sidelines . JW Walsh was quarterback at Oklahoma State , Josh Stewart was corner and receiver , and Jimmy Dean was there . There were guys on the other sideline I grew up with and we ended up losing to OSU , which was tough .
DISD : How did you decide that you wanted to work for ESPN ?
CU : I blew out my knee junior year ( of college ) and I was forced to sit out an entire year . I became more focused in my academics as a media studies major with a minor in communication . I always wanted to write movies and had been working on scripts . While I was hurt , I did a lot of writing . One of my mentors , Andrew Phillips , checked on me after he had graduated . He told me to meet Tom Friend , a producer for ESPN , so I spoke with him and he told me he ’ d love to do a story on Stanford one day . He liked an idea I had about a walk-on on our team who had a nearly perfect ACT score and a photographic memory . In college football , you can ’ t take pictures of plays during games , but he would look at the defense and their formations against our first 20 plays and write them all down ( from memory ). He became an extremely important part of our team . Tom said “ I love this , let ’ s call it “ A Beautiful Mind ,” like the John Nash movie . He sent my story to ESPN . They liked it , green lit the project and sent a feature producer and crew to film for College Game Day . Once we finished , I asked them , “ What can I put on my resume ?” They told me to put Associate Producer . I couldn ’ t play but felt like , in a way , I contributed to the publicity of our team . After that last Rose Bowl , I interviewed and got offered job before I graduated .
DISD : Tell me more about what you do at ESPN .
CU : I first started doing entry level work as Chris Berman ’ s prompter and there was never a dull moment on NFL Countdown working with him . Later , I got to work on NFL Countdown , producing creative content , montages , and contributing to segment video and ideas . For about the last year now , I have worked for the ESPN Rise unit . We are the content creators , designers , creative consultants and serve as “ think tank meetings .” We figure out the cool ways to go
into / out of commercial breaks . We customize every hour of every show on ESPN and it is my job to make every show look unique and brand through music video or trailers .
DISD : Any advice for students interested in playing college sports or working for ESPN ?
CU : In regards to college sports , one thing I knew and learned even more about after I got the scholarship , was that I had to be the most intense , tenacious , focused and prepared player since I wasn ’ t really a big kid . After games I would run 1-2 miles when others were off . I would go home and watch film . I don ’ t think everyone has to do that , but my advice would be no matter how good you are , look at yourself and everyone around you . Someone else is doing more . You ’ re always racing that invisible person coming for your spot and scholarship . Put in extra work . There are lots of distractions , high school is a beast and being a teenager is a mess . You have to understand that you can ’ t really be blinded by the social temptations .
Cole Underwood running out of the tunnel at Stanford Stadium where he played offensive guard for the Cardinal .
With ESPN or entertainment , you just have to be open . You have to be creative . That one idea that someone gets pitched and tells you is crazy ? That ’ s the one idea that will change television , Hollywood or the world . If someone says it ’ s crazy , that means it is different . Share those crazy ideas . If you want to be working at ESPN or as a movie director one day , pick someone you like and follow their work . I am going to get there and my family , coaches , and teachers , like GHS Principal Barbara Fischer ( retired ), are the reason why , so learn from them , too . They ’ re the ones who build you and form you .
Working at ESPN has allowed Cole Underwood , Guyer High Class of 2010 , access to professional athletes and opportunities to turn written pieces into productions for high profile sports shows like College Game Day .
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