Not everyone can play with the great athletes of our time. Jerry Coleman figured that out at a pretty young age.
Nevertheless, he found a way to stay in sports by keeping close tabs on the Ravens and Orioles, and even spending time with basketball great Michael Jordan and the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
The local sports reporter and analyst is a familiar voice on sports radio 105.7 The Fan. He also co-hosts a podcast, B-More Opinionated (Bmoshow.com), with CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora.
Well-known to most local sports junkies, Coleman delivers timely, candid and opinionated commentary. Apparently, he’s never been afraid to speak his mind.
Born and raised in Atlanta until he was 7, Coleman earned the nickname “Mouth of the South” from his father. His family later moved to Baltimore and, as a student at Pikesville High School, Coleman got his first taste of public speaking. The school didn’t have a radio station, but it did have a public address system.
“I was the PA announcer,” Coleman recalls. “The gym would be full all the time during games. I’d reel off the names with some enthusiasm and inflection.”
He hasn’t stopped talking at or about sporting events since.
Coleman studied TV/Radio at Ithaca College, jumping at opportunities to hone his professional broadcasting skills, like interning during summers at CNN for the late sports anchor, Nick Charles, whom he still considers an inspiring mentor.
“He took me under his wing, taught me how to write,” Coleman says.
After graduating college, Coleman is quick to note that he paid his dues before becoming a local household voice of sports radio. He sold advertising at a radio station to get his foot in the door. He worked at small market radio stations.
He eschewed working for the family liquor business. “I could have been making a whole lot of money. But it didn’t interest me. Sports did,” Coleman says.
Many years and sporting events later, Coleman — who has covered the Ravens Super Bowl XXXV win, Cal Ripken Jr.’s record-breaking consecutive game streak, and other exciting career highs — says he’s happy he stuck it out.
“I get paid to watch sporting events and talk about it on the radio,” Coleman says. But he adds, “I work my butt off.”
For instance, Coleman says he puts in two hours of prep work for every one hour segment he’s on the air. And when he interviews athletes, he never shies away from tough questions. In fact, he prides himself on it.
“I’m serving the fans. They know I’m not going to cheap shot them,” says Coleman, who had the opportunity to ask Barry Bonds about using steroids — and took it.
“I rarely ask irrelevant questions,” he says. “I know what the fans want.”
Top photo: Jerry Coleman, Sports Radio CBS Baltimore (Photo by Evan Cohen)
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