction unrelated to Fox, longtime brand manager Andy Roth revealed that he was leaving the Audacy station as well to become the new director of programming for 680 The Fan. Roth has been a fixture at the sports radio outlet from the beginning, and Fox felt that he was a great person for whom to work.
“Andy has done a great job of teaching me about the things that matter – the ratings and sort of how to play that game and time spent listening and all these things that matter for us to bonus and make sure we’re doing a really good job – he really showed me a lot there,” Fox said. “And then beyond that, our friendship so to speak off the field, outside of work was great.”
Renouncing his hosting position in afternoon drive in the marketplace was a strenuous decision. Yet the messages afterwards were overwhelmingly those of gratitude and thanks, receiving universal support and encouragement. Hundreds of people were subsequently vulnerable in asking for help regarding difficulties in their lives, and Fox did his best to get back to nearly everyone.
“I’ve talked to strangers on the phone about stuff,” Fox said, “because I’m just very passionate about my recovery and where I’m at with my mental health and life that I’m just so happy and proud that I just feel like I want everyone to feel the way that I feel right now.”
Starting last month, Fox has been reunited with Gerstenhaber as a co-host of the Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show, a video podcast that airs throughout the week. Fox is part of the show on Tuesdays and Wednesdays where he participates in discussions surrounding the local teams with other contributors such as Jay Crawford, Tyvis Powell and Garrett Bush.
“I feel like my takes are better because it’s not like I have to think about, ‘Oh man, I have to save this for 5:00,’ or regurgitate something that I said at 2:00 at 6:00,” Fox said. “It’s just a lot easier to be more authentic and have stronger takes because you’re just in the moment. That’s what I love more about the space of a 30-minute pod or whatever, a two-hour TV show, something like that.”
While Fox is no longer on the radio, he still covers college football as an analyst for ESPN. As he reallocates his schedule, he aspires to be part of studio work on the national network if there are any opportunities open, such as filling in on College Football Live. Going forward, he considers his longevity in the booth while hoping to garner more impactful, monumental game broadcast assignments.
“I love working for ESPN – I think it’s the greatest company,” Fox said. “They’re awesome, and they’ve been awesome to me, so I love working there.”
Making a return to 92.3 The Fan is something Fox would potentially consider in the future; in fact, he still visits the station to record promos and other commercials. When he enters the building, it feels like he is working there and interacts with his former colleagues. As someone who has had to overcome several difficulties and burdens, Fox wants to use his platform to teach sentiments of joy and continue to reach an invested, entertained audience.
“I’m never ruling it out,” Fox said. “I have no clue where radio’s going to be in the next five years, and I don’t see myself in the next five years working in radio in terms of the daily local thing [for] five hours. If something popped up – if ESPN called me and said, ‘Hey, we want you to work on a national show’ or something, I’d consider it for sure. I’d consider everything, I guess, in terms of, ‘Is the timing right? Is the money right? How long’s the show?’ All those things.”
Although Fox does not foresee the extinction of sports talk radio, he has detected other warning signs suggesting shifts. The industry is trending towards digital distribution, and consumers have a litany of podcasts and specialized spoken word content from which to select. In addition to streaming radio stations without use of a terrestrial signal, the functionalities by which the audience is engaging with content have been altered and continue to adapt commensurate to technological innovation. Nonetheless, Fox said that the live and local pillars that contributed to its growth will also lend to its sustainability and continued interest therein.
“I think you’ll still have shows like the Afternoon Drive or whatever it may be, and it may be streaming somewhere else, but it’s going to be live,” Fox said. “That’s the thing that is so important with sports that it’s always ever-changing.”
As the industry continues to explore new opportunities to reach sports fans across multiple platforms, Fox is positioned to remain part of the conversation. Through all of his repetitions, he knows when he did a good job and also remains his most formidable critic. Although strong numbers and ratings can supply sentiments of achievement, Fox thinks beyond these metrics and considers if the show was strong and if he kept consumers listening longer than they originally intended. Some of these answers are materialized when Fox meets fans and they reference things from his early work on 92.3 The Fan, and they continue to take an interest in his opinion through both linear and digital media.
“I think that working in this business that you have to have some sort of a gift to be able to do it, and throughout my life, I try to identify things that I am good at, and then you gravitate towards those things and do your best and work hard at it, and that’s where I’m at with my career with sports broadcasting,” Fox said. “I have so much damn fun doing what I get to do that I just love it.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 (or 800-273-8255) to connect with a trained counselor, or visit the NSPL website.
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
