Tommy Farrell: Pursuing His Childhood Dream

Story and photo by Tyler Dudley

SYRACUSE N.Y. – Not many people know the feeling of listening to a radio broadcast of a football game alone in a wheelchair, but that feeling is all too familiar for Tommy Farrell. 

On the first day of training camp at Stonehill College, Farrell, in his junior year, blew out his knee and was out for the season. After surgery, he spent his time listening to live broadcasts of football games. 

It took one game to remind him why he wants to be a sports broadcaster.

After listening to the Stonehill against Long Island University game, Farrell said the broadcasters weren’t descriptive and didn’t “set up the moment.” 

“I definitely would, which is what you have to do, put your emotions aside and tell it how it is,” Farrell said.

In the future, he wants to paint the picture for his audience and “do it the right way.” Farrell isn’t in it for the money though. Farrell's passion brings him from Toms River, N.J. to the S.I Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University in pursuit of his childhood dream.

“I’ve always known I wanted to do this, and whether I make money or not…as long as I love what I’m doing,” Farrell said.

You can read the full Q&A with Tommy Farrell below or listen to the audio interview here
_____________________________________________________________________________

Q: So where did your passion for sports first start?

A: So I remember watching the Super Bowl with my dad when the Giants got smacked by the Ravens and my dad was really upset. I was so intrigued by the announcers and I was like 8-years-old. I asked my dad and I was like “Man, that really stinks, they have to go pay to do their job,” ‘cause I was always told that it was really expensive to go and I didn’t understand that the commentators got paid to go to the Super Bowl. He goes “No, they’re really good, so they get paid to go to the Super Bowl,” and I said, “Sign me up!” So when I was 8-years-old I always knew I wanted to be a sports broadcaster because they got paid to go to the best sporting events in the world.

Q: So starting from when you were 8-years-old, is there a specific moment, like did you play a specific sport that kind of reassured you going into broadcasting?

A: Yeah, so I played football and baseball my whole life. I was on partial scholarship to play college football in undergrad, so I did. Umm, my junior year, I was supposed to start and play linebacker but I blew my knee out during training camp so I was in a wheelchair for a few months. And the day after my surgery, my team was playing down at Long Island University, in Long Island, and I was listening to the game in my wheelchair, by myself in my room because they didn’t have a video stream. And for a Division II school, it’s kind of unheard of that they didn’t have a video stream. So I’m there listening to these college kids do the play-by-play for Stone Hill vs LIU and, I’m not going to say it was the greatest play-by-play, but the fact that I, when I knew I wanted to do it it was when we were down by 30 points in the 4^th quarter, my college, and we came back and won and threw a hail mary, a 60-yard hail mary with one second left. It was on Sports Centers Top 10, but the kids, the students, excuse me, announcing it, they didn’t really set up the moment. I had to like go back and talk to my teammates about how it really happened  because they didn’t really describe the moment the right way, umm, for a hail mary when. That’s when I knew that not only could I have done a better job, but I wanted to give the fans and whoever was listening to a radio broadcast, I wanted to paint the picture for them, so I wanted to do it the right way. And I want to do it the right way in the future.

Q: So what was it like knowing that you didn’t get the full picture, you were just sitting there listening to it, not really knowing what was going on.

A: It was really confusing because 1, I was by myself so I couldn’t like look at anyone like “Did you hear what just happened?” and number 2, it it kind of stunk because I wanted to be excited for my teammates but I didn’t know if that really happened because they also said there was a flag on the play, but there wasn’t and there was no video for me to understand what really happened. So, if they would’ve painted the picture the right way, it would’ve been great. So it took me like 10 minutes after it actually happened to realize that we won on like a 60-yard hail mary.

Q: And, hypothetically speaking, if you were the one doing the play-by-play, what would you have done differently that that announcer didn’t do?

A: I wouldn’t have let my emotions get in the way of telling the story because they were also LIU students, so they were really upset that LIU loss and I’m pretty sure it was like the biggest comeback in Division II history, or something, I don’t know what it was. So they were more upset that LIU loss than painting the picture for whether it was Stone Hill fans or just people listening on the radio to the game. And they were really upset and they weren’t good with their details, like who caught the catch? I didn’t know who caught the grab, it was my friend Cory. Umm, I didn’t know if there was a flag or not, they just didn’t describe it well. So I definitely, which is what you have to do, put your emotions aside and tell it how it is.

Q: Is there a specific sport that you want to do radio broadcasting for or are you kind of open to it all?

A: I feel like I’m better at football and basketball, but I’m very, especially with my time at Newhouse, I’m very open to anything. I’m open to learn, I’m open to step out of my comfort zone.

Q: And your parents, do they have any experience in sports broadcasting or how do they feel with you being an athlete, wanting this dream at the age of 8-years-old.

A: So my parents were always very supportive of my dream. They’re both in education, my mom is a kindergarten teacher and my dad is a superintendent. Umm, they understand my passion. I’ve had it since I was 8, so they’ve been very supportive because they have always wanted me to follow my dream. They don’t really know the logistics of it, but the fact that I’m in Newhouse, it’s a prestigious school, so they’re supportive of me 100%.

Q: And growing up, because you had this passion at such a young age, did you ever reach a moment where you thought, maybe this isn’t what I want to do. Did you kind of change career paths or has it always been pretty steady?

A: It’s always been, this has always been it. I’ve always been told that, from people that are in broadcasting, who really love it. They have never worked a day in their life because work is something you don’t enjoy. So I’ve always known I wanted to do this, and whether I make money or not, who cares, as long as I love what I’m doing and I have a passion for it, then it’s what I’ve always wanted to do.

Q: Perfect, well thank you for taking the time to speak with me Tommy.

A: Thank you