“I’ve always wanted to work at ESPN. I think that’s what every young sports reporter wants to do. You know, with the best of the best,” said Klein College of Media and Communication alumnus Max McGee, KLN ’15 (he/him).
McGee’s dreams were finally realized in January 2022 when he moved up to Bristol, Connecticut, to start his new job at SportsCenter on ESPN. McGee is projected to be an anchor on SportsCenter at night and is currently completing job training.
McGee had reached out to ESPN on LinkedIn and asked only to audition for them. One thing he specifically did not want to do was ask for a job; he just wanted to show them what he could do. As McGee’s contract at WJZ in Baltimore was ending, ESPN finally offered him the opportunity he had been hoping for.
Leaving WJZ to chase his dream was not as easy as one might think. McGee called WJZ a special place with a wonderful team of reporters and was open to staying. But, when the ESPN opportunity came along, he couldn’t pass it up.
Before WJZ, McGee worked as a news reporter at KPLC in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and WMBF in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He admitted that he was quite stubborn when it came to getting a job after graduating from Temple University, and that he only wanted to work in sports reporting. After 14 months of not finding a job, though, he took the news job in Lake Charles. Luckily, he was given opportunities to do sports reporting in Myrtle Beach and Baltimore that helped him get to ESPN.
McGee has had a passion for sports ever since he was a little kid.
After a baseball injury in high school that led to him not making his community college baseball team, McGee’s grades fell, and he left school for a year. Looking back, McGee called that decision immature and stupid, and is glad that his mom came to him and encouraged him to go back to school and eventually transfer to Temple in 2013.
“If I wasn’t going to play sports, I wanted to talk about it,” he said.
During his second semester at Temple, McGee heard about OwlSports Update (OSU). “I saw a random email about OSU and I said, ‘oh, that sounds really fun, let me go join that.’ That was probably the best decision I ever made on campus,” he said.
McGee tried out for an anchor spot but didn’t get it. This motivated him to get better and learn as much as he possibly could. “He would always get back up and try again, and that’s a credit to him,” said Associate Professor of Practice Matt Fine (he/him).
Fine noted that McGee always wanted feedback and was open to constructive criticism. This helped him not only in his time at OSU, but also as he navigated job opportunities post-graduation.
Also at OSU with McGee was Klein Alumna Emily Milliron, KLN ’17 (she/her). Milliron always had fun covering games with McGee, and the two are still connected to this day. She was with him the night he found out he got his job at WJZ and remembers how happy he was and how happy she was for him.
“[He’s] like one of those people where you’re genuinely happy to see him get this gig,” Milliron said.
McGee credits OSU, as well as his work with WHIP Radio, with helping him make friends when he was a new transfer student on campus. The student media outlets also gave him insight on what the business was actually like, and that he loved it. “I can’t imagine going to Temple without WHIP Radio and Owl Sports Update,” McGee said.
In addition to Milliron and Fine, McGee is also grateful to his other friends and professors from college for pushing him to be the best he can be. His parents, he noted, are also crucial to his success.
“A lot of people just see Max McGee the anchor, but they don’t see the people behind me who helped me get there,” McGee said. “They helped me up when I was down, and they held me down when I got too high. They are my heroes for sure.”
For an update on McGee and to learn about other Klein alumni working at ESPN, watch this space for an upcoming story.