How retiring ESPN government David Roberts constructed a profession on outcomes and respect
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As a child rising up in Detroit within the Nineteen Fifties and ‘60s, David Roberts liked baseball.
He lived a couple of miles from the Detroit Tigers’ dwelling stadium. But younger Dave was a Cleveland Indians fan – as a result of his grandfather advised him the Tigers, as a result of racist possession, had been one of many final Major League Baseball groups to signal a Black competitor. Cleveland, in the meantime, had built-in the American League in 1947 with Larry Doby, a couple of months after Jackie Robinson’s debut. In 1948, Cleveland signed the Negro Leagues legend Satchel Paige, who at age 42 helped pitch the roster into the World Series — the place Doby batted .318 with a Game 4 dwelling run, and Cleveland gained the top spot.
Cleveland understood the significance of variety. Now, as that idea faces assaults in 2026, Roberts is retiring from ESPN, leaving a legacy of incomes excessive scores, cultivating expertise, and proving the connection between variety and success.
In August, after 22 years with the corporate, Roberts will step down from his function as ESPN government vp and government editor of sports activities information and leisure. During his tenure, he helped elevate ESPN personalities equivalent to Mike Greenberg, Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike, Rich Eisen, Malika Andrews and Stephen A. Smith. His purview contains all information and editorial protection, audio and podcasts, and studio exhibits together with SportsMiddle, First Take, Get Up, Pardon the Interruption, NBA Today and NFL Live.
Roberts joined ESPN after 25 years in native tv, the place he broke obstacles as the primary Black information director in two states. He departs as ESPN linear tv continues to see constant scores development regardless of the industry-wide transition to the web and the community’s ongoing dominance in digital media.
“Overseeing the magnitude of that content has been gratifying,” Roberts mentioned in an interview. “It underscored the importance of having persons of color in the decision-making roles who determine who’s in front of that camera and who’s also behind the scenes, so that the diverse perspectives have the impact in reaching the diverse audience that any network should strive to serve.”
David Roberts (left) and Stephen A. Smith (proper) throughout Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals.Allen Kee / ESPN Images
For Roberts, it comes down to 1 factor.
“It might sound simple,” Roberts advised me, “but it does come back to, ‘Do they respect you? Do you have the respect? Have you earned the respect? Is that respect consistent?’ That’s what I attribute success to.”
How does a Black government get respect in an {industry} with only a few Black individuals in positions of authority? I spoke to Roberts a number of instances for this story, and interviewed 9 individuals who have labored with him. Everyone described him as having distinctive judgment about what the viewers needs and desires, demanding excellence always, and being unafraid to talk uncomfortable truths.
Results are all that matter. Results get respect.
“Dave’s defining characteristics as a leader are his candor and ambition,” mentioned Kwaku Gyasi, a producer on First Take. “He will always tell it like it is, no matter what. As a leader, he understands that those types of uncomfortable conversations are needed to ensure that everybody on the team is aware that the goal is to always improve and never settle.”
Smith, who credit Roberts with bringing him again to ESPN after an exile from 2009-11, was effusive in his reward.
“He’s incredibly demanding. He’s all about winning. The numbers, the ratings, the reviews — he pays rapt attention to that, and he’s unapologetic about it,” Smith mentioned. “You could do 99 things right, and if that 100th thing is wrong, you’re going to hear about it. That’s how he rolled. He was that from day one. But that’s what made him a great boss.”
“David has been a transformational leader at ESPN because he helped shape the way we tell stories, he developed talent, and he created opportunities for us to expand our audience and reach new fans,” mentioned Burke Magnus, president of content material at ESPN. “He came up through local news and always brought a newsroom mentality to ESPN, stressing the importance of accuracy, preparation and enterprise reporting. Within our walls, David has also been a mentor to many, offering invaluable feedback and advice to our next generation of journalists, storytellers and leaders.”
While Roberts is understood for his work elevating a few of ESPN’s greatest stars, he additionally quietly pushed for improved journalism requirements and better inclusion behind the scenes, serving on the corporate’s standards-guiding editorial board for a time and as government champion of Pulse, a Black worker useful resource group.
Said senior studio operator and Pulse co-chair Shadeed Sharpe: “He was in a position to make a lot of calls that will have a lasting impact on this company, and I don’t think you can perform in that role — and better yet, excel in the role the way that he did — without having the respect of those around him … whether they were reporting to him or if he was reporting to someone.”
David Roberts throughout the 2024 NCAA Women’s Final Four.Allen Kee / ESPN Images
Roberts grew up in southwest Detroit. His mom was a hospital nurse, and his father owned nightclubs. While attending Southwestern High School, Roberts began working on the National Bank of Detroit as a processing clerk. The job helped pay his method by means of Wayne State University, the place he majored in mass communications and broadcast journalism.
After some time, Roberts observed the Black staff on the financial institution had been focused on the eighth and ninth flooring, and confined to the lowest-paying jobs. In the summer time of 1978, Roberts and two different staff filed a category motion lawsuit towards the financial institution, which ultimately paid them a settlement. The lawsuit additionally grew to become the topic of Roberts’ faculty thesis.
“I didn’t like how the lawsuit was covered,” Roberts mentioned. “It wasn’t covered enough. It was covered on the surface, and I didn’t like how I was portrayed. So that was one of the driving forces of saying, “OK, I definitely want to be in the news business.”
Roberts graduated and commenced his profession in 1978 on digicam as a reporter for Detroit’s legendary Black-owned TV station, WGPR. In 1980, he grew to become a reporter for WFMY in Greensboro, North Carolina, the place a dinner with civil rights chief Cleveland Sellers modified his life.
Over fried fish and spaghetti, Sellers suggested Roberts to get off digicam and transfer into administration — as a result of the individuals behind the digicam make the selections.
In 1982, Roberts returned to Detroit as an project editor at WJBK.
“I was like 26 years old. I was able to come in there and push the reporters, decide what we were covering on a day-to-day basis or sit in the meetings and say, ‘We need to do this, this, and this.’ Detroit at that time was a top 10 market. It’s where I grew up, and so it was a big opportunity to make an impact on what people saw in their evening news.”
This is when Roberts met Isiah Thomas, whom the Pistons drafted in 1981.
“When I got into the NBA, the people covering the league were 98 or 99 percent white males, and their perspective was what carried the day,” Thomas advised me. “You look at Stephen A. Smith and Mike Wilbon and all them, they weren’t always at the Finals. David Aldridge wasn’t always at the Finals. We fought, and Dave fought here from Detroit, to have those voices be heard. He was able to highlight and spotlight some of those diverse opinions coming into the media. Dave was very instrumental behind the scenes during that period of time, and still today.”
Roberts moved as much as government producer positions at KFSN in Fresno, California, and WGHP in High Point, North Carolina. His subsequent cease was assistant information director at WDTN in Dayton, Ohio. In 1987, the place above him grew to become accessible.
“David Roberts walks in my door and says, ‘I want to be the news director,’” recalled Phil Stolz, who was basic supervisor of the station on the time and later grew to become a senior vp at Hearst Television. “I gave him the job because he was very impressive from the get-go. Just an intense guy, but wanted everybody to do their jobs right. He was a very smart guy. You could tell right away he knew what he was doing. And our ratings started to grow.”
The promotion, in 1987, made Roberts the primary Black information director in Ohio. One of his strongest reminiscences is a dialog with Paul Warfield, the Hall of Fame extensive receiver Roberts employed as an analyst at WDTN. When Warfield performed for the Cleveland Browns within the Sixties, one in every of his teammates was cornerback Ben Davis.
“I asked Warfield why did the Cleveland Brown fans boo their cornerback, Ben Davis. He was really good,” Roberts recalled. “Every Sunday, you’d hear them introduce this guy, and he would get booed consistently.”
Warfield smiled and defined that the boos weren’t actually about Davis himself, however Davis’s sister: political activist Angela Davis, whose involvement with the Communist Party and Black Panther Party made her a controversial determine within the Sixties.
When Stolz left Dayton for Baltimore’s WBAL, he introduced Roberts as information director. In 1996, Roberts grew to become the primary Black information director in Georgia when he took the job at WXIA in Atlanta.
“David set the tone of, ‘We’re going to do our jobs, and we’re going to do it right,’” Stolz mentioned. “We’re going to cover the news and not fool around with all this superfluous stuff that didn’t get us any ratings. He was in command of that newsroom, and people knew. He was a leader.”
After 4 years at WXIA, Roberts moved to WUSA in Washington, D.C., as information director.
“I couldn’t get the ratings up, so they fired me,” Roberts mentioned. “I could have been a news director somewhere else, but I said, ‘Enough of this moving around. I’m going to do something a little different.’ That’s how I ended up at ESPN.”
ESPN’s Dave Roberts addresses employees throughout the NFL Network worker onboarding occasion this spring.Melina Pizano / ESPN Images
In 2004, when Roberts moved to Bristol, Connecticut, to start out working on the Worldwide Leader, administration was overwhelmingly white and male. But ESPN knew that to enchantment to the widest doable viewers, it wanted the widest doable vary of views on its employees — particularly since so many athletes and viewers are Black.
During a time of giant transformation within the TV {industry}, Roberts helped steer ESPN into a brand new period. He helped determine what individuals noticed on SportsMiddle and different exhibits — from the topics that had been chosen to the path of tales to the faces delivering the information on display.
“As the audience is changing, the needs of the audience changes,” Roberts mentioned. “There was a need for a sense of immediacy, which made it easy to say that, ‘Look, our focus is going to be covering the news, covering breaking news.’ And the other factor in that evolution is trying to identify talent that breaks through, whether it’s Christine Williamson or Amina Smith or Mike Greenberg on Get Up. Someone of the caliber of Stephen A. Smith is a breakthrough talent, whether you like him or not. You have to have talent that is memorable, that resonates and will cut through the clutter, because there are so many choices out there. You have to constantly be nimble and ready to change as the industry changes and the audience habits change.”
Through all of it, Roberts operated as he had throughout the earlier 25 years of his profession — talking the reality, regardless of how unpopular it might need been.
“Dave and I have had some tough conversations,” mentioned ESPN producer Demetrius Harris, who helped launch WNBA Countdown and has labored on a number of prime exhibits. “Literally, Dave has looked me in my eye and said, ‘You know, I’m hearing some folks say they don’t think you’re good enough right now. Why am I hearing this?’ Dave has told me things my manager wouldn’t even tell me.”
Roberts’ function in getting Smith again within the ESPN household could also be his most precious contribution to the community.
In 2011, Roberts was a vp and senior coordinating producer overseeing radio and the ESPNews channel. Smith was on the skin of the community trying in after being unceremoniously let go in 2009. ESPN made him a lowball supply to return on radio solely — no tv.
“Dave Roberts said to me, ‘I know that the offer is not fair. I know it’s not ideal, but I believe in you,’” Smith advised me. “’I believe you’re gonna kick ass. Please take this offer and do what you do. Everything will take care of itself.’”
Would Smith have ended up the face of ESPN anyway, with out Roberts’ imaginative and prescient? It’s exhausting to say, however there’s no denying that Roberts foresaw him as one of many greatest stars in sports activities media historical past.
“No way I would be where I am today without him,” Smith mentioned. “I’m incredibly grateful for what he’s done for me and my career.”
The narrative twists, although, with Smith’s latest forays into politics, which have alienated a good portion of the Black group. It’s ironic that Roberts, who’s so dedicated to Black alternative, elevated a person who landed on the “Mount Rushmore of racism” at comic Kevin Hart’s latest roast.
“I love him. And I always will,” Smith advised me. “Our perspectives, our priorities can change. I understand that, but my gratitude knows no limits. My love for him doesn’t either. We can have a difference in opinion about perceived politics or roles. But Dave is a brother who looked out for a little brother and helped get me to where I am.”
Some of the largest issues Roberts and Smith did collectively, when it comes to impression, are the First Take HBCU excursions. Starting in 2019, they did dwell exhibits at traditionally Black faculties and universities, whereas additionally bringing college students into the manufacturing course of.
“Dave’s commitment to HBCUs and to making space for Black storytellers, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes, has been the best part of my career journey,” mentioned Gyasi, the First Take producer. “Students reflect on how much they appreciate the time and effort we spend at their school, the opportunities we provide them to learn and take part in the production process, and how much we inspire them.”
When I requested Roberts for a few of his favourite moments at ESPN, one in every of them was being at Dodger Stadium in 2022 for the seventy fifth anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s colour barrier. The different was from the HBCU tour.
“A student at Howard had interviewed Stephen A. when she was 6 years old, and that person got to come on the air during that HBCU show and ask him a question again as a junior,” Roberts mentioned. “That’s what this business should always strive for – you find those memorable moments. That’s key to making sure that you break through the clutter.”
In 2021, Roberts was named senior vp overseeing NBA manufacturing and studio exhibits. In 2024, he ascended to his present place as one in every of ESPN’s prime executives. Also that 12 months, he was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame. In 2024, he was named to the National Television Academy of Arts and Sciences honor society as a part of the inaugural Sports Emmys class.
“He’s kind of like the Godfather,” Isiah Thomas mentioned. “You had to get his blessing, but he was never overt with his power. He is one of the few people in the media I’ve run across — and I say few people — that had extreme power and chose to use their power for goodness and uplifting, as opposed to using their power to hurt and destroy.”
Roberts prepares to depart ESPN with scores on the upswing.
“What’s happened over the last year has been very gratifying,” he mentioned, “because I believe it’s the result of staying nimble, having the right talent in front of the camera and behind the scenes, and just knowing the audience.”
The decade earlier than Roberts was born in Detroit, the Tigers gained the 1945 World Series, when baseball was nonetheless all white.
Two years later, when integration arrived, the Tigers’ resistance despatched them plunging to the underside of the standings. Detroit didn’t conquer one other title till 1968, with key contributions from Black gamers Willie Horton, Earl Wilson and Gates Brown.
Not solely did Cleveland conquer the 1948 World Series with two of the primary Black gamers in baseball — it led the majors in attendance.
“This is a critical point in our industry right now,” Roberts mentioned. “My hope is that as the industry moves forward, we will not lose the necessary courage to stand up against the weaponization of the term ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion.’”
In the previous six years, because the homicide of George Floyd in Minnesota, America has whiplashed from reckoning with the systemic remnants of centuries of racism to an all-out authorities assault on variety. Through all of it, Roberts doesn’t flinch.
“The bottom line, and I’ve always said this, is that diversity is simply good for business,” Roberts mentioned. “Anyone who doesn’t understand that should not be in leadership positions.”
Just ask these bygone Detroit Tigers — you possibly can’t conquer with out expertise.
Jesse Washington is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. He nonetheless will get buckets.
