WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:13.675 --> 00:00:14.455 Sam Acho: Oh my gosh. 00:00:14.455 --> 00:00:19.405 Welcome everyone to the Sam Acho podcast featuring Cliff Marshall. 00:00:19.405 --> 00:00:21.895 And just like always, this one's a little bit different. 00:00:21.895 --> 00:00:23.065 We usually have special guests. 00:00:23.425 --> 00:00:26.035 This guest is a little bit more special than most. 00:00:27.445 --> 00:00:31.295 Clif Marshall: Sam, we are so pumped today to have Jay Harris with us. 00:00:31.410 --> 00:00:34.405 He's a guy I've watched for many years on tv. 00:00:34.675 --> 00:00:38.725 Jay is a journalist who has worked for ESPN since 2003. 00:00:39.445 --> 00:00:44.155 He has hosted a variety of shows during his tenure on ESPN, including 00:00:44.155 --> 00:00:49.675 SportsCenter outside the lines NFL Live Baseball tonight and first take. 00:00:50.125 --> 00:00:54.925 Jay is not only an iconic sports anchor, he's also a husband, a 00:00:54.925 --> 00:00:57.685 father, and a strong man of faith. 00:00:57.985 --> 00:01:01.105 In addition to that, though, he is also Sam Machos coworker. 00:01:01.555 --> 00:01:03.745 So Jay, welcome to the podcast. 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:05.630 Jay Harris: led with that last one, to be honest with you. 00:01:06.305 --> 00:01:07.805 Sam Acho: Jay, you were nodding your head doing the intro. 00:01:07.805 --> 00:01:09.605 You, it sounds like you like the intro a little bit. 00:01:09.605 --> 00:01:10.655 So you like the intro? 00:01:10.670 --> 00:01:12.200 Jay Harris: You know what I was wondering? 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:16.070 'cause I, I honestly, I hate it when people read my bio normally I 00:01:16.070 --> 00:01:17.600 inter, normally I interrupt and go. 00:01:17.600 --> 00:01:18.440 No one wants to hear that. 00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:19.490 No one wants to hear that. 00:01:19.490 --> 00:01:21.140 No one, that's just, that's just stuff. 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:22.580 Stuff I did means nothing. 00:01:22.820 --> 00:01:27.530 It matters not, um, but, but it was short and, and you know, when he 00:01:27.530 --> 00:01:29.060 said iconic, I figured I'd shut up. 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:30.320 'cause I, I liked that one. 00:01:30.800 --> 00:01:31.550 I liked that part. 00:01:33.470 --> 00:01:34.070 Clif Marshall: Yeah. 00:01:35.075 --> 00:01:38.165 Well, Jay, I want to know, just first and foremost, I grew up wanting 00:01:38.165 --> 00:01:40.655 to be like an NFL football player. 00:01:41.135 --> 00:01:43.205 Did you grow up wanting to be a sports anchor? 00:01:44.405 --> 00:01:46.895 Jay Harris: Um, no, no. 00:01:46.895 --> 00:01:50.675 I grew up wanting to be, uh, just a journalist. 00:01:50.915 --> 00:01:55.805 Uh, the first job that I wanted was Brent Mus Burger's at CBS Sports. 00:01:55.805 --> 00:01:57.095 That's what I, I looked up to. 00:01:57.635 --> 00:02:01.115 Um, I got into News first Radio news. 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:07.010 So I kind of shifted and, um, the Today Show, good Morning America. 00:02:07.010 --> 00:02:08.450 That was kind of my goal. 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:11.270 Um, but I just wanted to be a storyteller. 00:02:11.540 --> 00:02:13.805 I didn't necessarily want to be news or sports. 00:02:15.830 --> 00:02:15.910 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:02:16.405 --> 00:02:17.785 Jay, how hard was it? 00:02:17.995 --> 00:02:20.095 You talked about wanting to be a storyteller and having that being your 00:02:20.095 --> 00:02:24.145 goal, but in a lot of people's eyes, you're at the top or close to the top, 00:02:24.145 --> 00:02:25.435 or if you're at the, the, the worldwide 00:02:25.435 --> 00:02:27.270 leader, how hard was it getting? 00:02:28.220 --> 00:02:30.170 To the worldwide leader in sports. 00:02:32.360 --> 00:02:36.290 Jay Harris: Um, you know, all of us have different stories and I'll, I'll, I'll do 00:02:36.290 --> 00:02:38.750 this story in a, in a condensed version. 00:02:39.260 --> 00:02:41.390 It wasn't hard at all. 00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:45.950 It was just a series of things that lined up, that seemed to 00:02:45.950 --> 00:02:49.010 line up as, as, as our lives go. 00:02:49.580 --> 00:02:52.945 Um, I was, okay, I'll go back to the beginning. 00:02:53.705 --> 00:02:58.895 I, I started in in, in radio news at a small station in Portsmouth, Virginia, and 00:02:58.895 --> 00:03:01.625 moved, uh, moved over to the, the FM side. 00:03:02.015 --> 00:03:09.095 And in 1988, um, I had a, a part-time job at a record store at, on right 00:03:09.095 --> 00:03:10.595 on the waterfront of Virginia Beach. 00:03:10.985 --> 00:03:16.205 So I had a front row seat for the, uh, labor Fest slash Greek Fest riots of 00:03:16.205 --> 00:03:19.745 that year when the City of Virginia Beach was tired of all these black 00:03:19.745 --> 00:03:21.215 college students coming into town. 00:03:21.725 --> 00:03:26.195 And it was a clash between a bunch of students, literally students 00:03:26.195 --> 00:03:27.635 and, and the police and the city. 00:03:27.635 --> 00:03:28.715 And it was a mess. 00:03:29.225 --> 00:03:32.135 And I was working at the radio station at the time and I had a 00:03:32.135 --> 00:03:33.125 front row seat for everything. 00:03:33.125 --> 00:03:36.455 So I filed stories on the event, uh, as it was happening. 00:03:36.755 --> 00:03:39.725 And I filed stories to the, uh, Sheridan Broadcasting Network, 00:03:39.725 --> 00:03:43.265 now known as American Urban Radio Networks at the time, the largest 00:03:43.265 --> 00:03:44.585 black radio network in the country. 00:03:45.155 --> 00:03:47.105 And, um, they liked my work. 00:03:48.095 --> 00:03:51.095 They brought me up for an interview and they were hiring someone for their local 00:03:51.095 --> 00:03:54.305 side 'cause they were moving the local anchor to the national desk and, and 00:03:54.305 --> 00:03:56.615 that was my first full-time media job. 00:03:57.155 --> 00:03:59.255 So, alright, I'm gonna fast forward. 00:03:59.705 --> 00:04:06.335 Um, a gentleman came to the network by the name of Fred Brown, um, and he was my boss 00:04:06.665 --> 00:04:09.395 that Fred left and went to ESPN Radio. 00:04:09.785 --> 00:04:10.055 Okay. 00:04:10.595 --> 00:04:13.925 Um, and moved from radio to recruiting. 00:04:14.855 --> 00:04:19.655 Um, at the end of my, I had since moved over from radio to television, so at 00:04:19.655 --> 00:04:23.555 the end of my television contract, I sent a tape for Fred to critique 00:04:23.825 --> 00:04:28.295 because I trusted his opinion and he, unbeknownst to me, showed it to some 00:04:28.295 --> 00:04:30.965 folks at ESPN and they liked my tape. 00:04:31.895 --> 00:04:35.555 And I kind of was like, why did you show ESPN people my tape? 00:04:35.585 --> 00:04:37.025 'cause I don't even do sports. 00:04:37.085 --> 00:04:37.685 I do news. 00:04:37.685 --> 00:04:39.365 I've been doing news for the past 12 years. 00:04:39.755 --> 00:04:42.305 He's like, I know, but I liked it and I wanted them to see it. 00:04:42.695 --> 00:04:43.205 So. 00:04:43.790 --> 00:04:45.500 Long story after that. 00:04:45.500 --> 00:04:48.740 Short, they liked it, wanted to hire me. 00:04:50.270 --> 00:04:54.560 They auditioned me, and I've been there 22 years. 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:57.710 But at first I didn't want, I didn't want the job because I didn't 00:04:57.710 --> 00:04:59.330 wanna change from news to sports. 00:04:59.540 --> 00:05:03.410 So I kind of, I kind of turned them down, uh, twice. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.590 But they were, they were persistent and insistent. 00:05:06.950 --> 00:05:08.780 So they, they won. 00:05:09.790 --> 00:05:12.430 Sam Acho: Why, why did you end up finally saying yes? 00:05:13.295 --> 00:05:16.145 Jay Harris: Well, because all of my friends thought 00:05:16.145 --> 00:05:18.005 I was stupid for saying no. 00:05:19.145 --> 00:05:25.205 And my, my wife kind of also probably thought the same thing as she got out the 00:05:25.205 --> 00:05:30.515 legal pad that morning after I'd finally decided I was gonna go and I woke up 00:05:30.515 --> 00:05:32.765 the next morning going, I'm not going. 00:05:32.855 --> 00:05:33.995 I don't want to go. 00:05:34.115 --> 00:05:35.375 I don't want to do sports. 00:05:35.525 --> 00:05:36.635 I want to do news. 00:05:36.665 --> 00:05:37.505 'cause I was in that mode. 00:05:38.090 --> 00:05:42.950 And, and she gave me that look, that, that, that says, you poor, poor, 00:05:42.950 --> 00:05:47.030 stupid fellow, I'm going to save you from yourself in this moment. 00:05:47.540 --> 00:05:50.720 Got out the legal pad, lined down the middle, pros and cons. 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:55.370 And the, the, the health benefits and the Disney benefits alone made 00:05:55.370 --> 00:05:59.690 it the best decision that she and my friends and everybody else made. 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:03.620 'cause given, if I left it to myself, I'd have probably messed it up again. 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:04.340 I'd have probably said no. 00:06:04.370 --> 00:06:05.990 'cause I'm just, I was just like, I didn't wanna go. 00:06:06.530 --> 00:06:07.970 Because I didn't wanna pick him up and move him. 00:06:08.510 --> 00:06:11.810 And the boy was little at the time, and I, I don't know, I just wasn't thinking, 00:06:11.870 --> 00:06:16.430 I just wasn't thinking right, fellas, I just wasn't thinking I was outta my mind, 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.850 I was thinking like this and I should have been thinking like, like that. 00:06:20.030 --> 00:06:21.620 So it worked out. 00:06:21.995 --> 00:06:26.600 So the answer to your question, it wasn't really hard to get there. 00:06:26.690 --> 00:06:27.980 I just need to get outta my own way. 00:06:29.150 --> 00:06:29.240 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:06:30.515 --> 00:06:34.055 Clif Marshall: Jay, I gotta ask you, I'm a little nervous interviewing you today 00:06:34.055 --> 00:06:38.465 because I've watched you for so many years on SportsCenter, but I wanna ask you, 00:06:38.690 --> 00:06:39.470 Jay Harris: Why are you nervous? 00:06:40.020 --> 00:06:40.865 Clif Marshall: I, I don't know. 00:06:40.865 --> 00:06:44.255 I just feel like I've been watching you for so long, waking up to SportsCenter 00:06:44.330 --> 00:06:45.710 Jay Harris: Look, you gonna say so long. 00:06:45.710 --> 00:06:47.720 One more time, and I'm gonna leave this podcast. 00:06:50.705 --> 00:06:51.905 Sam Acho: Hey, you said 1988. 00:06:51.905 --> 00:06:54.460 I said, oh, man, I, I might've been in the womb in 1988. 00:06:56.330 --> 00:06:57.770 Clif Marshall: For a couple years, Jay. 00:06:57.830 --> 00:06:58.670 Jay, for a couple 00:06:58.895 --> 00:06:59.465 Jay Harris: That's better. 00:06:59.555 --> 00:07:00.305 That's much better. 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.990 Clif Marshall: but I wanna ask you, were you nervous? 00:07:03.200 --> 00:07:07.490 I wanna ask you, were you nervous for your first SportsCenter show? 00:07:07.535 --> 00:07:08.135 Jay Harris: oh heck yeah. 00:07:08.195 --> 00:07:08.675 Well, no. 00:07:08.675 --> 00:07:09.545 Well, okay. 00:07:10.595 --> 00:07:14.135 My first SportsCenter show, I was nervous. 00:07:15.395 --> 00:07:19.235 But I wasn't as nervous as I was for my very first show 00:07:19.235 --> 00:07:21.275 period, which was on ESPN news. 00:07:22.505 --> 00:07:29.975 I was frightened to do that show because observing for almost a 00:07:29.975 --> 00:07:34.655 month and seeing how fast it was, I mean, coming from anchoring the 00:07:34.655 --> 00:07:39.515 local news, which if unless you have breaking news, it is not fast paced. 00:07:39.905 --> 00:07:41.225 It is as scripted. 00:07:41.585 --> 00:07:45.635 And you, you and most anchors don't even write their own stuff. 00:07:45.635 --> 00:07:49.025 We write our own stuff at at, at ESPN, at Sports Center. 00:07:49.415 --> 00:07:53.075 But when I was a, a main anchor in Pittsburgh, I, the, the associate 00:07:53.105 --> 00:07:54.425 producer wrote most of the stuff. 00:07:54.425 --> 00:07:57.545 And my co-anchor and I, we copied, we were copy editors basically. 00:07:57.965 --> 00:08:00.185 So I had to write the show. 00:08:00.485 --> 00:08:03.425 You know, I had to make sure my number, we had a coordinating producer that 00:08:03.425 --> 00:08:06.515 would look over the scripts, make sure we didn't say anything libelous or crazy. 00:08:06.875 --> 00:08:07.025 Um. 00:08:07.610 --> 00:08:09.830 And we had a researcher who would make sure that we had the 00:08:09.830 --> 00:08:11.690 right numbers and, and whatnot. 00:08:11.690 --> 00:08:14.810 The trends and the stats for whatever games, whatever highlights. 00:08:15.140 --> 00:08:19.760 But it was just the fact that at any moment, and this happened, you 00:08:19.760 --> 00:08:23.420 could be in the middle of doing a highlight and the producer would 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:28.250 get in your ear and say, Hey, we got the star of the game standing by. 00:08:28.610 --> 00:08:32.420 Uh, you're gonna talk to Giannis Antetokounmpo Think of some questions 00:08:33.080 --> 00:08:34.580 as I'm doing the Bucks highlight. 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:35.715 And I'm like, uh, okay. 00:08:36.395 --> 00:08:37.325 Uh, Giannis. 00:08:37.385 --> 00:08:37.595 Okay. 00:08:37.595 --> 00:08:38.225 I know who he is. 00:08:38.255 --> 00:08:38.465 Okay. 00:08:38.525 --> 00:08:40.565 Uh, uh, shucks. 00:08:40.625 --> 00:08:43.895 As I'm reading the highlight, trying to think of some questions for Giannis and 00:08:43.895 --> 00:08:46.025 at the end of the highlight, there he is. 00:08:46.295 --> 00:08:49.295 I'm just, it wasn't Giannis, it was a few other people, but I'm just 00:08:49.295 --> 00:08:53.195 using Giannis as an example and there he is and I have to talk to him. 00:08:54.275 --> 00:08:57.485 So that was how ESPN news was every single day. 00:08:58.565 --> 00:09:03.965 So SportsCenter wasn't that crazy, um, most days back then. 00:09:03.965 --> 00:09:05.485 So when I did my first SportsCenter, I was like. 00:09:07.025 --> 00:09:11.015 Wow, I could, I could do this all the time. 00:09:11.525 --> 00:09:15.035 This is, this is pretty easy nowadays. 00:09:15.395 --> 00:09:19.385 Not so much because, you know, we welcome breaking news these days and 00:09:19.385 --> 00:09:22.985 just, things just, just happen and I welcome breaking news these days 00:09:23.015 --> 00:09:24.365 'cause it just makes the show more fun. 00:09:24.875 --> 00:09:29.430 But back then, yeah, ESPN News terrified me much more than Sports Center did. 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:30.700 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:09:31.505 --> 00:09:34.655 Jay, you are an old Dominion alum, right? 00:09:34.655 --> 00:09:35.915 Way, way, 00:09:36.230 --> 00:09:36.920 Jay Harris: Go Monarchs. 00:09:37.220 --> 00:09:37.400 See? 00:09:37.400 --> 00:09:37.880 There you go. 00:09:37.880 --> 00:09:38.150 See? 00:09:38.150 --> 00:09:38.750 There you go. 00:09:38.930 --> 00:09:41.300 See, see, see 00:09:41.885 --> 00:09:41.975 Sam Acho: What? 00:09:41.975 --> 00:09:41.985 What? 00:09:43.760 --> 00:09:47.300 Jay Harris: I was going, I was gonna pull my helmet, my helmet off the shelf and 00:09:47.375 --> 00:09:47.705 Sam Acho: Oh. 00:09:48.125 --> 00:09:48.345 Clif Marshall: Oh, 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:48.740 Jay Harris: Monarchs. 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:54.920 But no, you had to go way long back there, back like what you said, Sam. 00:09:55.250 --> 00:09:56.810 So it's been fun. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:58.640 It's been fun doing the podcast with y'all. 00:10:00.925 --> 00:10:09.635 Sam Acho: Jay, what would you tell the 22 or the 21-year-old Jay Harris now? 00:10:10.445 --> 00:10:16.580 Jay Harris: I would tell him to do more than one internship and to pay attention 00:10:17.030 --> 00:10:22.640 and to really, um, dig into it because that's what you say you want to do. 00:10:22.640 --> 00:10:26.180 So act like it because I don't think I, I don't think I was a very 00:10:26.330 --> 00:10:27.710 good intern, to be honest with you. 00:10:28.280 --> 00:10:35.180 Um, I would also tell him to, um, network better, uh, learn the people in your 00:10:35.180 --> 00:10:43.910 area, uh, join organizations, um, be on folks radar, uh, do more shadowing and, 00:10:43.910 --> 00:10:52.010 and, and really becoming a professional journalist without a job, just trying 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:54.260 to, you know, fit myself into that mold. 00:10:54.260 --> 00:10:55.190 I would tell him that. 00:10:55.400 --> 00:10:57.200 I would also tell him, don't be so shy. 00:10:58.280 --> 00:11:02.330 Raise your hand, ask questions, uh, knock on doors. 00:11:02.780 --> 00:11:09.470 Um, trust yourself more than the, than my, my 22-year-old self did. 00:11:09.710 --> 00:11:11.210 I would tell myself a lot of things. 00:11:12.630 --> 00:11:15.695 I would also tell myself not to stop playing basketball because. 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:16.160 Clif Marshall: Hmm. 00:11:16.970 --> 00:11:17.450 Sam Acho: Well, hold on. 00:11:18.050 --> 00:11:18.290 Yeah. 00:11:18.290 --> 00:11:18.860 Why? 00:11:19.560 --> 00:11:22.760 Jay Harris: Because basketball is like the best sport, at least 00:11:22.760 --> 00:11:24.440 for me for staying in shape. 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:27.800 It was fun and I went through a period where I didn't play. 00:11:27.800 --> 00:11:30.110 Now, now my knees don't like me to play. 00:11:30.140 --> 00:11:32.060 My knees would rather go to the golf course. 00:11:32.570 --> 00:11:36.170 So I, like, I, I let my body get out of basketball playing shape and I should 00:11:36.170 --> 00:11:37.370 have, I should have kept that up. 00:11:40.655 --> 00:11:44.495 Clif Marshall: Jay, you mentioned earlier in the show about being a storyteller 00:11:44.765 --> 00:11:49.505 that you enjoy being a storyteller, and I watched recently you told a 00:11:49.505 --> 00:11:54.125 story on Good Morning America that you were diagnosed with prostate cancer. 00:11:54.815 --> 00:11:56.945 Can you, can you walk us through that? 00:11:56.950 --> 00:11:57.040 Um. 00:11:58.775 --> 00:12:02.345 meeting that you had with the doctor and the feelings that you experienced 00:12:02.345 --> 00:12:04.415 when he had announced your diagnosis? 00:12:04.625 --> 00:12:05.315 Jay Harris: Sure. 00:12:05.855 --> 00:12:09.455 Um, just to make sure my doctor doesn't get mad. 00:12:09.455 --> 00:12:09.845 It's, she's a sheep. 00:12:11.015 --> 00:12:11.585 Clif Marshall: Oh, sorry 00:12:11.660 --> 00:12:11.950 Jay Harris: Yeah. 00:12:14.375 --> 00:12:19.835 Um, my father, uh, had prostate cancer. 00:12:19.985 --> 00:12:23.375 He, uh, he, he's no longer with us, but it wasn't because of prostate cancer. 00:12:23.375 --> 00:12:23.855 He beat it. 00:12:23.855 --> 00:12:26.915 He was, uh, with the radiation, he was, he came through it fine. 00:12:27.635 --> 00:12:29.435 Um, so it was always on my radar. 00:12:29.435 --> 00:12:32.195 You know, they ask you your family history, any history of blah, blah, blah. 00:12:32.195 --> 00:12:33.755 Say, well, yeah, my dad had prostate cancer. 00:12:33.785 --> 00:12:35.105 Okay, so we're gonna watch that. 00:12:35.495 --> 00:12:37.895 So we've always watched my PSA numbers. 00:12:38.525 --> 00:12:39.095 Um. 00:12:39.485 --> 00:12:43.415 As I got older, you know, there different variables affect your PSA. 00:12:43.985 --> 00:12:49.430 So I think it was last year, between two and four are the acceptable, um, is the 00:12:49.435 --> 00:12:54.575 acceptable, I don't know the word, but in there is is acceptable above four. 00:12:55.025 --> 00:12:57.815 Eh, so my PSA was 4.1, 00:12:58.595 --> 00:13:00.425 but I was older. 00:13:00.785 --> 00:13:03.875 Different things can affect it and, and we talked about it. 00:13:03.875 --> 00:13:05.075 My doctor said, let's watch it. 00:13:05.105 --> 00:13:05.945 We will watch it. 00:13:06.035 --> 00:13:06.425 Okay. 00:13:06.635 --> 00:13:07.235 And I said, cool. 00:13:07.325 --> 00:13:08.975 Alright, that sounds, that sounds fair. 00:13:09.530 --> 00:13:12.770 So we did the blood test, the following, my following annual 00:13:12.770 --> 00:13:14.570 physical, and it was 6.3. 00:13:15.610 --> 00:13:15.730 Clif Marshall: Hmm. 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:18.140 Jay Harris: and she said, you're going to a urologist? 00:13:18.140 --> 00:13:19.070 I'm like, yes, ma'am. 00:13:19.790 --> 00:13:27.560 So, um, the, uh, urologist, um, gave me the digital exam, which 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:32.720 confirmed the fears that my primary doctor thought and sent me to get 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:35.330 an MRI and the MRI confirmed it. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:38.575 Well, the MRI said there's something there that the MRI thought was cancer. 00:13:39.395 --> 00:13:42.155 And then I needed to get a biopsy and the biopsy confirmed it. 00:13:42.875 --> 00:13:48.935 Um, and then I got the, uh, PET scan, which basically I had to, um, be 00:13:48.935 --> 00:13:53.135 injected with radioactive fluid and they put me through a little donut machine 00:13:53.495 --> 00:13:57.215 and where whatever lit up in my body was where the cancer had spread to, 00:13:58.030 --> 00:13:58.390 Clif Marshall: Hmm. 00:13:58.490 --> 00:14:00.365 Jay Harris: and it only lit up on my prostate. 00:14:01.150 --> 00:14:01.690 Clif Marshall: Wow. 00:14:01.835 --> 00:14:04.025 Jay Harris: That was the day that. 00:14:05.285 --> 00:14:09.875 Me and my, my, my family really kind of exhaled with this, right? 00:14:10.445 --> 00:14:12.065 Um, 'cause it hadn't spread. 00:14:12.335 --> 00:14:16.895 Then we scheduled the surgery and I chose surgery over radiation. 00:14:17.045 --> 00:14:23.855 Um, they both have pretty similar success rates, although if you choose the 00:14:23.855 --> 00:14:28.355 radiation and something comes back later down the road, surgery is not an option. 00:14:29.405 --> 00:14:33.515 With surgery, if something happens, if there's a recurrence, then like targeted 00:14:33.515 --> 00:14:35.375 radiation is still an option with me. 00:14:35.795 --> 00:14:37.115 So that's why I chose the surgery. 00:14:37.745 --> 00:14:42.785 Um, but when, honestly, when she gave me the way she told me, what 00:14:42.785 --> 00:14:46.025 she told me, um, I don't know. 00:14:46.025 --> 00:14:48.215 I kind of ex, I kind of expected it. 00:14:48.725 --> 00:14:52.505 I think I, I, I, I'm one of those people who like thinks the 00:14:52.505 --> 00:14:55.805 worst, the absolute worst, so I can reel it back if it's better. 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:58.880 As opposed to, as opposed to going, ah, it's nothing. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:01.130 And then being disappointed every step of the way. 00:15:02.180 --> 00:15:05.690 Uh, I'd rather make myself crazy in the beginning and then, and then come back. 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:11.630 So, yeah, that's, it's kind of a, it was kind of a rollercoaster, but again, 00:15:11.630 --> 00:15:16.580 since my dad had it and, and, and since I'm a black man and we get it like two 00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:20.150 times more, um, I kind of expected it. 00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:23.150 My, a good friend of mine said to see if it's some, it's something 00:15:23.150 --> 00:15:25.070 you will, you will die with. 00:15:25.430 --> 00:15:26.270 Or die from? 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:27.890 'cause we just seem to get it. 00:15:30.505 --> 00:15:33.565 Sam Acho: In that same interview, Jay, you had mentioned that. 00:15:34.310 --> 00:15:36.320 You said you would come back better than 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:36.550 ever. 00:15:36.615 --> 00:15:37.035 Jay Harris: Mm-hmm 00:15:37.910 --> 00:15:40.460 Sam Acho: Where does that strength come from? 00:15:42.575 --> 00:15:42.695 Jay Harris: Hmm. 00:15:44.690 --> 00:15:49.280 Well my grandparents were praying people, um, you know, parents too. 00:15:49.280 --> 00:15:51.500 But yeah, I go back to my grandparents 'cause they were 00:15:51.500 --> 00:15:52.550 like the rocks of the family. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:53.990 Um. 00:15:54.815 --> 00:15:57.125 Some things you just have to do, right? 00:15:57.845 --> 00:16:05.195 You have to, you have to rely on whatever faith you have. 00:16:05.465 --> 00:16:07.925 You have to rely on your family. 00:16:08.285 --> 00:16:13.025 You have to rely on yourself to get through things and 00:16:13.625 --> 00:16:15.035 coming back better than ever. 00:16:15.035 --> 00:16:18.005 I didn't think what I, I don't, didn't think I had a choice 00:16:18.545 --> 00:16:20.075 because I'd made a decision. 00:16:20.405 --> 00:16:21.305 You know, we prayed about it. 00:16:21.305 --> 00:16:23.285 We made the decision and. 00:16:23.765 --> 00:16:29.825 And okay, so now, especially when the doctor says, yeah, I got it all, 00:16:29.825 --> 00:16:30.845 you don't have any more cancer in. 00:16:30.845 --> 00:16:35.615 You think I have no choice but to come back better than ever. 00:16:35.855 --> 00:16:40.175 To be an example, to share my story, to talk to complete strangers who, 00:16:40.235 --> 00:16:42.695 who send me messages on social media. 00:16:43.025 --> 00:16:46.835 And my network of folks has grown just so tremendously. 00:16:47.195 --> 00:16:49.685 Uh, you think you're going through something by yourself. 00:16:49.685 --> 00:16:51.485 You're never by yourself no matter what it is. 00:16:51.950 --> 00:16:54.890 There's always someone else who shares whatever you're going through. 00:16:55.340 --> 00:16:59.930 So it's not the fraternity that I wanted to join, but it's the one that I'm in. 00:17:00.380 --> 00:17:04.910 And if I can make a difference to somebody or something, an experience 00:17:04.910 --> 00:17:08.390 that I had or something that I can share, that's what I'm supposed to do. 00:17:09.260 --> 00:17:12.290 So yeah, that's where the strength comes from. 00:17:12.500 --> 00:17:14.060 'cause it's what I'm supposed to do. 00:17:14.610 --> 00:17:14.946 Choosing Family Over Career AmbitionChoosing Family Over 00:17:14.946 --> 00:17:17.780 Career AmbitionAnd if I didn't do it, my grandmother would come 00:17:17.780 --> 00:17:19.130 back from the grave and slap me. 00:17:20.750 --> 00:17:21.770 And I don't want that. 00:17:22.010 --> 00:17:24.740 'cause the woman got me with a switch one time in the front yard. 00:17:25.160 --> 00:17:26.300 Oh my God. 00:17:26.300 --> 00:17:26.360 Woo. 00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:31.190 I still, you know, you only, it's like you, you only need one. 00:17:31.670 --> 00:17:33.020 You only, that was my one. 00:17:33.020 --> 00:17:34.070 I didn't need no more. 00:17:34.580 --> 00:17:37.580 After that, that woman, Sinbad used to joke about it like his 00:17:37.580 --> 00:17:38.720 grandmother had the rubber hand. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.420 She would come from behind, behind the back, don't you run from me? 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:42.740 And her hand would be like, sit. 00:17:42.860 --> 00:17:45.320 My grandmother had that same rubber arm and rubber hand. 00:17:45.320 --> 00:17:49.910 She just grabbed me and pulled me in and pulled this oak tree out from the back 00:17:49.910 --> 00:17:52.400 of her back and just went to work on. 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:53.900 Wow, man. 00:17:54.740 --> 00:17:55.190 Yeah. 00:17:55.820 --> 00:17:56.180 Whew. 00:17:56.235 --> 00:17:56.675 I don't know where 00:17:56.690 --> 00:17:57.320 Sam Acho: what did you do? 00:17:57.325 --> 00:17:59.960 What did you, what did you do to get to, to, to, to, 00:18:00.355 --> 00:18:00.575 uh, 00:18:00.815 --> 00:18:01.685 Jay Harris: I don't even know. 00:18:01.685 --> 00:18:04.565 I don't, I think I, I, she beat the memory outta me. 00:18:04.565 --> 00:18:05.795 I don't know what I did. 00:18:05.915 --> 00:18:06.395 Oh, I did. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:07.685 I I know I ran away. 00:18:08.135 --> 00:18:09.545 I know, I, she said, come here. 00:18:09.545 --> 00:18:10.235 And I'm like, no. 00:18:10.235 --> 00:18:14.855 And I took off down the hill and sat there and I was like, I gotta go back sometime. 00:18:14.855 --> 00:18:15.755 And she was just waiting for me. 00:18:15.815 --> 00:18:17.735 She was just waiting for me in the yard, just sitting on the 00:18:17.735 --> 00:18:18.815 porch, just waiting for me. 00:18:19.415 --> 00:18:21.275 I had started crying before I even got to her. 00:18:21.965 --> 00:18:22.985 'cause I knew what was coming. 00:18:24.190 --> 00:18:24.425 I knew 00:18:24.450 --> 00:18:24.670 Sam Acho: Oh. 00:18:24.785 --> 00:18:25.475 Clif Marshall: wow. 00:18:30.275 --> 00:18:30.905 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:18:31.115 --> 00:18:35.375 Clif Marshall: Jay, I think of um, you know, nine 11, I think 00:18:35.375 --> 00:18:37.115 of the death of Kobe Bryant. 00:18:37.145 --> 00:18:41.615 I think of some of the things that you've covered while you were at ESPN. 00:18:42.095 --> 00:18:47.015 I wanted to ask you, what are the most impactful events that you can 00:18:47.015 --> 00:18:50.465 recall over the course of the years while you've been working with 00:18:50.465 --> 00:18:52.145 ESPN and that you've had to cover? 00:18:54.140 --> 00:18:57.485 Jay Harris: I get that question a lot and I never have a good answer. 00:18:58.310 --> 00:19:01.340 Because the, the part you said that you can recall. 00:19:02.120 --> 00:19:06.650 I, I wish I kept a diary of like things that happened daily. 00:19:06.650 --> 00:19:11.690 I really wish I had, uh, 'cause there have been so many stories. 00:19:13.130 --> 00:19:18.170 The one that I end up using or going with is July 4th. 00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:19.940 I think it was 2009. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:24.110 Uh, I was anchoring, it was a Saturday and I was gonna anchor sports 00:19:24.110 --> 00:19:25.790 Center with my, my buddy Mike Hill. 00:19:26.390 --> 00:19:31.160 Um, who's no longer at ESPN And we were gonna have some fun coming off 00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:32.720 the Nathan's hotdog eating contest. 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:35.060 We're gonna go to the cafeteria and we're gonna have him make 00:19:35.060 --> 00:19:36.620 some these big salads for us. 00:19:36.620 --> 00:19:40.310 'cause we were gonna have a healthy eating contest on the set that day. 00:19:40.850 --> 00:19:43.430 And we're sitting there prepping for the show, writing our show. 00:19:43.970 --> 00:19:50.570 And, um, our coordinating producer is on this, this newish thing called Twitter. 00:19:51.410 --> 00:19:54.800 And, and basically it said that Steve McNair had died. 00:19:55.925 --> 00:19:58.025 And we were like, ex, ex, excuse me. 00:19:58.835 --> 00:20:05.375 Um, and Nashville TV station is reporting that, that Steve McNair is, was like dead. 00:20:06.395 --> 00:20:09.785 And um, Mike had worked in Nashville. 00:20:09.785 --> 00:20:13.055 So he called some folks and our news desk confirmed it. 00:20:13.655 --> 00:20:15.755 And we were just talking about this the other day actually. 00:20:16.175 --> 00:20:20.470 Um, he, he told Eddie George the news, 'cause Eddie didn't know. 00:20:21.425 --> 00:20:25.175 And his teammate, he didn't know we, and, and I'm sure Mike didn't mean to do that, 00:20:25.175 --> 00:20:26.705 but he was like, Hey, we heard this thing. 00:20:26.705 --> 00:20:27.545 And Eddie was like, what? 00:20:28.085 --> 00:20:30.155 So huh. 00:20:30.845 --> 00:20:31.685 That was a day. 00:20:32.465 --> 00:20:35.405 I mean, you start off, I talk about before about breaking news 00:20:35.405 --> 00:20:36.995 and, and things being as scripted. 00:20:36.995 --> 00:20:41.225 You start off with this one hour show where you're, you're gonna have this 00:20:41.765 --> 00:20:47.405 stupid salad eating contest following, um, the hotdog eating contest. 00:20:47.945 --> 00:20:48.395 Um. 00:20:49.380 --> 00:20:55.130 And something happens and your one hour fun fest turns to a two hour show where 00:20:55.130 --> 00:21:00.860 you have to talk about this guy who you'll watch play football since he was running 00:21:00.860 --> 00:21:08.750 around at Alcorn State, just making people look silly with his legs and his arm. 00:21:09.440 --> 00:21:14.150 And he was third in the Heisman voting and I thought he should have won it. 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:17.540 'cause I was partial to Steve McNair that brother could play, I mean. 00:21:18.260 --> 00:21:23.570 And he just, and he comes into the NFL and into a situation, and this 00:21:23.570 --> 00:21:26.750 is the opinion Jay, that I didn't think really showcased his skills. 00:21:27.110 --> 00:21:29.180 I mean, I didn't think he should have been sitting behind 00:21:29.180 --> 00:21:31.100 anyone, let the brother play. 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:36.110 'cause the brother could play, but he's like, he and he's, he's dead. 00:21:36.860 --> 00:21:37.730 And we're like, oh my, 00:21:40.070 --> 00:21:44.750 uh, and you know, and then the, the, the, the story comes out and, you know, Steve 00:21:44.750 --> 00:21:47.025 is, is just as flawed as the rest of us. 00:21:47.885 --> 00:21:48.875 And he has some issues. 00:21:49.385 --> 00:21:55.205 Um, but did that, that was, that's the one that, that always pops up after. 00:21:55.205 --> 00:21:56.645 I don't know how to answer that question. 00:21:56.975 --> 00:21:59.375 I should just probably just answer that question with that answer. 00:22:00.125 --> 00:22:00.275 Clif Marshall: Mm-hmm. 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:00.900 Wow. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:06.360 Sam Acho: Jay, we, we talk a lot on this podcast about adversity. 00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:11.490 Um, you know, one thing I talk about is going first, giving space, growing hope. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:17.910 What have been some challenges that you've faced, whether in your life or career? 00:22:18.560 --> 00:22:22.125 Um, that you'd be willing to share with us on how you're able to overcome? 00:22:24.500 --> 00:22:25.220 Jay Harris: Hmm. 00:22:30.500 --> 00:22:33.050 Well, I guess the whole cancer thing's probably a challenge. 00:22:33.050 --> 00:22:34.640 So that's, that'd be one. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:36.440 Um, the whole cancer thing. 00:22:37.070 --> 00:22:39.380 I don't like, I don't like giving cancer that much, that 00:22:39.380 --> 00:22:42.050 much air or credit or whatever. 00:22:42.050 --> 00:22:46.910 I kind of don't like to even say the word 'cause cancer can kiss my, you know what? 00:22:47.030 --> 00:22:48.590 Cancer sucks really. 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:49.340 I mean it does. 00:22:50.210 --> 00:22:55.340 Um, you know, just probably just, honestly, nothing in 00:22:55.340 --> 00:22:56.990 particular, just everyday stuff. 00:22:57.290 --> 00:23:02.300 Just waking up and feeling and realizing, okay, like this, the house 00:23:02.300 --> 00:23:04.610 and the people in this house are on me. 00:23:05.570 --> 00:23:07.790 I have to get up and I gotta go do my thing. 00:23:07.790 --> 00:23:10.790 I gotta make it happen and I have to continue to make it happen. 00:23:11.360 --> 00:23:13.280 Um, and I don't know if I would call that adversity. 00:23:13.520 --> 00:23:19.370 I would just call that life and doing the things that you need to do when you need 00:23:19.370 --> 00:23:21.230 to do them, for who you need to do them. 00:23:22.040 --> 00:23:29.750 Um, so I think if I don't, if I, if you allow me to change your question, um, 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:32.720 me just a little every day, just life. 00:23:33.080 --> 00:23:37.730 Because life, just be life in sometimes, and you have to, and 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:39.410 you have to adjust on the fly. 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:43.970 And sometimes whatever decision you make in the moment has 00:23:44.030 --> 00:23:45.440 long lasting ramifications. 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.330 So you have to make the best decisions that you can. 00:23:48.050 --> 00:23:50.060 Um, sometimes you don't make the great decisions and you 00:23:50.060 --> 00:23:51.290 have to change midstream. 00:23:51.890 --> 00:23:55.940 Um, but just, you know, tackling life every day. 00:23:56.600 --> 00:23:59.960 First of all, waking up in the morning, opening your eyes, you're like, okay. 00:24:00.395 --> 00:24:01.505 I got through that part. 00:24:01.655 --> 00:24:04.565 Now let me go do something with this blessing that I have 00:24:04.565 --> 00:24:05.675 for being able to wake up. 00:24:06.485 --> 00:24:11.045 So I guess life if, if you don't mind, kind of copping out on your question. 00:24:11.345 --> 00:24:12.065 Sam Acho: No, that's great. 00:24:12.065 --> 00:24:12.730 No, that's great. 00:24:14.435 --> 00:24:16.745 Clif Marshall: Jay, I think it's so cool talking to Sam. 00:24:16.745 --> 00:24:19.715 I get to hear about, you know, the, the guys that he gets to work 00:24:19.715 --> 00:24:22.625 with on a day-to-day basis at ESPN. 00:24:23.105 --> 00:24:25.805 One of the guys you got to work with was Stuart Scott. 00:24:26.495 --> 00:24:27.790 What was it like working with him? 00:24:28.210 --> 00:24:28.630 Mm-hmm. 00:24:30.425 --> 00:24:33.785 Jay Harris: We only got to do one show together because our schedules are so 00:24:33.785 --> 00:24:35.825 opposite and he was always on the road. 00:24:36.575 --> 00:24:40.865 Um, but people get caught up in the, it, it's funny, I'm wearing 00:24:40.865 --> 00:24:45.995 the shirt, the Booyah, this Jimmy V Foundation shirt today. 00:24:46.565 --> 00:24:48.425 Um, people get caught up in the Booyah. 00:24:48.725 --> 00:24:51.245 People get caught up in the cooler than the other side of the pillow. 00:24:51.425 --> 00:24:53.225 People get caught up in the catchphrases and stuff. 00:24:54.140 --> 00:24:56.930 Um, I watched a virtuoso journalist. 00:24:57.770 --> 00:25:01.670 I watched a guy who could, who would take his time and tell a 00:25:01.670 --> 00:25:09.470 story and make it entertaining, factual, and just jaw dropping. 00:25:10.310 --> 00:25:16.580 Um, I, I saw a guy who would be able to ask the researcher like the right question 00:25:17.090 --> 00:25:21.170 to make his shot sheet that much better. 00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.130 Make his highlight that much better as he was, you know, telling it to the 00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:26.450 audience who was watching the show. 00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:30.830 Um, he was just brilliant. 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:32.900 The brother was brilliant. 00:25:33.890 --> 00:25:35.720 The brother was a brilliant storyteller. 00:25:35.930 --> 00:25:41.300 He was an amazing journalist, and he was so much more than any catchphrase. 00:25:41.930 --> 00:25:48.950 So, I mean, I, I would love for people to remember him for the work, not 00:25:48.950 --> 00:25:50.735 necessarily the flash or any of the stuff. 00:25:51.620 --> 00:25:52.670 Just the work. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.720 The brother could work and outwork anybody in this business. 00:25:57.890 --> 00:25:58.010 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:03.565 Jay, I know you're still young in your career, but how do you want to be 00:26:03.830 --> 00:26:05.150 Jay Harris: Don't try to get back on my good side. 00:26:05.585 --> 00:26:06.605 Sam Acho: I know it's too late, man. 00:26:06.605 --> 00:26:06.845 I know. 00:26:07.655 --> 00:26:07.835 late. 00:26:07.835 --> 00:26:08.255 It's too late. 00:26:08.255 --> 00:26:08.585 It's too late. 00:26:08.585 --> 00:26:08.885 It's too late. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:12.980 Jay Harris: Um, that's a great question. 00:26:13.490 --> 00:26:18.530 I don't know, uh, because I am quite young in my career and I have a long way to go. 00:26:18.620 --> 00:26:20.150 Thank you very much for recognizing that. 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:23.270 Um, someone who gave it his best every day. 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:25.430 Someone who's a, a team player. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:33.170 Um, someone who tried to, to, to, to do his best, who wasn't perfect, but 00:26:33.170 --> 00:26:39.800 someone who was authentic and even when he wasn't perfect, um, was able 00:26:39.800 --> 00:26:42.350 to say, yeah, that wasn't perfect. 00:26:42.860 --> 00:26:45.200 I saw, I'm gonna work on getting it better this time. 00:26:46.280 --> 00:26:46.745 'cause I, I think. 00:26:47.285 --> 00:26:52.145 And I use this example, if something goes wrong on television, people like 00:26:52.145 --> 00:26:54.215 to say we had technical difficulties. 00:26:54.905 --> 00:26:56.375 I don't know what that means. 00:26:57.035 --> 00:26:59.045 We had, we had this happen the other day. 00:26:59.045 --> 00:27:02.765 We were, we were, we had gotten the, the first hour of the show done and we 00:27:02.765 --> 00:27:06.845 were running back some segments on the computer and our, our playback machine 00:27:06.845 --> 00:27:08.645 in the middle of a segment just stopped. 00:27:09.455 --> 00:27:11.945 And I was eating my breakfast at the time 'cause I was hungry. 00:27:12.275 --> 00:27:15.965 And I said, is that, did that stop in the studio? 00:27:16.565 --> 00:27:17.345 Or did that stop? 00:27:17.345 --> 00:27:20.135 Like for everyone who's watching the show and they said it stopped 00:27:20.135 --> 00:27:22.835 for everyone who's watching the show, the machine just died. 00:27:23.285 --> 00:27:25.655 So we're gonna come back after this commercial break and I want you 00:27:25.655 --> 00:27:27.905 to like say we had some technical difficulties, blah, blah, blah. 00:27:28.355 --> 00:27:30.815 And I said, okay, what happened? 00:27:31.235 --> 00:27:32.435 Playback machine died. 00:27:32.555 --> 00:27:34.565 I said, okay, that's what I'm going to tell them. 00:27:35.165 --> 00:27:38.165 And we came back on and I said, welcome back to SportsCenter. 00:27:38.495 --> 00:27:43.295 Um, I think I was working with, uh, Scooby at the time, um, 00:27:43.355 --> 00:27:45.005 and introduced us and I said. 00:27:46.085 --> 00:27:50.555 We were watching the show and the playback machine die, and if the playback machine 00:27:50.555 --> 00:27:52.205 dies, you can't play anything back. 00:27:52.745 --> 00:27:55.415 So I think we got it fixed now, knock on wood. 00:27:56.765 --> 00:28:01.865 So enjoy the rest of Sports Center and they hit play and it rolled. 00:28:02.555 --> 00:28:06.335 But I felt in that moment, I'm just gonna be honest and tell 'em what happened. 00:28:07.415 --> 00:28:11.405 So maybe, I think sometimes people probably don't want me to do that. 00:28:13.340 --> 00:28:17.240 Because I don't know, I'm not telling secrets, not the TV folks, but I mean, 00:28:17.630 --> 00:28:21.800 it's just the way I, I feel we should be, because the more authentic you are, the 00:28:21.800 --> 00:28:23.480 more real you are, the more the people. 00:28:23.570 --> 00:28:24.530 People trust you. 00:28:25.070 --> 00:28:28.310 And, uh, I like to think people trust me and, and I'm gonna give them 00:28:28.310 --> 00:28:30.080 the real, whether it's good or bad. 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:32.320 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:28:32.840 --> 00:28:33.530 Clif Marshall: That's great. 00:28:33.530 --> 00:28:36.890 Jay, you're not only a sports anchor, you're also a husband 00:28:37.010 --> 00:28:38.420 and you're also a father. 00:28:38.540 --> 00:28:39.860 How do you balance work in life? 00:28:41.280 --> 00:28:41.400 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:28:42.260 --> 00:28:43.010 Jay Harris: Carefully. 00:28:44.210 --> 00:28:48.980 Um, it's easier now because the kids are old and they don't necessarily want to 00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:51.140 hang out with, you know, this older guy. 00:28:51.770 --> 00:28:54.020 Um, I lose, I still get hugs. 00:28:54.020 --> 00:28:55.730 That's kind of cool from the boy and the girl. 00:28:55.730 --> 00:28:56.990 So I, I, I like that. 00:28:57.590 --> 00:29:01.820 Um, but when they were younger, there were a lot of things that I just didn't choose 00:29:01.820 --> 00:29:06.200 to try and do because, like, I didn't wanna be in a living out of a suitcase. 00:29:06.200 --> 00:29:07.100 I didn't wanna be traveling. 00:29:07.100 --> 00:29:09.410 I didn't want to do, I wanted to, I wanted to be present. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:11.270 So I. 00:29:11.615 --> 00:29:17.285 Probably cost myself some opportunities to do certain things, but I gained 00:29:17.285 --> 00:29:22.025 the opportunity to be present and to see things that I would've missed 00:29:22.415 --> 00:29:26.555 that are worth more than any job opportunity worth, more than any 00:29:26.675 --> 00:29:28.355 extra zeros on the paycheck worth. 00:29:28.355 --> 00:29:29.765 Much more than all of that stuff. 00:29:30.635 --> 00:29:33.425 So I, I, I chose it. 00:29:33.425 --> 00:29:35.555 I, I think I chose it very carefully. 00:29:36.005 --> 00:29:40.475 The things that, uh, I could bring them to, uh, I would bring them to. 00:29:41.165 --> 00:29:45.455 Um, to try and, um, you know, include them. 00:29:46.115 --> 00:29:52.505 Um, so yeah, very carefully because work-life balance is something that, and 00:29:52.505 --> 00:29:58.145 I, I tell you, uh, ESPN and Disney, not to be like a a a a company, uh, a company guy 00:29:58.145 --> 00:30:02.195 right now, but work-life balance is one of the things that, that is drilled into us. 00:30:02.195 --> 00:30:03.065 You have to find it. 00:30:03.455 --> 00:30:04.565 You have to find it. 00:30:05.315 --> 00:30:07.780 Um, because if you give it all the work, work will take it. 00:30:09.170 --> 00:30:11.420 Work will take it and, and, and wear you out. 00:30:12.050 --> 00:30:15.140 And then you'll be sitting there and like worn out and work will go on to 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:16.490 someone else who wants to take it. 00:30:16.970 --> 00:30:18.800 'cause work just keeps work, keeps going. 00:30:18.800 --> 00:30:20.780 No matter what your job is, work will keep going. 00:30:21.110 --> 00:30:22.190 You have to tell work. 00:30:22.910 --> 00:30:25.280 I'm gonna chill out for the next 45 minutes. 00:30:25.280 --> 00:30:26.480 I will see you when I get back. 00:30:27.170 --> 00:30:28.580 And work can go, Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait. 00:30:28.970 --> 00:30:31.340 And you can go, well, the show, the show will go on. 00:30:31.340 --> 00:30:32.420 The show always goes on. 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:34.130 If I wasn't here, the show would be going on. 00:30:34.130 --> 00:30:35.390 You'd be talking to somebody else. 00:30:35.570 --> 00:30:36.170 So work. 00:30:36.470 --> 00:30:40.550 You stand down and I see you in 45 minutes and work will go, okay, you right. 00:30:40.580 --> 00:30:41.030 My bad. 00:30:41.150 --> 00:30:41.570 My bad. 00:30:41.930 --> 00:30:43.190 Because work knows. 00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:44.480 Work knows. 00:30:44.750 --> 00:30:48.050 You have to let work act on what work knows. 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:49.100 Clif Marshall: Hmm. 00:30:49.145 --> 00:30:49.365 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:30:50.390 --> 00:30:50.810 Clif Marshall: Wow. 00:30:50.940 --> 00:30:51.780 Sam Acho: it hard? 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:53.325 Was it hard for you to do that? 00:30:57.290 --> 00:30:58.100 Jay Harris: I the beginning. 00:30:58.850 --> 00:30:59.390 Yes. 00:31:00.290 --> 00:31:03.140 Because, you know, you're new, you wanna prove yourself, you wanna 00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:05.630 be there, you wanna be available, someone calls you to work. 00:31:05.630 --> 00:31:06.350 Yes, I can do it. 00:31:06.350 --> 00:31:06.980 Yes, I'll do it. 00:31:06.980 --> 00:31:07.940 I volunteer for that shift. 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:08.600 I can do it. 00:31:09.260 --> 00:31:19.040 Um, but I had gotten practice before we got to ESPN, uh, when the boy was born, 00:31:19.940 --> 00:31:25.190 because at the time I was transitioning from radio to television and literally, 00:31:25.190 --> 00:31:26.750 sometimes it works seven days a week. 00:31:27.710 --> 00:31:28.580 But when he was born. 00:31:29.570 --> 00:31:30.440 I said, you know what? 00:31:31.160 --> 00:31:34.040 The part-time radio thing, I'm gonna let that go. 00:31:34.550 --> 00:31:36.020 'cause I don't need to do that right now. 00:31:36.410 --> 00:31:39.260 And if a bill doesn't get paid, it'll get paid next month because 00:31:39.560 --> 00:31:44.870 hanging out with this newborn fellow is worth more than anything right 00:31:44.870 --> 00:31:47.180 now, and that's what I'm going to do. 00:31:48.320 --> 00:31:51.140 So I had a little practice with that before I got to ESPN. 00:31:52.945 --> 00:31:54.565 Sam Acho: I wanna follow up briefly. 00:31:57.175 --> 00:32:00.265 We talk a lot about faith, family, football, 00:32:00.265 --> 00:32:03.445 finances on this podcast, but you mentioned earlier 00:32:03.445 --> 00:32:05.665 about what really matters. 00:32:06.475 --> 00:32:12.430 My question for you, Jay Harris, is how do, how do you win without losing it all? 00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:18.605 Jay Harris: I don't know if you do, I mean. 00:32:19.520 --> 00:32:21.380 You're gonna have to lose something. 00:32:22.670 --> 00:32:27.770 Um, whether it be, like I said before, opportunities because you 00:32:27.770 --> 00:32:36.320 choose to, to, um, be present, um, bad habits, you lose bad habits. 00:32:37.070 --> 00:32:41.360 Um, some you're gonna lose something all the time. 00:32:42.050 --> 00:32:46.375 You just have to make sure that whatever you're winning or whatever you're gaining. 00:32:47.450 --> 00:32:49.430 Um, is what you're supposed to be doing. 00:32:50.660 --> 00:32:51.290 Does that make sense? 00:32:52.115 --> 00:32:53.225 Sam Acho: But yes it does. 00:32:53.225 --> 00:32:53.810 But how do you know? 00:32:54.340 --> 00:32:57.095 Maybe a better question. 00:32:57.365 --> 00:32:59.170 How do you know what the right target is? 00:33:00.680 --> 00:33:00.860 Jay Harris: Yeah. 00:33:00.860 --> 00:33:01.430 I don't know if you do. 00:33:03.015 --> 00:33:06.620 I, I, you, you pick the target that feels right or looks right or sounds 00:33:06.620 --> 00:33:11.330 right or through counsel is right at the moment and then you just go for it. 00:33:12.530 --> 00:33:16.070 Um, I, that's the be that's all you can do. 00:33:16.715 --> 00:33:19.895 To definitively know that every decision and everything you 00:33:19.895 --> 00:33:21.215 do is the right thing to do. 00:33:21.635 --> 00:33:22.685 I don't think it's possible. 00:33:23.765 --> 00:33:25.175 I, I don't think anyone can do that. 00:33:25.565 --> 00:33:27.425 That's some prognostication I'm gonna ask. 00:33:27.455 --> 00:33:29.765 I'm gonna ask you for the lottery numbers if you can do that. 00:33:30.665 --> 00:33:34.835 'cause that's some serious foretelling of the future to make every single 00:33:34.835 --> 00:33:37.205 decision the correct decision. 00:33:37.205 --> 00:33:44.555 Mm-hmm. 00:33:44.990 --> 00:33:46.190 Clif Marshall: of being with your family. 00:33:46.550 --> 00:33:49.880 And at the end of every show, I always like to do a cliff note 00:33:49.910 --> 00:33:51.590 because my name's Cliff Marshall. 00:33:52.040 --> 00:33:57.440 So the cliff note I wrote down in talking to you today is about being present with 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:00.320 your children and being with your family, even though you may have missed some 00:34:00.320 --> 00:34:03.020 opportunities within, you know, your work. 00:34:03.530 --> 00:34:08.690 And I think that Tom, my cliff note is this, Tom is the only 00:34:08.690 --> 00:34:11.060 thing that money cannot buy. 00:34:12.035 --> 00:34:16.505 And as I'm reflecting on my children, I have a 10-year-old and a 14-year-old. 00:34:16.610 --> 00:34:16.790 Jay Harris: Woo. 00:34:16.850 --> 00:34:17.600 You were right in it. 00:34:18.005 --> 00:34:19.295 Clif Marshall: I'm right in it. 00:34:19.295 --> 00:34:20.465 And I'm also a coach. 00:34:20.465 --> 00:34:21.785 I'm a strength and conditioning coach. 00:34:21.785 --> 00:34:24.545 I've just spent the last eight years as the head strength and 00:34:24.545 --> 00:34:27.725 conditioning coach for the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. 00:34:28.295 --> 00:34:28.655 And in the 00:34:28.730 --> 00:34:29.390 Jay Harris: more kids? 00:34:30.455 --> 00:34:31.055 Clif Marshall: that's right. 00:34:31.505 --> 00:34:35.345 In the coaching profession though, hard because you're away from 00:34:35.345 --> 00:34:38.585 your family so often and I think. 00:34:39.350 --> 00:34:46.880 What you've spoken to me today is that regarding my family, time with kids, time 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:53.210 with your spouse is really important, and I believe that time is spelled LOVE. 00:34:53.990 --> 00:34:55.520 That's my cliff note for today. 00:34:55.520 --> 00:34:55.970 Thank 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:56.390 Jay Harris: like it. 00:34:56.600 --> 00:34:57.290 You're very welcome. 00:34:57.980 --> 00:35:00.320 I'm gonna send you, I'm, I'm gonna give you my Venmo so you can, 00:35:00.320 --> 00:35:01.400 you can pay me for that, huh? 00:35:01.755 --> 00:35:02.735 Clif Marshall: That's right. 00:35:03.965 --> 00:35:07.475 Sam Acho: Hey, why, why sending out Venmos? 00:35:07.475 --> 00:35:08.465 Hey, we can send mine too. 00:35:08.615 --> 00:35:14.915 Um, my last question is this, J Harris, you get interviewed all the time, 00:35:15.185 --> 00:35:16.745 you get a chance to interview people all the 00:35:17.030 --> 00:35:17.450 Jay Harris: Mm-hmm. 00:35:18.905 --> 00:35:23.225 Sam Acho: What, what's the question that we should be asking you? 00:35:23.585 --> 00:35:25.410 Like, what's the question that you wish that you were asked? 00:35:28.145 --> 00:35:28.685 Jay Harris: Whew. 00:35:30.665 --> 00:35:31.925 That's a great question. 00:35:32.525 --> 00:35:33.935 No one's ever asked me that before. 00:35:35.135 --> 00:35:35.315 Um. 00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:38.660 Hmm. 00:35:40.460 --> 00:35:41.600 I'd have to think about that. 00:35:42.200 --> 00:35:43.850 I honestly don't know in the moment. 00:35:43.850 --> 00:35:45.020 I don't, I don't know. 00:35:46.190 --> 00:35:47.960 What's the question that I want you ask? 00:35:49.370 --> 00:35:50.030 Um, 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:53.540 I don't know. 00:35:55.010 --> 00:35:55.310 I don't know. 00:35:56.300 --> 00:35:58.790 How did that fourth grade heartbreak affect your life? 00:35:59.450 --> 00:35:59.690 Maybe 00:36:00.455 --> 00:36:01.025 Clif Marshall: Right there 00:36:01.250 --> 00:36:01.550 Jay Harris: Uh. 00:36:01.595 --> 00:36:01.985 Clif Marshall: There you go. 00:36:06.720 --> 00:36:07.170 Sam Acho: I got a 00:36:07.170 --> 00:36:09.000 fourth grade heartbreak too, so I know. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:09.630 I know where you're coming from. 00:36:13.290 --> 00:36:14.130 Wow, 00:36:14.435 --> 00:36:17.225 Clif Marshall: Well, Jay, oh, Sam, real quick before we close it, 00:36:19.685 --> 00:36:23.285 Jay Sam talked so highly of you, uh, working with you at ESPN, and, 00:36:23.285 --> 00:36:27.515 and he told me that last year you invited him over to your house for 00:36:27.515 --> 00:36:29.525 Thanksgiving, which I think is incredible. 00:36:29.795 --> 00:36:32.690 Sam, I gotta ask you, how was Jay's cooking? 00:36:33.995 --> 00:36:35.555 Sam Acho: Hey, I don't know if he did the cooking. 00:36:35.555 --> 00:36:37.295 I don't know how much of the cooking Jay did 00:36:37.625 --> 00:36:38.315 the food. 00:36:38.555 --> 00:36:39.035 Okay. 00:36:39.125 --> 00:36:40.295 The food was amazing. 00:36:40.295 --> 00:36:42.425 So his wife's cooking and it might have been, I dunno if your 00:36:42.425 --> 00:36:43.725 daughter did any of the cooking too. 00:36:45.395 --> 00:36:47.790 I think his wife and his daughter did some of the cooking. 00:36:48.695 --> 00:36:48.905 Jay Harris: Yeah. 00:36:48.965 --> 00:36:50.165 We, they, they did? 00:36:50.345 --> 00:36:53.045 No, the Tyra, that daughter didn't cook any, no. 00:36:53.135 --> 00:36:54.125 Tyra didn't cook a thing? 00:36:54.125 --> 00:36:55.535 No, no. 00:36:55.925 --> 00:37:00.245 Uh, my wife cooked and, and we have a place here that we always, we 00:37:00.245 --> 00:37:03.935 order from, 'cause we like their food to kind of supplement the meal. 00:37:04.505 --> 00:37:06.275 Uh, and some folks brought some stuff over. 00:37:06.755 --> 00:37:07.235 Um. 00:37:07.790 --> 00:37:10.370 But yeah, that was, I, I cooked nothing. 00:37:11.105 --> 00:37:14.600 I, I, I, I, I, I paid for what we bought. 00:37:15.170 --> 00:37:16.250 That's what I did that, 00:37:16.790 --> 00:37:18.500 Sam Acho: hey, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll put it this way. 00:37:18.500 --> 00:37:19.430 I'll put it this way. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:21.860 I ca this actually, it wasn't, so it was like maybe two year, 00:37:21.860 --> 00:37:22.940 maybe my first year at ESPN. 00:37:22.940 --> 00:37:25.010 So maybe 2, 3, 3 years ago or so. 00:37:25.460 --> 00:37:25.610 Jay Harris: yeah. 00:37:25.615 --> 00:37:26.330 We need to have you back. 00:37:27.050 --> 00:37:28.190 Sam Acho: I know I need, I, I I would love to 00:37:28.190 --> 00:37:28.820 come back. 00:37:28.910 --> 00:37:31.760 Uh, but look, put it this way, I came, I came to his house. 00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:34.820 I ate, I took a flight to go back to work. 00:37:34.820 --> 00:37:38.060 'cause I was working on Thanksgiving and I was eating, eating, uh, his 00:37:38.060 --> 00:37:40.970 wife's food and, and also the one he that he purchased as well outside. 00:37:41.810 --> 00:37:42.590 the commercial break. 00:37:42.590 --> 00:37:44.120 And so the food was banging. 00:37:44.420 --> 00:37:45.920 Hey, the food was banging. 00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:46.550 Put it that way. 00:37:46.555 --> 00:37:46.775 Clif Marshall: Wow. 00:37:46.940 --> 00:37:47.270 Jay Harris: Good. 00:37:47.870 --> 00:37:48.110 Good. 00:37:48.110 --> 00:37:48.920 Sam Acho: So I appreciate it. 00:37:48.920 --> 00:37:49.280 Jay. 00:37:49.340 --> 00:37:51.500 I haven't been back, I haven't been back on Thanksgiving. 00:37:51.770 --> 00:37:54.230 Uh, and part of it too, I mean, it's, it's these conversations, right? 00:37:54.230 --> 00:37:57.170 It's me trying to figure out, okay, what, how do you win without losing at all? 00:37:57.170 --> 00:37:57.260 Like 00:37:57.320 --> 00:38:02.150 what, you know, people talk about, um, you know, juggling different things and 00:38:02.270 --> 00:38:07.190 juggling, whether it's a, knowing when it's a glass, uh, ball or a rubber ball. 00:38:07.565 --> 00:38:07.805 Right. 00:38:07.805 --> 00:38:08.495 Glass ball. 00:38:08.495 --> 00:38:10.055 Maybe it's like a family event, right? 00:38:10.055 --> 00:38:10.445 Rubber. 00:38:10.445 --> 00:38:10.625 Okay. 00:38:10.625 --> 00:38:12.785 Maybe it's, you've said yes to a hundred different 00:38:12.785 --> 00:38:17.855 things at work, and there's one thing that, that, uh, that someone else said 00:38:17.855 --> 00:38:20.765 no to, that you're being asked to do that it's okay to say no because there's 00:38:20.765 --> 00:38:22.685 something else that's a glass cliff. 00:38:22.685 --> 00:38:25.685 You talked about your family that matters, and so part of the reason I'm 00:38:25.685 --> 00:38:29.915 so grateful for you and your friendship and your mentorship and your example, 00:38:29.915 --> 00:38:32.915 Jay, is the fact that I feel like you've done that really, really well. 00:38:33.605 --> 00:38:38.045 There's so many people in the industry who have chased success and they've 00:38:38.045 --> 00:38:39.605 climbed to the top of the ladder. 00:38:39.815 --> 00:38:42.785 But you look at it, the family is nowhere to be found, right? 00:38:42.785 --> 00:38:46.445 Faith is fading and financially they might be winning, but they're 00:38:46.445 --> 00:38:47.885 losing in so many other areas. 00:38:47.885 --> 00:38:51.725 But I see you when I, I think literally it was probably my first thing, first 00:38:51.815 --> 00:38:56.525 or second time, uh, year at ESPN, and we maybe did a show, I don't know 00:38:56.525 --> 00:38:58.265 how many shows we did, and you're like, Hey man, come to the house. 00:38:58.610 --> 00:39:01.340 Come over for Thanksgiving, come spend time with me, and I got a chance to see 00:39:01.340 --> 00:39:05.450 you and see you as a husband and as a father, not just as a, a sportscaster. 00:39:05.540 --> 00:39:07.430 And that's stuff that I care about mo more. 00:39:07.430 --> 00:39:09.980 I don't want just be a really good s uh, broadcaster. 00:39:09.980 --> 00:39:11.750 I wanna be a good husband and a good father, right? 00:39:11.750 --> 00:39:13.130 I have a friend who coaches basketball. 00:39:13.310 --> 00:39:16.700 He says, faith, he wants to build faithful husbands and loving fathers. 00:39:17.150 --> 00:39:19.760 And so when I see you, Jay Harris, that's why when we talked about 00:39:19.760 --> 00:39:22.430 who do we want as a guest on this podcast, and I mean, you were the, 00:39:22.430 --> 00:39:23.750 one of the first names I brought up. 00:39:23.750 --> 00:39:25.160 He's like, who do you spend time with at DS pn? 00:39:25.160 --> 00:39:27.170 I was like, man, I don't get a chance to spend as much time with Jay. 00:39:27.515 --> 00:39:30.275 He's like, but you are Jay, A guy that I look up to and I admire. 00:39:30.275 --> 00:39:33.005 So really, I want to say thank you and to try and get back on your good 00:39:33.005 --> 00:39:36.845 side from the whole, the whole, you know, centuries and centuries comment. 00:39:38.330 --> 00:39:39.170 Jay Harris: That was, that's okay. 00:39:39.170 --> 00:39:39.770 That was funny. 00:39:39.920 --> 00:39:42.380 Uh, I appre I appreciate, I appreciate those words. 00:39:42.380 --> 00:39:43.430 Now I got issues. 00:39:43.970 --> 00:39:48.200 Um, I, I, you know, I made mistakes, you know, you know, I, 00:39:48.290 --> 00:39:52.850 I, I am authentically imperfect. 00:39:53.510 --> 00:39:57.200 I just try to be better the next time. 00:39:57.410 --> 00:40:01.155 It's like doing a show, it's like doing a show, um, where people think. 00:40:01.970 --> 00:40:05.300 Uh, I had this conversation, uh, at, at a convention recently. 00:40:05.600 --> 00:40:08.060 You know, you, you've arrived like, no, I haven't. 00:40:08.175 --> 00:40:09.950 I, I arrived to work every day. 00:40:09.950 --> 00:40:12.020 That's as close to arriving as I've gotten. 00:40:12.410 --> 00:40:17.060 You know, I, I want to have a good show today and I wanna reflect on 00:40:17.060 --> 00:40:20.120 it, and I want have a better show tomorrow and the day after that. 00:40:20.150 --> 00:40:22.550 I want that to be better than the show previously. 00:40:23.030 --> 00:40:27.980 Uh, that's, that's the way I try to think and live. 00:40:27.980 --> 00:40:31.010 Everything may not go right on Tuesday, but Wednesday's coming. 00:40:31.835 --> 00:40:34.805 And, you know, everything may not, I may not make all the right decisions 00:40:34.805 --> 00:40:40.625 on Wednesday, Thursday's coming and just keep it going because 00:40:41.765 --> 00:40:46.385 you have, you have the opportunity every day to change things, correct. 00:40:46.385 --> 00:40:47.495 Things for the better. 00:40:47.855 --> 00:40:50.525 So try and do that as much as you can. 00:40:51.220 --> 00:40:51.440 Sam Acho: Hmm. 00:40:52.025 --> 00:40:52.715 That's good. 00:40:53.225 --> 00:40:53.585 That's good. 00:40:53.585 --> 00:40:56.255 Well, Jay Harris, thank you so much for joining the Sam Macho 00:40:56.255 --> 00:40:57.995 podcast featuring Cliff Marshall. 00:40:58.355 --> 00:41:00.995 Uh, we are so grateful not only for your time, your talent. 00:41:01.325 --> 00:41:05.165 But also your willingness to share your wisdom, not just with me 00:41:05.165 --> 00:41:07.205 and not just with Cliff, but with everyone else who's listening. 00:41:07.565 --> 00:41:10.325 Uh, for anybody else who wants to join or listen to the Sam Macho 00:41:10.325 --> 00:41:12.125 podcast, go to sam macho.com 00:41:12.275 --> 00:41:13.085 and we'll see you soon.