Sports Writing Starting
Tyler’s sports writing career began in 2014 for Tyler when he was in Jacksonville, Florida. Tyler started a separate sports Twitter feed for the teams he liked. From there, he said: “I started blogging and podcasting. I was able to build a nice little following of fans. That’s when I got the offer to cover the Indiana Pacers basketball team in 2014.”
Like most of us, people know someone who knows someone to get our foot in the door. The same went for Tyler. “There was a man by the name of Cliff Brunt, who created this website called IndySportsLegends.com. He had seen some of my stuff and he had gotten a job to cover the Oklahoma City Thunder through the Associated Press. He had seen some of my sports coverage, and when he saw I was moving back home he called me up and said, ‘I don’t want my site to die that I’ve worked so hard to build. Would you like to take it over?”’ So, I got kind of lucky in that regard being in the right place at the right time.”
When asked about how many Christian sportswriters there might be Tyler answered, “There is probably a decent number, just not a whole lot of outspoken ones, just based on the field. They may keep it more private. I do see especially on some Twitter profiles people sharing their faith and going that route. I think it’s similar to other professions that are outside of a church or missionary job. You’ll have a handful here and there but it’s not the majority by any means.”
Christians in Sports Writing
Christians are a minority when it comes to sports writing, but sportswriters themselves are a minority as well. That being said Tyler went on to say, “I like the challenge of it. I also have a church job, and I wanted to make sure I’m not just around Christians all the time.”
I also asked how he uses his platform to glorify Christ, and he answered, “A couple of years ago, I was very passionate about this homeless mission that’s in downtown Indianapolis. So, I wanted to use the sports platform that I have for good and I came up with this idea- For every retweet I get, I’m going to donate 50 cents to Wheeler Mission in Indianapolis. I tagged Wheeler Mission in the tweet, and every time they click on Wheeler Mission’s profile, they get to see that they’re followers of Jesus, helping the homeless community in our city.
So, basically, I was like, ‘God whatever you want to use for this- if it’s thousands and thousands of retweets I’m going to send whatever money that you want. Actually, one of the Pacers Myles Turner retweeted it so that raised a lot of awareness for it. That’s just one of the examples off the top of my head of using the platform God has given me in that way where I have several followers that can see it’s not just a fun sports kind of thing but a way to reach people.”
Sports Writing and the Homeless
Tyler continued: “There are thousands of people in that city who are homeless for a variety of different reasons, but they do so much for them and not just feeding them, but they have so many beds where they can stay, they have programs, and they share Christ with them.
For me, I really try to find any charity that’s not only helping people but will share the gospel. Share God’s love with them and really know where your money’s going for those that you’re helping out. I know a lot of the followers of mine on Twitter live in Indianapolis or close to it within maybe an hour at the most to be able to raise awareness not just the money that we raised but thousands of people were clicking on the wheeler mission twitter to see what they’re about so that was pretty cool.”
Everyone has a dream that they want to be in a particular profession. For Tyler, it was the sports industry. “I always knew I wanted to be involved in sports in some way, for a good while there it was more broadcasting. I played video games and pretended I was a broadcaster. As a Cubs fan, I wanted to be the next Harry Carry growing up pretending to be him and everything. So, the writing stuff was something that came a little later. I just knew it’d be sports of some kind.”
College and Sports Writing
“I got a Communications degree in College and I knew I was going to do anything sports related. What’s cool about the sports writing gig is you’re able to do multiple things, not necessarily broadcasting games but you’re able to interview, podcast, you’re able to be creative with video, in addition to writing. For your other question as far as writing goes, I like to do columns and opinions, and more people like to read those anyway but at the same time, I like to really be at the games.
The best of both worlds is when you go to a game but then that night you have a column idea instead of just a game recap. So maybe there is something developing in that game that you’re like, I can write a story about this player specifically instead of just the game. Then it’s the best of both because you’re at the game, you’re tweeting about the game and then you get to write a fun story about it.”
Advice for Sports Writers
I asked Tyler what sort of advice could he give to people who wanted to be sportswriters, bloggers, or authors, he said, “A big thing is follow your passion even if you don’t get a great start with it in your mind. Continue to do what you love to do. At the end of the day it’s about being fulfilled and if you feel called to do something you need to do it whether it’s three people watching or 10,000 it really doesn’t matter- it’s just being faithful where God’s called you.
If you have dreams of a job in that field, the more practice the better and try to hustle. Know who your target audience is, get on social media and find those people who may have similar interests, send them messages, try to get in groups and you never know when your break could come. It could come from one person; one person sees your stuff- likes it has a job for you and boom there you go.”
Tyler’s Favorite Verse
Tyler’s favorite verse is Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men.” “So, whether it’s my ministry job, my book, my sports writing, my coaching that word whatever covers everything. That means whatever I’m doing I’m doing for the Lord and not for men. That’s kind of a life verse for me.”
What would Tyler want to do if he wasn’t a sports writer? Simple: “Probably would be a Christian rock star, I love music, I love Christian music. I never really learned instruments but I sing a little bit, to be able to tour and share the music that way would have been a blast as well.”
You can read some of Tyler’s work in his book Searching for Seven. Tyler and I are partners and are currently doing a book contest where when we hit 150 subscribers, we will be giving away one of his copies for free. You can also check out the podcast to learn more about Tyler’s life and it might encourage you to enter the contest.
