Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcus Greaves.
Hi Marcus, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am originally from a small town in Oregon called Prineville, I was a 3 sports athlete, and elected to play football at Oregon State University. I played three seasons, but due to an injury, I retired and decided I wanted to pursue sports broadcasting.
It wasn’t an easy transition, from the time you are little as an athlete that is seen as WHO you are, it’s seen as YOUR identity, I fell into the trap of believing all I had to offer was football. Once That chapter came to a close, I thought to myself “I’m more than just Marcus the football player” I was fortunate enough to use my platform as a division 1 athlete to make connections with folks from all walks of life. One of those people was former NFL running back Yvenson Bernard.
He worked as an on-air personality at NBC Sports Northwest he took me under his wing and showed me the ropes of the industry and opened my eyes to a whole different avenue than I was used to. From there, it was all hard work and paying dues in the industry. Once you go from a highly touted college athlete to the bottom man on the totem pole, it is a very humbling experience.
But I knew all I needed was my foot in the door in order to shape my life and my new passion the way I wanted. Through years of hard work, networking, and overall hustle I went from recording videos on my phone as a “social media anchor” to a full-time Sports Anchor and Reporter for the best station in San Diego.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road hasn’t been smooth by any means, my career at Oregon State was cut short due to two separate ACL injuries which sidelined me from playing my last season. My whole life I put my passion into football, and in a matter of a split second, I would never play another game.
From there, some struggles I faced was finding out who I was outside of football, which is an obstacle many former athletes faced. In the professional world, once I hung up the cleats, I had to find something to pour my passion into and it was Broadcasting. The road to broadcasting was not an easy one either.
With no experience in the broadcasting world, I had to get my foot in the door any way I could. I worked around 3-4 different entry-level media jobs which made it difficult to afford basic necessities.
once I finally broke into the media world, a big obstacle was learning how to be an on-air personality, without the proper training, much of what I learned was self-taught, everything from how to use a camera, to how to properly speak on air.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Sports Anchor and Reporter at CBS8 in San Diego, I specialize in putting together enjoyable and informative Sports stories, as well as making Sports segments of newscast entertaining. I would say the thing I am most known for, is the way I am myself on air.
In this industry, I think many people feel the need to act like someone else or be a certain way on air. For myself, I feel like the thing I am most known for is being authentic and bringing a different kind of style to broadcasting. What I am most proud of is just how far I have come in the industry.
I have put in the work, paid the dues, and it has directly resulted in being in the position I am in. Through doubt, struggles, and obstacles, I have found made my footprint in the sports world and have established myself as a professional. I am proud that I earned this position.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up, I was a typical kid who loved sports, basketball was my favorite sport followed by football. Every day, you could find me with a basketball in hand, or tossing a football up in the air and catching it.
I was always glued to sporting events on ESPN, watching Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Lebron James, Chris Johnson, the list could go on. Personality-wise, I was a high-energy kid, who just enjoyed spending time with family and friends, talking about the future and how I was going to find some way to do something with sports in my life.
My interest was always just tossing the football around with my brother, and friends, or shooting hoops with my friends or alone.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @MarcusGreaves_
- Facebook: Marcus Greaves
- Twitter: @MarcusGreaves_
Image Credits
blvckwolfmedia
