Twenty-five years later, what a ride it has been
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Twenty-five years later, what a ride it has been
Twenty-five years ago tonight, Bob Greene started writing for NFLTalk.com. Greene: “I knew with certainty that something was going to change” Greene: I still love doing it, and the audience still seems to enjoy it. “All we can do is keep doing what we do every day and knowing when it’s time to turn the most out of the most exciting thing we’ve ever been a part of,” he says. “I’ll be able to go to bed tonight thinking about that night 25 years ago when I decided to give us the man’s skills upstairs to give me a break” “I don’t think about that day very often. When I do, I realize it’s a clear example of the power of human instinct. The little voice in our guts that guides us on the right path. Is it the Hand of God? Hell if I know. All I know is that, twenty-five-year-old Greene, I knew.”
I was too keyed up. Too excited about this new thing I’d stumbled into.
Writing about the NFL. Something that happened on a lark. It was a simple column submitted to NFLTalk.com, a long-defunct web outlet that covered pro football in essentially the same way PFT has done it since November 1, 2001.
I’d answered an open call for contributors that had been posted in early June of 2000. I threw something together and sent it in. A few days later, they called and offered me a spot as a twice-per-week contributor.
The pay? Zero dollars. I didn’t care.
A new and unexpected door was opening. The possibilities were limitless, even if I never would have comprehended at the time where it may lead.
Still, I knew. Deep down, I knew. Otherwise, I would have been able to fall asleep that night.
I don’t think about that night very often. When I do, I realize it’s a clear example of the power of human instinct. The little voice in our guts that guides us on the right path. Is it the Hand of God? Hell if I know. All I know is that, twenty-five years ago tonight, I knew with certainty that something was going to change.
Change it did. Yes, it took time. I spent the 2000 season doing more and more work for NFLTalk.com, without ever getting paid. When my wife would ask why I was putting in so much time in exchange for no compensation, I’d tell her I had a feeling about this.
I had no idea what that feeling would become. When the tech bubble burst in early 2001 and NFLTalk.com and its parent operation, SportsTalk.com, went belly up, I landed at ESPN.com on a six-month contract to do daily NFL news updates. They didn’t know I also was practicing law on a full-time basis, and I never told them.
As the contract was closing in on expiration, they offered a one-year renewal at a salary of $36,000. (I still have the contract in my office.) By then, my instinct was to do my own thing. To get content posted instantly, without one or more layers of editorial oversight and approval.
That led to PFT. I still didn’t know where it would go from there. My only goal was to make the $36,000 per year I’d turned down.
It didn’t happen, for several years. In September 2002, I decided PFT would never make any money. So I quit.
Two days later, I was back at it. I realized I didn’t care if it ever made money. I knew I wasn’t in it for the money. I loved doing it, and that’s all that mattered.
Obviously, things worked out. It took plenty of time. It took plenty of effort. It took several non-shitty business decisions, culminating in the move to license all content to NBC Sports as of July 1, 2009. I never dreamed that relationship would last 16 days or 16 weeks or even 16 months. On Tuesday, we’ll celebrate 16 years with NBC.
Since then, PFT/NBC has taken me all around the country. It has unlocked a universe of friends and colleagues I never would have imagined. It’s given my family the kind of financial security I was determined to achieve when I was keenly aware as a child that we were barely getting by.
What’s next? I have no idea. I still love doing it, and the audience still seems to enjoy it — even when they get upset with something I write or say about their favorite team or their favorite player(s).
Five years ago, I started fiddling with fiction in my spare time. Now, that little-paying hobby, which I’ve kept doing because I love it, is moving dangerously close to popping. (Stay tuned.)
I’ve found a sweet spot where I can do both at a high level. So I will, for as long as I can.
I turned 60 this month. I have no idea how much time I have left. Do any of us, at any age? All we can do is keep doing what we do, making the most out of every day and knowing when it’s time to turn in that we squeezed everything we could out of whatever skills the man upstairs decided to give us.
When I go to bed tonight, I probably won’t be able to sleep. I’ll be thinking about that night from 25 years ago when the excitement kept me awake into the wee hours. I’ll be thinking about everything that has happened in between.
And I’ll be thinking about what’s coming next. Because it absolutely is.