Headlocks to Headlines: Todd Grisham's Journey from WWE to ESPN

By Zach Francis


Syracuse, N.Y. - Most people in sports broadcasting never make it to work at one national network. At 39, Todd Grisham has already worked for two.

Grisham, a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, currently works for ESPN. He has been with the company since 2011, and has reached the level of anchor on ESPNEWS and SportsCenter.

“It’s been a lot of fun here [working at ESPN],” he said. “It’s really a dream job and I wake up every day knowing how fortunate I am to have it.”

After graduating from the University of West Georgia where he played soccer while earning a communications degree, Grisham sent his reel to stations all over the country before landing in Ottumwa, Iowa.

"I'd probably sent out a hundred of those darn things," he said. "Finally, one of the smallest TV markets in the country called me back. The next thing you know I was packing up my Acura Integra and driving to the middle of nowhere."

He worked in Ottumwa for less than two years before making the jump to Tucson, Arizona, where he stayed for five years as a weekend sports anchor and reporter. A friend saw World Wrestling Entertainment was looking for an interviewer and Grisham said 'why not?'

He sent in his resume and reel and didn't hear anything from the company for about six months and forgot he had applied before getting a call for an audition at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. A few months later he got another call with an offer.

"They called me out of the blue and said here's the offer and I said 'I'm going to be a Yankee,'" he said.

Grisham got to travel the world with World Wrestling Entertainment as a backstage interviewer and play-by-play caller. After seven years with the company, he got tired of being on the road for 51 weeks a year and decided a change was needed. Grisham said the transition from a world of storylines to unexpected situations was easier than some might think.

“Believe it or not, doing wrestling is probably one of the hardest things you could possibly do,” he said. “I mean the fans there are right in your ear screaming. Vince McMahon’s [the owner of WWE] in your ear screaming, the producer. So going to ESPN, I wouldn’t say easier is not the word, but the transition was not difficult for me.”

Grisham said he values his time with WWE because of some of the people he got to work with, most notably, a man Grisham regards as the greatest wrestling announcer of all time, Jim Ross.

“It’s basically, like if you’re a baseball player, and you get to play second base while Derek Jeter’s playing shortstop,” he explained.
 

Listen to the full interview at: https://soundcloud.com/acharyrancis/todd-grisham-interview

Full interview transcript

Zach Francis: We’re really honored to have Todd Grisham of ESPN with us. Todd how are you doing tonight?

Todd Grisham: Doing well Zachary, thanks for having me on.

Z: No problem. So Todd is currently with ESPN and before that, he um started out in the 90’s at a small town in Iowa. Todd, how was it just breaking into the business in the small town?

T: It was very difficult coming out of college. I was making, back then, VHS tapes of my reel. So all of clips of me on camera and I’d probably sent out a hundred of those darn things and couldn’t get a bite on anything and then finally one of the smallest TV markets in the country called me back, had a phone interview with the boss there, and the next thing you know I was packing up my Acura Integra and driving to the middle of nowhere.

Z: Being for the south, I know that you graduated from West Georgia, what was the transition to the Midwest?

T: It wasn’t, I came from a small town, so it wasn’t too dramatic. Now if I’d grown up in Atlanta and then gone to Ottumwa, Iowa it may have been culture shock, but I was used to being in a small town and used to seeing the same people all the time and going to the same grocery store every day, so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. I was just excited to be on TV. I was just jumping for joy when I got there. I wasn’t making any money, but I was sure happy.

Z: So then after you’ve been at Iowa, been in Iowa for a few years, you go to Tucson. How was the big market jump at the time?

T: For me, it was huge! I was in market 198, and I think at the time it was 210 markets, 205, so basically pretty much the bottom market. And Tucson was like 70, so I jumped 120 something markets, so I was elated. So I went from having to shoot everything myself and carry all the equipment, you know we’d have a camera man most times and it was like a whole different ballgame. The University of Arizona was there, so we had a lot of great sports to cover. I went to a Final Four. The Arizona Diamondbacks won a World Series while I was there, right over there in Phoenix, so the things to cover and people to interview was on a much larger and exciting scale.

Z: Oh I’m sure it was. Uhm, so then after you’ve been in Tucson for a few years, you make it to a national company. And you get signed by the WWE. How did that happen?

T: It was very strange. A friend of mine said ‘Hey, I noticed WWE has an opening. You’re kind of off the wall and goofy and do weird stuff on TV. You should send them a resume.’ So I said, yeah, why not? I’d been in Tucson for about four years at that time I think. So I sent it to them, didn’t hear anything back, which you know is common place for a national job like that, and then one day they called me on a Friday and asked me if I could fly to New York City and basically be there on the next Monday. And I didn’t remember sending the resume in. It had been like six months. So it kind of came out of left field. So I flew up there. Hadn’t watched the product in probably 10 years, I liked it when I was a kid and this time I was 25, something like that, uh, 26 maybe. So I went up here, did the audition, didn’t hear anything for three or four months, thought I didn’t get it, and they called me out of the blue and said here’s the offer and I said I’m going to be a Yankee.

Z: (Laugh) You’re right, that’s really kind of a strange story. And then you were with the company for seven years with a bunch of, as a backstage interview, color commentator, play-by-play guy, uhm and you really got to work with some legendary names. Most notably Jim Ross.

T: Yes. Jim Ross is a big influence on my career. He’s in my opinion, the best to ever do it. He’s a lot of fun and certainly a great learning experience being able to hang out with him and learn from him. It’s basically, like if you’re a baseball player, and you get to play second base while Derek Jeter’s playing shortstop. I mean, that’s how it was for me and uh, I got to cover a lot of great characters. You know, Rowdy Roddy Piper just died the other day, and he was a great guy. Dusty Rhodes, a great guy. So all of these guys that you’ve been hearing about lately that have passed away, um, I used to work with, so it’s been a tough run for a little while. But it was certainly a unique lifestyle. It was a great job. It was a lot of fun. But after a while, you know when you travel 51 weeks a year for seven, eight years, you kind of get ready to do something else.

Z: So then, in 2011, you started working for ESPN. What was it like just moving from one national company at that point to another?

T: Believe it or not, doing wrestling is probably one of the hardest things you could possibly do. I mean the fans there are right in your ear screaming. Vince McMahon’s in your ear screaming, the producer. So going to ESPN, I wouldn’t say easier is not the word, but the transition was not difficult for me. In some ways, I guess it was easier. But, I still had to get in the mix of knowing sports. And start following what’s going on. I’d been out of the loop for so long. But it’s been a lot of fun here, I’m enjoying it and we were talking about before our interview here, it’s really a dream job and every day I wake up knowing how fortunate I am to have it.

Z: What’s the biggest thing that you’ve learned while you’ve been at ESPN, that’s really helped to progress your career along?

T: Hmmm. I guess I would say, even if you don’t know something, don’t let them know that you don’t know. And it’s kind of… If in 20 minutes I’ve got to interview some player for the Kansas City Royals and I haven’t watched any Kansas City Royals games and I don’t know any players on the team I’ve got 20 minutes to basically become an expert. So by the time that he comes on, I sound intelligent and sound like I know what I’m talking about. And you know, a lot of people can’t do that. They don’t know how to handle an interview like that. So you’ve just got to, you know, know where your weaknesses are and work around them.

Z: Ok, ok. I think that’s some valuable advice.

T: Yeah, (Laugh) Basically try and lie.

Z: (Laugh) So ESPN for you, and I think for most sports broadcasters, was the dream. So once you make it to the pinnacle, where do you go from there?

T: Well, ESPN is so large and there’s so many sports that we cover, and so many broadcasts that we do, you can basically become anything you want to be right here at ESPN. I enjoy UFC and boxing, so I get to cover that and call play-by-play every once in a while. So I get to travel and do fights. There’s never a boring day. There’s always something that you can do here at ESPN that, for the most part, I mean I guess for instance if you wanted to call NASCAR races and ESPN doesn’t do NASCAR anymore, that would be one instance of a reason you might want to leave. For the most part, anything you want, ESPN’s got.

Z: Ok, uhm, well Todd, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule for taking the time to talk to us tonight and good luck in the future.

T: No problem Zach, and good luck to you as well.