September 10, 2025 • 65 mins
In this episode of the TMHF, we sit down with Reggie Wilson Sports Director at KARE 11, proud Mizzou alum, member of Kappa Alpha Psi, and one half of a dynamic media power couple alongside his wife, journalist Alexis Rogers.
From his Southern Illinois roots to his rise in Minneapolis media, Reggie unpacks how his faith, fraternity, and setbacks helped shape his purpose in sports journalism. We get into everything:
the food and culture that shaped him,
the soundtrack behind his storytelling,
the weight of legacy in a fast-paced industry,
and how he and Alexis are building more than careers , they’re building community.
Plus, Reggie faces the fire in our “One Gotta Go” and Lightning Round segments, revealing his love for toasted ravioli, his dream interview pick, and the sports cliché he’d gladly retire.
This episode is all heart, all hustle, and 100% real ... just like Reggie.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You know we don't. You know what takes a special
track to do this? My Mama B&Q super sauce.
It's just the flu with this chef.
I need to remind y'all I'm sick with it.
My name is it's you sick with this meaning it's one of the
same. Simple and plain.
I'm all about my paper, the bacon, cheddar and pain.
Got these lanes running for the border.
(00:20):
The talents and Mr. Porter keep it flowing like it's water.
Here we go, here we go creeping to below speed.
Is it him and his friend? Sitting in the nose, please.
Play it cool. He is special.
Just because he's on TV, everybody's hands up acting like
they know we welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to another
episode of the Taste Music Here food podcast show.
(00:41):
I am your host, Ed Porter. This is the destination for
food, music and culture and how they all connect.
Today we have an amazing guest, somebody I've been trying to sit
down with for a while. I remember vividly his
introduction to the Twin Cities because I I, me being a big
(01:01):
sports guy, it was good to see aface like his doing what he's
doing. So I'm going to attempt to give
you the flowers that you deservewith this intro.
Here we go. In the world where highlights
meet humanity, today's guest just doesn't cover the score.
He captures the soul behind the story.
(01:23):
From Southern Illinois to the Twin Cities, he's brought heart
to the headlines, authenticity to the anchor desk, and culture
to the conversation. Whether in a press box or on
their screen, he's repping KappaAlpha Psi, repping Mizzou, and
reshaping what sports journalismcan look and feel like.
Let's welcome to the show Mr. Reggie Wilson.
(01:45):
So what's up? Thanks for having me.
Thank. You thank you for being here.
So I do tons of research about guests that that come on and you
you have such an intriguing story about how you came to be.
And I was, I'm I'm looking, I'm like this, this, this needs to
be told like that, like. So my story is a is an
(02:06):
interesting one. And the more I tell my story,
the more people are like, all right, we're waiting on the
book, waiting on you to write the book.
And it's interesting because I don't really think about it like
that. I just really kind of think of
it as my life, you know, so I, Igrew up in, in Saint Louis,
southern Illinois area. My mom's from East Saint Louis,
(02:29):
if you're familiar with that. And, and so grew up a little bit
in Saint Louis, lived in Saint Louis until my dad passed away
in 2004. And then we moved back to the
Illinois side. Southern Illinois.
A lot of times when you say Southern Illinois, you say
anything Illinois people think Chicago.
And it was like, no, just just right across the bridge from
(02:49):
Saint Louis right there. Yeah, right there.
Close to the Saint Louis right. Across the Mississippi to to
just the other side of Saint Louis.
And so growing up, my dad was someone who kind of instilled in
me that love of sport. You know, some of my vivid
memories are growing up. So it it's an interesting deal
(03:15):
with my mom and my dad because, you know, they found their way
back to each other later in his life.
But earlier on, you know, they were doing the Co parenting
thing. And so, you know, vivid memories
of my dad coming to pick me up and, you know, on weekends we're
going to the Y, you know, and mydad was one of the best
(03:37):
basketball players I've ever seen, like bar none.
Like it was crazy. Like young guys, older guys,
they would, they would all come and and pick up got intense.
Why, you know? Yeah, absolutely.
You know, it was Michael Jordan and my dad that was those order
too, OK. And so like I'm telling you,
like my dad was like a dead eye shooter.
(03:57):
Like you can have your hand in his face.
And I think, you know, if, if his life played out a little bit
differently, I do think that he probably could have made it to
college and NBA playing ball or at least pro playing ball.
That's how good he was. Now you got, you definitely got,
you got the height, I got the height.
You got my mom and my dad. 62, OK, yeah, you got 64.
(04:18):
You definitely got the height. Yeah.
And so, you know, that's how it kind of started for me and
growing up in the house. So I was raised by my mom and
you know, it was, it was more like a single mom deal, but you
know it. They say it takes a village to
raise a child. And I have my village.
(04:39):
You know, my grandparents, big part of who raised me, my aunts,
uncles, you know, all of them are part of my village.
And you know, still are my grandparents no longer with us.
But you know, my aunts and uncles, they they're they're my
village. And growing up, either at my
mom's house or my grandparents house, the news was always on.
(05:01):
Always. My mom had this thing too.
She would pick me up from my grandparents house after school.
We would go home. Don't talk to her in that first
10 minutes of the newscast because she's trying to get the
headline. She's trying to figure out
what's going on. So if I'm talking to her too
much, she's like, hey, I'm watching the news.
Like give me some time. And so I will watch that.
(05:24):
And then, you know, hanging out with my dad, you know, we would
watch sports. My mom also was big into into
watching sports. So we're watching Michael Jordan
growing up, those Chicago Bulls teams.
And then the Rams got big. Greatest Show on Turf.
Yeah. And fucking the crew.
(05:45):
Yeah, so that became a passion to watch the Rams with my dad.
And I remember like very early just being like, oh wait, ESPN,
like, oh. So like, there's a place that
does what I see them doing on the news that my mom and
(06:06):
grandparents are watching, but it's just with sports. 24/7.
And it's all the time. And I was like, oh, so now I'm
coming home, I'm watching ESPN. I'm watching, you know, all the
shows that they're doing. And that kind of grew my love
for for sports. And so, you know, my dad passed
away lung cancer in 2004. It's crazy because I've now been
(06:32):
without my dad more than I've been with him.
And that's kind of bizarre. You know, my mom and dad got
married 9999 and he passed in 2004.
And so before before he passed, my brother was born in 2000.
(06:56):
And so he was four, I was 13. And we moved back across the
bridge to Illinois, as I told you about town called
Belleville, like a suburb, if you will, outside of East Saint
Louis. And that was kind of where
things just started to, to go. Like I got into sports a little
(07:17):
bit, you know, cup of coffee playing football.
It didn't work out. I always wanted to play
basketball. I I had some skills, but like it
was never really watered. So like, I wasn't near like the
product to play high school ball, but I did do track and
field. I was a discus shot put thrower.
(07:39):
But my story was always, you know, everybody's always like,
yeah, you tall, you know, whatever.
What they don't tell you is how brittle some of us tall people
are, right? And so I kept getting hurt.
Vivid memory of being in PE class.
You know, it gets fierce in PE class.
We're playing basketball. Especially when you're the
(08:00):
biggest guy. Yeah, dude.
Goes up for a layup. I jumped up, blocked it, came
down my ankle, broke my ankle one of the first few days of
track. I'm throwing discus, I'm doing
the spin, crack, crack knee. That's my whole summer is gone,
rehabbing my knee. That was the that was the end of
(08:22):
my high school of playing career.
Understood. I love sports though, and after
growing up watching the news andwatching ESPN and, you know, all
these different sports media entities, that was something
that I felt like I wanted to do.I want to be around the game
even if I couldn't play it, and I figured the best way to do
(08:46):
that would be to go into broadcasting.
So now you got the, you literally have the best seat in
the house, honestly. And you get to you, you get to,
I think the, the magic of what it is you do also is it you're,
you're talking from two different perspectives.
So you're speaking from obviously from the, the, the fan
of the sport, but also from the perspective of the athlete and
(09:11):
how their, their vantage point is too, which is it gives a
unique view of, of sports. All right, right about now we
going to we play a little game. OK, OK, called one got to go.
OK, this one got to go. We're going to give you a list
of things. And then we just got to
eliminate one of them. Oh man, it's pretty, it's pretty
simple. OK, this one, this one got to go
(09:32):
is going to be the Reggie's hot dish road map edition.
OK, list them all off. Oh man, I'm I'm a little
nervous. Saint Louis toasted ravioli.
Uh huh. Cincinnati style chili over
spaghetti, the juicy Lucy or dating style pizza.
(09:55):
OK, you said one got to go. One got to go.
I'm OK. I got to go.
Cincinnati Chili. Yeah, the the OK why?
I just, I never truly got into it.
So if it's homemade, it's delicious.
(10:16):
Our marriage parents used to invite us over and our marriage
mom, Mama Judy, she would make chili for us.
Fire. Fire, But the commercial places?
OK, so for people that don't know what we're talking about,
so there is, there's everybody knows chili, yeah.
And then everybody knows spaghetti.
(10:39):
So yes, it's chili on top of thespaghetti with some diced
onions. Yep, usually cheese.
Mound of. Cheese, mound of cheese.
And then for some reason they put little crackers on it.
Right, right. Which I still haven't.
Ate chili without crackers, yeah, but over spaghetti though.
(11:00):
Yeah, I So what I was told when I moved to Cincinnati.
And I love Cincinnati, one of the best places that I've lived.
Very underrated place for peoplewho don't know.
I felt like I was just a part ofthe community there.
Cincinnati's 47% black, which like, whoa, you know, the chili
(11:22):
is something that is an acquiredtaste.
How I was explained, it's not necessarily a dish.
Chili is a sauce. And so it's meant not
necessarily in like the Cincinnati style, not
necessarily to just because my mom, you know, my mom grew up
making chili and we I would get a bowl of chili, put some
(11:44):
cheese, some some oyster crackers, you know, go to town.
That's not how you eat Cincinnati chili.
It goes over spaghetti, over fries.
Over something. Something.
Yeah, it needs. It needs another.
Sauce. Yeah, but the thing if you don't
know. So there's two competing brands
in Cincinnati. There's Skyline Chili and
(12:04):
there's Gold Star Chili, and I'mnot giving away trade secrets
when I say this, but if you notice, like the Cincinnati
Chili secret is, there's there'sa hint of cinnamon in there.
Yep, there's some. Gold Star, apparently they put a
little chocolate in theirs. OK.
And so that's the that's the thing.
It's like a lot of times you're a skyline person or you're a
(12:28):
Gold Star person. You are seldomly both.
You're not usually both. And so the Cincinnati thing,
when I was like, you know, I, I heard too like people sometimes
eat chili with the cinnamon rolland I thought that was, I
thought that was a thing. I was like, what is that like?
(12:48):
I've never. Heard of that and so I've I've.
Seen it though and so, but for some reason the hen of cinnamon
and the chili does some plays. Yeah, it's but it's not my
thing. Yeah, it's this.
Same flavor profile. There's a little bit of that in
in the Detroit Coney. OK.
The Taconi sauce, which is another chili, it's very loose
(13:11):
sauce that has this warming spices in that as well.
That's yeah. It's an acquired taste though,
but it's not. I remember my first, you know,
running with that. I've seen I'm in Detroit, OK, I
see Coney Island like, oh, I'm thinking Brooklyn, you know, no,
no, no, no. Different.
A lot of different, a lot of different.
(13:31):
OK, all right, good. I I respect that.
I respect that. And that was just a little
history through places that you've been, which is I thought
that was cool. So we're going to have to kill
it. The the no shade to Cincinnati
at all. Yeah, yeah.
No shade. So it is a great place.
My brother has moved to Dayton, too.
OK. Yeah, love Dayton, too.
Yeah. That's great, that's great.
All right. When when prepping for a big
(13:54):
broadcast, what you do so often and and we've had a great couple
of years of sports for the for the city.
So this has been it's been awesome.
Yeah, yes. Tell me what are what is the
soundtrack that that gets you ready for these these big events
that you are particular and thenyou travel like you, you like
(14:15):
you part of the team pretty muchlike you're in different
sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're on the road too. So what what are you listening
to? What's your soundtrack?
What is the Reggie Wilson soundtrack or playlist if you
will, to get you up for the big moments?
So I think it just kind of depends on the mood that I'm in.
So for those who don't know my background, so I grew up a
(14:38):
church boy, OK, So you know Kojic.
So we in church all the time, OK, and.
I'm a pass this kids. Yeah, so.
We, we grew up, you know, I'm always in the church.
So I used to sing Sunshine Band and then I got older and at the
church that I kind of, I wouldn't say grew up in church I
(15:02):
grew up in. And then the church that I ended
up going to were two different churches, but the church that I
kind of went into adulthood and I became a praise and worship
singer for the church and I would lead several songs.
And so I'm big on music, so. That was a that was a subtle
(15:24):
flex, too. I just want to let you know I
saw. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. I, I lead several, several
songs. Yeah.
I sing, so I I'm a singer too. I, I sang to my wife at our
wedding. Like I, I've sang at so many
weddings. I sang at funerals.
I've, I've sang at events. Like I, I in college, I, I
(15:44):
cosplayed Luther Vandross and I,I sang A house is not a home.
There you go. That's on YouTube if you want to
look it up. Yeah.
Yeah. So like I, I sing.
So I think it just kind of depends It, it depends like
where my mind is. So, like, it's so funny.
My mom, you know, she had the foundation of faith for my
(16:09):
grandparents, you know, my grandmother mother in the
church, you know big time she prep and leader for 30 plus
years, you know, just missionaryin the you know, big woman of
God and she is who I get my faith rooted from really.
(16:29):
Her brother was a Bishop, you know, all kinds of pastors and
preachers in my family. And so I think for me, it always
comes back to gospel, you know, and you know, as I got older,
you know, I got into other things, hip hop and, you know,
R&B, you know, growing up, my mom always had that God
(16:53):
foundation, right, foundation offaith.
But you know, growing up with mymom, I'm listening to old school
R&B in the in the car. Growing up with my dad, my dad
was a big Drew Hill boys to men.If he was feeling ratchet, it
was masterpiece, silky, shocker,like, you know, that type of
stuff. And so but as I've gotten older,
(17:14):
I've found what my palate is. And I know I'm being really long
winded with this answer, but so depending on what the situation
is, my wife will tell you that sometimes I like to listen to
the old Isley brothers or, you know, Luther or boys to men or,
you know, Drew Hill or, you know, some of those things.
(17:36):
You know, some of that is like nostalgic for me.
Like I think it's really cool that RL I've met him several
times. And next they're they're from
Minnesota. So they just sang the national
anthem last week at one of the wolves games.
Like, you know, those are peoplethat I kind of grew up listening
to, but also grew up listening to, you know, Clark Sisters,
(17:58):
Bishop Morton, Kirk Franklin, you know, Fred Hammond, John P
Key, you know, all the. So it depends if I'm if I'm
trying to get like locked in, locked in, I'm putting on, you
know, Pandora station, you know,Corinne Hawthorne station or
play a mix of everything. Or if I'm really like, OK, I got
(18:19):
to get my mind right, Fred Hammond.
Or if I'm like, I'm trying to get amped up, you know, it'll be
like Lecrae 1K few or, you know,some KB, something like that.
I, I love. So my wife will also tell you
I'm a big like gospel rap, Christian rap type.
Yeah. You know, I sometimes you need
(18:40):
someone with a little little beat to get you, you know,
substance going. Yeah, but but you know.
Shout out to D1D1 is AD. 1D1. Is my guy right?
Yeah, so I sometimes I listen tothose things to, to get my mind
right to, you know, kind of get the juices flowing.
Yeah, Andy Mineo too. That's my guy.
Andy, Andy as well. Andy love Andy too.
Okay, because because food and music go hand in hand in my
(19:02):
world, and I believe in everybody's world, people just
don't think about it that way. What are you eating?
What is what is one of those after a long day, what is the
what do you lean on for comfort as far as in in the food realm,
comfort food. Now, now I know, I know.
You're big on your health kit. Well, yeah, but, but, I mean,
you got big, OK? You know, I grew up, like I
(19:25):
said, my grandmother and my mom are two of the best cooks that
I've ever experienced. And, you know, my mom learned a
lot of how she cooks through my grandmother.
So I grew up. That's so funny, man, how I grew
up. You know, my grandparents would
pick me up from school. And of course, my grandmother,
you know, she's just, she was old school.
(19:48):
So anytime I get home it might be greens, cornbread, butter
beans, you caramel cake. You was eating night.
Night food. Then I I was greedy.
So I would eat that and then my mom would come and pick me up
after she got off work and she gets home and of course, you
know, she wants to make some dinner.
She's like, did you eat over mama's house?
(20:09):
I was like, yeah, I ate a littlesalad.
I ate a lot. Yeah, But then she cooked.
I'm like, well, I'm not about toturn this food down either, you
know? So, you know, I think comfort,
comfort food for me, maybe like some good like fried cabbage and
some cornbread, some or some greens, Mac and cheese, yams,
(20:35):
you know, catfish, any type of chicken I will eat.
That's my chicken and fish, any of those.
I'm not a big red meat person. I, I might dabble a little bit,
you know, on a special occasion,maybe a little bit of steak, but
that's not really my thing. I don't really pork ribs.
That's not really my thing either.
(20:56):
But you know that or or you knowa good pizza from somewhere will
also. OK, OK, what's right now?
What's your favorite pizza in the cities?
My favorite pizza in the city. No precious.
I like. I like.
Luche. I like, you know, I'm, I'm, I
(21:19):
still grew up how I grew up. I'm a big chain guy too.
So Pizza Hut pizza is, is all right with me.
But wifey and I, we like young Joanie as well.
That's right on the corner. Yeah, that's that's a good spot.
Young Joanie's hits. Yeah, Yeah, we like that.
Young Joanie's hits have you OK?There's a there's a pizza place
called Elmar's, some New York style pizzas out in Plymouth
(21:40):
actually. OK, I haven't, but it's yeah,
it's legit. It's legit too as a as a as a
New Yorker and I don't stamp much.
I don't. That's why I'm saying young
Johnny's is legit too. But as just like no frills, just
pies. Yeah, yeah, it's they also do
bagels too. Like you had to get to get them.
(22:01):
They sell out immediately fast. I'm pretty sure they shipping
the water back from New York andit's crazy.
Like do they only. Yeah, it's it's that's the soap.
Just in case people don't know it is a real thing.
Anything that touches the municipal water from New York
City is innately better, innately better.
And and of course, super producer Gabe, he's an Element
(22:23):
pizza fan. So we got we got to plug
Element, which I have yet to have, which I need to make a
stop to have. I heard it's really good.
So if you like young Jonies, youwould like Element.
OK, All right, cool. So you're a Kappa man and and
your wife is, is like a OK. So how do you find a way to have
(22:45):
your, your background being a Mizzou grad and your Greek
heritage? How do you make a way to find
that into what you do on a dailybasis?
You, you're one of those people that that seem to seamlessly in
a weave all of who you are into every facet.
(23:06):
Like, you know, you have, you know, hot dish, you know, you
have your Reggie's hot dish and,and everything you do and
you're, you're, you love food. And you know, I believe your,
your, your intro video was in a supermarket, which is in the
grocery store. Use a use a.
So I'm like, I'm looking, I'm like, OK, I like this dude
because I love the supermarket. Yeah, me too.
(23:27):
And so it's it's, it's my happy place, so.
And there's so many here. There's tons there.
There are a lot here. They really are and I love them
for it. How do you seamlessly, how are
you able to do that? Like how you know, because it, I
believe the greatest storytellers come from an
authentic place. And it's less about trying to
(23:53):
code switch, if you will, and more about just being your
authentic self 100% of the time and everything you do.
And that's what I think shines the most about you.
So how? How are you doing it?
So that's a great question. I think for a while I kind of
ran from that, just kind of putting myself into different
(24:14):
compartments of life. And there was a cold switch.
And you know, it's so interesting.
I grew up as a person who was kind of shy.
I'm still pretty reserved, mild mannered I I guess you would
call me like a extroverted introvert if you will.
(24:35):
Until that mic is on, yeah, that.
Mic comes on, you got to. Break it you.
Know you got to come with it. And so I, I just think my mom
always encouraged me to be who God made me to be.
And I think meeting my wife and just how out loud she lives
(24:58):
encouraged me to just stop doingthe cold switch and just being
my authentic self. And I think I've, I've really
leaned into that. I started my career in Kansas
and I think it, it kind of gave me a little bit of a foundation,
But I had people in my life at that time who I was kind of like
(25:23):
working with and working for whowould tell me.
Like, I vividly remember having a manager say, you know, because
I would try to infuse some of mypersonality into my stuff.
And I remember having a manager say, Hey, like, you're here to
deliver the sports. You're not a comedian.
So focus more on that. And so, you know, I, I would
(25:45):
internalize that. And then I got to my next spot
in Dayton, and I kept that in mind.
And you know, I'm trying to get one of the opposite.
Heavy, heavy on, you know, give the analytical perspective, you
know, give the stats, give, you know, and I had a, a news
director, his name's Kevin Roach.
And, you know, shout out to him.He pulled me into the office one
(26:07):
time. He was like Reggie, Like,
where's the personality? Yeah, he's like, what?
He's like you're, you're a youngAfrican American man.
Like, where's that? Like, where am I?
Where's that happening in what you're doing?
And that totally opened up my whole thought process and
approach to how I did things, where if you saw me at the
(26:29):
grocery store or if you saw me at church, if you saw me in the
community, if you saw me at work, I was going to be the same
person. And I kept watering that and
kept watering that to the point where I am now.
Whereas like, you know, black people are not a monolith.
(26:50):
We are not monolithic. And there's no reason for us to
act like we have to be or we are.
And so at any given time, you know, when I'm doing sports,
when I'm in life, it is, it's, it's the same way you may get
some, you know, colloquialisms, you may get some euphemisms, you
(27:11):
may get some jokes. You may get, you know, silly,
you may get, you know, serious, you may get, you know, it just
depends on what I'm doing and, and what the topic is.
But like what you're getting is authentically me.
Absolutely. And it took me a long time to
lean into being unapologeticallyme and not being ashamed of this
(27:34):
or that part of me and just making that a part of my story.
You you talk about being a storyteller.
That that's one story to tell. Your, your perspective is what
makes your story so important. Your perspective is what makes
your story worthwhile to listen to.
(27:58):
And I think one thing that I've learned, especially being here
in Minnesota where this is probably the most different
place that I've ever lived, I had to be me because if I
wasn't, I would lose myself, right?
And that's important. I have to lean into who I am.
I have to be authentically me because I am Reggie the son,
(28:22):
Reggie the husband, Reggie the soon to be father, Reggie the
Kappa, Reggie the man of God. You know, Reggie the brother,
Reggie the friend, you know, Reggie the goofy dude.
I am all those things at once. And the reason why that that
that came up, so I've I've bumped into you on on a bunch of
(28:43):
occasions. You're the same dude.
No, and and and you're the same dude on TV, though.
So it's like that's that's I know, you know, being in in the
business that I've been in for, for for decades.
That's not an easy thing to do unless you're either a
phenomenal actor or you just, that's just you.
(29:04):
And so that, that that shows. It takes an amazing amount of
courage and self-awareness to beable to be that vulnerable.
And so I, I see it, I recognize it.
I commend you for it. Yeah, and, and when you're on,
when you're on TV, that was one thing I had to learn as well.
I would grow up like really justloving people like Stuart Scott
(29:29):
on ESPN, like loving people, youknow, television's John Butchy
gross call himself Bucci, man. You know, like people have
personalities and people lean, and Stuart Scott was a big
person who just leaned into one.100%.
If you listen to any of Gus Johnson's calls, you know he got
(29:52):
big doing March Madness. He, you know, just.
Chris Berman is another one. Chris Berman, you know, all
kinds of personality. And that was something that I'm
like, OK, those dudes are not afraid to be themselves.
Let me lean into that with who Iam.
And it got to the point where, you know, at first, you know,
(30:13):
you know, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Well, you, you emulate some of those people, but I can't say
stuff like, oh, you know, the Carl Anthony Towns cooler than
the other side of the pillow. Like, that's not that's not me.
You know that That's Stew. That's Boo.
Yeah. Like that's Stew, you know?
But I have my own isms. My own, you know, you might get
(30:35):
some pop culture references. You might get, you know, some,
some references to to TV shows or, or, you know, churchisms or,
you know, instead of me, you know, people, people watch my
sports casts and, you know, say,hey, it's his.
It's his third home run of the season.
I might say, man, he hit that thing, the Eden Prairie, you
(30:57):
know, on a home run call or something like that.
Just something that's just me. Right.
Yeah, And that's destiny. Talk to me about, you know,
you're you're a visible black voice and just be honest, a
space that hasn't made a lot of room for always made a lot of
room for diverse storytellers. How do you carry that
(31:22):
responsibility and reflect it into your work now?
And the reason why I use the word responsibility, because no
matter how much you would shy away from that as, as people of
color, we have this unspoken sense of responsibility.
I know I, I feel it on a daily basis, specifically someone that
(31:43):
is visible in the public eye or I don't care if you weren't,
it's, it's if you're in a position that that is abnormal
for the, you know, whatever thatis, you feel this unspoken
responsibility to, to represent in a way that is beneficial to
(32:06):
others, specifically youth. So how?
How do you deal with that? That's such a heavy question.
Especially being a person of yourself that is deep into the
community. So you're you do a lot in the
community because of. Those things, that's such a
heavy question, man. So coming to Minnesota, this was
(32:34):
probably the most high profile job that I've ever had.
And you look around and it's nota whole lot of people who look
like me in roles that I occupy. That's a heavy responsibility,
(32:54):
but also, at times, a heavy burden.
Sports director. So in case, in case that hasn't
that he's the sports director, it's up on the screen.
But I I it's important to to audibly hear it.
You know, it was funny because, you know, and I'm not even
trying to go there, but with black people, we are often made
(33:19):
to be humble. And there are often
opportunities that people take to try to humble us.
And, you know, I, I would say, oh, yeah, you know, people would
get introduced to me. I would say, oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah. I do sports at Care 11.
And I remember when my wife heard that on too many
(33:40):
occasions. I guess she's like, Reggie, you
are the sports director at CARE 11.
She's like, you need to start saying that with pride.
And I'm like, yeah, but you know, I am now.
She's like, no, that is your title.
It means something. And you know, when I first got
here, there was don't read the comments section.
(34:01):
There was there was announcements about me coming
here and if you read the comments section on the strip on
Facebook, nasty, nasty. And my mom, bless her, she read
all of them. And I had to stop because I'm
(34:22):
like, this is crazy. Like I haven't even gotten there
yet. Like they haven't even given me
a chance. And you know, I'm already
getting told I'm the diversity hire.
You know, we know why he got thejob.
It's like, Dang, like, has been black ever been an advantageous
thing in society? Because I.
That would be I missed that e-mail.
I missed that e-mail, yeah. And, and so getting here, I had
(34:44):
that and I, I, that was in my mind and that that stifled me a
bit out of the gates just being real.
And I think internalizing that too much and the imposter
syndrome of it all really, really held me back for my first
(35:10):
about six months to the point where I had internalized it so
much. I, I called my wife.
I was like, hey, you know, I appreciate this opportunity, but
I think I'm good. I think I think I'm going to
tell him like, I'm good. I don't want this anymore.
And she was just like, let me talk to God about it.
(35:32):
She's like, don't, don't do that.
And she was just like, you know,God told me that that's not the
move for you. And I was like, girl, he didn't
tell me that, you know? And true enough, God spoke
through her in that moment to tell me not to give up.
(35:53):
And yes, it's been hard. Yes, it was a lot to sift
through, but it's been beneficial and I do believe that
God put me in this position for a reason.
And it's so funny you ask that question because I will go into
these press conferences. I will go into these rooms, look
(36:16):
around, oh, I'm the only black person there other than the
athlete at the podium right now.And I would see myself and feel
myself in that room. And it took a while for me to
just get comfortable enough to just say, yeah, I'm occupying
this room. And that's what it is.
So be confident in that because everybody else in this room is
(36:38):
confident in who they are. So you be confident in that.
Yeah, you might be the only. But that's all right.
Lean into it. And, you know, it's, it's taken
a while for me to really get my feet set and really just own the
position I have and the person who I am as I'm occupying these
(37:01):
rooms. And we talk about visibility.
I don't know that there's a morevisible sports media person than
me in the Twin Cities right now.And that's a bit jarring.
Like, I can't go to the grocery store without people being like,
hey, we love watching you. And I'm just like, wow, like.
(37:24):
The reason's crazy. The reason, really reason why I
asked that question is because we were just talking about you
as a kid watching Stuart Scott. You're Stuart Scott.
That OK. No, no, as far as no, you got to
think about really leaning to the fact of you are now there's
a kid that comes home from school kids watching the news,
(37:45):
though. Kids watch the news, yeah,
whenever they can. And, and and it's it's you know,
it's on social now, you know, it's not like we used to watch
the news, but you, you are the example.
So it is important to to see youcarry yourself the way you do.
You're knowledgeable. You're you're you're well
(38:06):
spoken. You're and all these things
sound like. Oh well, it's not about the fact
of what they are. The fact is, you are the example
of possibility. And that's so when you talk
about the the balance of it being a burden with the balance
of it being a responsibility, I think that's where I learn more
(38:28):
towards the responsibility because I am one of very few in
this industry. Oh yeah, national.
Like me national doing this roleand I got to represent, you
know, I got to, you know, representation is everything.
And if there's a young kid on TVwho looks like me, who likes
(38:51):
what I do, who is inspired by what I do, I have made the
difference because I've showed that person that this is what is
attainable if you work hard, if you get, get a few favorable
bounces from the from the good Lord above and and you take
advantage of the opportunities that you're given.
(39:12):
And just be a good dude. That's just so the other side of
that, the other side of that coin is to, you know, for
specifically in inner cities, you know, there's usually one or
two ways out. People think, oh, it's going to
it's going to be this, you know,it could be on the other side of
that ball. You don't even have to ever
touch foot on the court unless it is to cover the game and you
(39:36):
can still be around things that you love.
And there's another way to skin that cat.
Yeah, when it really hit for me,I didn't really realize.
I don't think that most creatives and people that just
doers really take a minute to understand their impact.
So I did then my fair share stuff.
But this last thing I did on Netflix with the pressure
(39:57):
cooker, I was getting so many messages from, I had to hit the,
the translate button on an IG. And an overwhelming amount of
those messages were from young black kids.
That or their parents saying that they appreciated how I
conducted myself. Wow.
And I never and my whole thing, I, I, you know, I've been on
(40:19):
record saying this. I went on to be 100%
authentically myself 100% of thetime.
Because no matter how it shook out, I could live with the
results of whatever happened after that.
And that to me was was powerful that people saw themselves or
(40:40):
the possibility of themselves inwhat I was doing.
And I never thought, you know, Inever, I don't think of myself.
I don't take myself too seriously.
It's like me neither. So it's like I'm just, you know,
anybody can do this, so. I'm just a vessel.
Exactly. And I'm just, I'm just walking
to my purpose. Yeah, 100%.
(41:00):
I'm also and I if if you haven'theard that or I wanted you to
really soak that in because that's a real, it's a real
thing, Reggie, like you, you're that you're that guy right now.
So you have to understand that people are looking at you and
not all of it gets written in the comments.
(41:21):
You know, some there's somebody that that is really you are
changing their view of what could be.
That's powerful. Wow, Wow.
Yeah. I, I, I appreciate the love,
man. It's, it's it's humbling, but
it, it, it's also gratifying. You know, I, I do understand the
(41:43):
responsibility that I have and I, I don't play with it, but I
try to be a good steward of thatfrom the time I open my eyes
until the time I close them at night, you know, I try to make
sure that I'm impacting in the right way.
Let's let's talk about some accolades because you, you with
that. So to, to get to where you are
now, you would have to have a series of really, really
(42:06):
prominent accolades. Nobody's just handing out sports
directed titles to, to, to to people.
It doesn't work that way. You had to earn.
So you stacked up a series of milestones and wars, Emmys and
things of that nature to date. How do you feel about those
(42:26):
accolades? Is it a checkpoint to where OK,
I'm I'm on the right path, we'redoing what we need to do?
Or is it more of a thing of OK, I, I expected to be in the, in
the place I'm at now. Now it's like, what's next?
How are you looking at these? I just, I look at it as a
(42:47):
blessing, man, a little bit about my story, man.
When I graduated, I graduated from the University of Missouri
School of Journalism and it is known as the top journalism
school in the world. And so it's a, it's a great
experience. I got great hands on experience.
The station that I worked at in college was an NBC station owned
(43:11):
by the university, but they broadcast over mid Missouri and
that's where I got my chops. When I graduated, I could not
find a job in television. It took me a year and a half to
get my first TV job and it was anews photographer, so I was the
(43:32):
guy that. Photojournalist.
Yeah, I was a photojournalist. I was the guy that you saw
running the camera for the reporter.
And what I ended up doing, I always said that was the best
and the the worst thing, I guess, because I would take the
camera, turn it on myself at theend of my shift.
So on my off days, and put reports together based on things
(43:55):
that I had been sent to do during the week.
And I put a, a resume, reel, tape, whatever you want to call
it together. And I will bug the heck out of
my news director finally, to thepoint where he was just like,
all right, man. We got a job just opened up in
Dodge City, KS, guy from Minnesota, his name's Andrew
Lovelitt. I think he's back here in
(44:16):
Minnesota. He was filling the role.
He he left the role and it left the vacancy for me to fill in
Dodge City, KS, covering sports within a 2 1/2 hour radius of
Dodge City. So I covered high school sports,
JUCO sports, rodeo, whatever youwhatever you want to think of
(44:41):
for Dodge City, KS. And I remember coming to
Minnesota for NABJ National Association of Black
Journalists. Every year they have a huge
convention, 2015. It was here in Minnesota at the
Convention Center in Minneapolis.
And Boyd Hooper, my personal goat, one of my journalism
(45:02):
heroes, he did 3 or 4 workshops during that week.
If you know Boyd Hooper, one of the best storytellers of our
generation, landed 10,000 stories on care every week.
And I took those workshops with him and it changed my whole
(45:24):
perspective. And I went back to dodge and I
was like, OK, how would I tell this story if I was Boyd Hooper?
And I was like, OK, how would I tell this story if I was black
and I was Boyd Hooper? And I started to find my own
style. And from there, I started to win
some awards and some of the workthat I was doing started to get
(45:47):
recognition. And that carried over from
Kansas to Dayton to Cincinnati. I was in Cincinnati.
I was nominated for my first Emmy couple Emmys, got
nominated. Fast forward to here in
Minnesota. Every year I've been here, I've
been nominated. For every single year.
And, you know, finally won one last year and oh, man, what a
(46:11):
tremendous triumph that felt like because you just been
chopping wood, chopping wood, chopping wood.
And you finally, you finally winan Emmy.
And that was that was dope. That was a dope moment for me.
And it's it's something that I'mjust like, you know, once you do
it, it's so funny. If you if you think back to A.J.
(46:33):
Brown when the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the next day, he was
just like, OK, I did it. Now what Now?
What I, I OK, it happened now. And I think that's the thing
where, you know, you ask kind oflike where I'm at, I think, I
think what he was kind of pointing at was the thrill
wasn't the destination. The thrill was the journey.
(46:57):
And now he's accomplished this major feat, but like the journey
is not over. And so that's kind of where I'm
at. I'm like, the journey is not
over. There's still so much more to
accomplish in this thing. I'm thankful for the accolades.
I'm thankful for where God has brought me to to this point, but
man, I I turned 35 in in August.Yeah, you got some things.
(47:20):
I got I, I still got plenty of living.
God willing. I still got plenty of living and
plenty of things that I want to achieve ahead of me.
Yeah. Is there any, has there been any
viral moment or, or story that resonated with people in a way
that totally surprised you? Like that's what they that's
they really attached themselves to that.
(47:41):
Like is there one? Like could I have, I have for
me, I'm like, I, I couldn't believe certain things that
people took and, and made it their own.
And that's what I got the most praise off of.
Is there something like that foryou?
OK, so when I was in Cincinnati,there was a series of stories I
did on. There was this Blackhead coach
(48:04):
of this pretty prominent high school called Princeton in
Cincinnati, and he took the football team to the playoffs
for like, the first time in verylong time, started getting this,
like, sustained success, startedchurning out like NFL talent,
(48:29):
like left tackle for the ArizonaCardinals, Paris Johnson.
He went to Princeton. And so he was getting mentored
by this NFL coach, Hugh Jackson.And that story kind of took off.
And I was just like, man, like Ifelt like it was a big deal at
(48:50):
the time, but it really kind of took off.
And that was something that I thought was really dope.
Also, there was a story I did inCincinnati where I kind of
talked about the history of the Negro Leagues in Cincinnati.
And there were people who kind of knew, but there were so many
(49:13):
people who really didn't like know.
Had no idea, Yeah. And that was that was a story
that really resonated with people that, that, and that's
the, that's the powerful part oftelling stories and why I love
telling stories. I work at care 11.
Care 11 is known as one of the best storytelling stations in
(49:34):
the country. And to now be able to, you know,
one of my storytelling heroes, as I said, was Boyd Hooper.
To now be a teammate of his and now to call him friend.
Like, I've had dinner at this man's house and I'm just like,
what are we serious? He came to my baby shower.
Like, these are really cool deals.
(49:54):
But the power of storytelling can really change lives,
absolutely can really change lives.
I think that's something to me that that really just kind of
resonates like you, you tell a story, you make a difference.
And you know, one of the cooleststories that I kind of knew it
(50:16):
was going to be that. But one of the recent ones that
I've done, my Co worker Gary Knox made a tweet about Paige
Becker's when she was in the 6thgrade.
Well, he had never talked to anybody about this, but his
tweet has gone viral so many times as Paige just continues to
climb the ladder of achievement.So I finally, right before Paige
(50:38):
got drafted. Yeah, yeah.
Sat down with him. Yeah.
It was a great. Conversation that was That's a
great interview. It was a great conversation and
that kind of took off. Yeah, I know there's a long
winded answer, but the last thing I say, last year my team
and I had just a conversation ofhow we could take our sports
(51:01):
covers to the next level. And you know, being a
journalist, we were always taught, and I would like to
consider myself a journalism purist, if you will, we were
always taught that the story is never about us.
So the best storytellers, I feellike get out of the way and let
(51:22):
what the subject of the story is, tell the story.
Well, I think as journalism has evolved, there is a way to put
our own perspectives onto what we're doing.
And you talked about hot dish. Hot dish was born last year.
(51:44):
And it was a way of me being able to really kind of get a
little bit underneath the headlines and really kind of
just not really go there, but just go there.
And it's been, it's been a success.
You know, my, my teammate Julia Daniels Juju, she came up with
(52:09):
Bad Juju as a way of, of really kind of bringing her personality
to it. She won an Emmy for her work
last year. And we were like, OK, we all
need to come up with something. So my, my Co worker Will Hall,
he came up with Will's word and mine was Reggie's hot dish.
And so if you watch Vikings extra, if you watch Timberwolves
(52:30):
extra, we'll have our last Timberwolves extra since the the
wolf season is now over. There's a hot dish at the end of
every show. And it's just, it's a way to
call attention and really just kind of give my perspective, how
I see it through my lens of a hot topic in the world of sport,
(52:52):
the Vikings, Timberwolves, you know, in our sports extra shows
on Friday. It's just about anything
happening in sports, just my spin.
And it's not like a first take type thing where you just like,
it's just like yelling into the void about something.
It's something that's a little bit more thought out, you know,
because I, I grew up enjoying shows like real sports where,
(53:16):
you know, at the end of real sports.
Bryant Gumbel gave his like lastopinion.
Yeah, uh, I always thought that was powerful.
Scott Van Pelt at night, he has this one big thing.
It's like an essay, if you will.Bob Costas Yes, I think we all
kind of learned from from Bob inthat, but it was a way for me to
(53:36):
put my own spin on a current headline.
And I think people have really taken to hot dish like people
like, oh man, we look forward tohot dish.
We look forward to bad juju and hot dish every week.
And it's just like, wow, like something that we created to
really just kind of take our ourskills over the top was was
(53:57):
something that has really been received well.
The, the one, the few things about that, what I love about
sports is, is the parallels between life and specifically
team sports and being a part, you know, the, the, the team
being more important than the sum of his parts.
(54:20):
And you just touched on that without even, you know, you
talked about your team and this is a was a good mark of a great
leader and a good teammate. Love my team man, love my team.
Let's talk about the home team. So your wife and you and your
wife are the preeminent journalism team, to be honest.
(54:42):
I mean, so you guys and and you do a lot for the community, a
lot of a lot of things that are,you know, helping to pour into
the youth, which I think is an important, obviously important
for you and your wife. But it's important for the next
generation to to get these things and these jewels from you
(55:03):
guys. How do you see and define your
legacy with journalism and the optics of being a great teammate
specifically for a husband and wife?
Because what do you know it or not?
The the optics of that is very powerful.
Yeah, I think if you ask both ofus, we both didn't think we
(55:24):
would marry journalists. That's just not, you know, you
know, it makes sense now that we're together, but.
Yeah, it wasn't in the. Cards.
No, but she is a phenomenal person.
I always say I'm married to likethe next Oprah.
She's the Alexis Rogers, you know that that is she is
somebody OK? She's a she's a force.
(55:47):
I learned the importance and thelove of community from her.
She is always just been. I remember there was one year we
were in Cincinnati and she did 1000 events in a calendar year
and it was just like, how do youfind the time?
(56:08):
Like how do you find the time? But it's something that she's
passionate about is not performative.
She truly cares about that. And that inspired me.
I'm like, man, what more can I be doing to be impacting people
and boots on the ground? And I think journalism is about
the people. And so many times there are
journalists who telling, there'stelling people's stories.
(56:35):
That's their contribution to community.
And that sometimes they feel like it, it starts and ends
there. It's like, well, I, I went into
this neighborhood and told this story and I tell stories every
day representing communities every that's my contribution.
When I'm off work now, that's mytime, but I'm serving the
community on my hours of work. And then they go home and you
(56:58):
know, they do whatever they do, respect to them, the more power
to them. You know, not saying that
there's something wrong with that per SE, but I think, you
know, community to me, we go to church with people that we, you
know, are on their TV's everydayand they tell us that, you know,
(57:20):
it means something to see me praise and worshiping with
somebody who watches me on TV everyday.
Oh, they just like me, you know.And I think that that's
important. It's important when there are
events at schools and events at community centers and you know,
serving food to less fortunate or, you know, whatever the event
(57:42):
may be, it's important for people like us to show up
because we have to let the people know that we're not just
reporting on their communities. We are a part of their
communities because you let us into your homes to, to have
conversations with you. You let us into your homes,
being on your TV. You, we, we, we almost like owe
(58:07):
it to the people who we serve toreally serve.
And I think that's something that, you know, I learned from
from my wife and something that is now a very important part of
what I do. And it's a very important part
of what we do because there's a certain kind of joy that comes
(58:27):
from serving people where you can take the attention and the
thought. You know, some days when I am so
heavy laden with my own stuff isthe best opportunity to get in
the community and serve others because for that amount of time,
it gives you a perspective 1 of what other people are going
(58:50):
through. Maybe your problem, you know
your problems may be big, but you know Dang like this person
you. Have no idea?
Yeah. So it shifts the focus, but it
also gives you a sense of gratitude.
And some purpose. And purpose.
And I think that's something that you just can't put a price
on. That's something that is
(59:11):
invaluable, just being people, being productive, you know,
Christians being productive members of of society and
community. Yeah, the act of servitude.
It's everything I do is all of my many tools in the toolbox
that God has bestowed upon me are to serve others, including
(59:35):
this platform. Is this everything about what I
do is shine a light elsewhere. And I get so much from it
though, you know, it's it's an but not the way that people
think. So I the the community, the
conversations and then the the just seeing myself in the work.
(01:00:01):
Of just just being a good steward is is everything to me.
So before I let you go, we're going to play something I call
the Lightning Round. All right, OK, so.
This is going to be a quick fireround.
I'm going to give you a list of of things or phrases, and then
you're going to give me the first thing that popped into
(01:00:21):
your mind. OK, cool.
All right. All right.
Favorite athlete you've ever interviewed?
Dang, it's supposed to be quick.Favorite athlete I've ever
interviewed. Wow, this is tough.
(01:00:43):
You know what? Just just for the sake of he
just being a great dude, I'll go.
Justin Jefferson. OK.
Yeah, Great. Great one.
OK, most overrated sports cliche.
They came to play. They came to play.
Look, that's that is by far that's never.
(01:01:03):
Like, yeah, they came to play. Like they came to play today.
Like, you know, a team goes up 21, nothing.
And they're like, oh, they came to play.
Like the other team came to playtoo.
They just came to play and it didn't work out.
Absolutely they they got hoes. First meal you ever cooked for
your wife? It was salmon and asparagus and
(01:01:29):
I think a little rice. It was, it was my first time, or
it might have been like potatoesof some sort, but it was my
first time ever. I know she said she likes
salmon. So I cooked some salmon in a
cast iron. I think I I looked at a recipe
online somewhere and I was like,Oh yeah, I could do that.
And so I cooked the salmon and then cook some asparagus.
(01:01:51):
I think I got a picture of her with the plate, but that was
like the first ever plate that Iever cooked.
I think it was a Valentine's Daymeal.
Yeah, you went. You went big on.
Valentine Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like to cook, so yeah.
Good, good. Pregame playlist banger?
What's that one hype joint to pregame with?
(01:02:12):
Pregame playlist banger. Probably like A there's a song
by KB 10K that's good. I like 1K few church house trap
house that that that bangs. It sounds like a bang.
It bangs as well. Yeah, yeah.
(01:02:33):
Those are my sounds OK. And if you could give a few
words of advice to your 13 year old self, what would you say?
Hang in there, hang in there. I know it looks crazy right now.
Your dad just passed. You seem like you don't really
have a direction, but hang in there because it gets better.
(01:02:58):
It gets better. Absolutely, absolutely.
So you got to tell everyone out here listening and watching
where they can follow you and catch up with all the things you
got going on. So please tell everybody where
they can find you at. Yeah, at Reggie Wilson TV on all
platforms. You know, I haven't gotten into
(01:03:19):
the TikTok deal yet. I know it's big, but you know, I
that's just that hasn't happenedyet.
Probably will at some. Point as the media.
Landscape changes I'm probably going to have to get on TikTok,
but Blue sky X formerly Twitter,Facebook, IG, I'm at Reggie
Wilson TV. OK.
(01:03:40):
And obviously on K-11. Yeah, yeah.
Care 11 as well. Yeah, at Reggie Wilson TV.
Absolutely. So again, thank you so much for
for for coming to the platform. I had an amazing time.
Yeah, it was fun, man. Absolutely absolutely check out
(01:04:00):
Reggie every night on care 11 aswell as on the socials again,
Reggie Wilson TV on everything including TikTok soon to come.
He's about to get all the all the dances and everything good
again. I also want to give a shout out
to your lovely wife and and yoursoon to come baby girl.
(01:04:21):
Yeah, we're weeks away from me having a daughter in this world.
That is crazy. Welcome to team girl dad.
So I'm that's. Probably going to be the reason
why I'm on TikTok soon. There you go.
Yeah, sure. Absolutely, Absolutely.
All right, this has been the Taste Music Here food podcast
show. Until next time, Peace,
(01:04:56):
NBC. Our relation to NBC.
You know we don't. You know what takes a special
track to do this? My Mama B&Q super sauce.
It's just the flu with this chef.
I need to remind y'all I'm sick with it.
My name is it's you sick with this meaning it's one of the
same. Simple and plain.
I'm all about my paper, the bacon, cheddar and pain.
Got these lanes running for the border.
(00:20):
The talents and Mr. Porter keep it flowing like it's water.
Here we go, here we go creeping to below speed.
Is it him and his friend? Sitting in the nose, please.
Play it cool. He is special.
Just because he's on TV, everybody's hands up acting like
they know we welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to another
episode of the Taste Music Here food podcast show.
(00:41):
I am your host, Ed Porter. This is the destination for
food, music and culture and how they all connect.
Today we have an amazing guest, somebody I've been trying to sit
down with for a while. I remember vividly his
introduction to the Twin Cities because I I, me being a big
(01:01):
sports guy, it was good to see aface like his doing what he's
doing. So I'm going to attempt to give
you the flowers that you deservewith this intro.
Here we go. In the world where highlights
meet humanity, today's guest just doesn't cover the score.
He captures the soul behind the story.
(01:23):
From Southern Illinois to the Twin Cities, he's brought heart
to the headlines, authenticity to the anchor desk, and culture
to the conversation. Whether in a press box or on
their screen, he's repping KappaAlpha Psi, repping Mizzou, and
reshaping what sports journalismcan look and feel like.
Let's welcome to the show Mr. Reggie Wilson.
(01:45):
So what's up? Thanks for having me.
Thank. You thank you for being here.
So I do tons of research about guests that that come on and you
you have such an intriguing story about how you came to be.
And I was, I'm I'm looking, I'm like this, this, this needs to
be told like that, like. So my story is a is an
(02:06):
interesting one. And the more I tell my story,
the more people are like, all right, we're waiting on the
book, waiting on you to write the book.
And it's interesting because I don't really think about it like
that. I just really kind of think of
it as my life, you know, so I, Igrew up in, in Saint Louis,
southern Illinois area. My mom's from East Saint Louis,
(02:29):
if you're familiar with that. And, and so grew up a little bit
in Saint Louis, lived in Saint Louis until my dad passed away
in 2004. And then we moved back to the
Illinois side. Southern Illinois.
A lot of times when you say Southern Illinois, you say
anything Illinois people think Chicago.
And it was like, no, just just right across the bridge from
(02:49):
Saint Louis right there. Yeah, right there.
Close to the Saint Louis right. Across the Mississippi to to
just the other side of Saint Louis.
And so growing up, my dad was someone who kind of instilled in
me that love of sport. You know, some of my vivid
memories are growing up. So it it's an interesting deal
(03:15):
with my mom and my dad because, you know, they found their way
back to each other later in his life.
But earlier on, you know, they were doing the Co parenting
thing. And so, you know, vivid memories
of my dad coming to pick me up and, you know, on weekends we're
going to the Y, you know, and mydad was one of the best
(03:37):
basketball players I've ever seen, like bar none.
Like it was crazy. Like young guys, older guys,
they would, they would all come and and pick up got intense.
Why, you know? Yeah, absolutely.
You know, it was Michael Jordan and my dad that was those order
too, OK. And so like I'm telling you,
like my dad was like a dead eye shooter.
(03:57):
Like you can have your hand in his face.
And I think, you know, if, if his life played out a little bit
differently, I do think that he probably could have made it to
college and NBA playing ball or at least pro playing ball.
That's how good he was. Now you got, you definitely got,
you got the height, I got the height.
You got my mom and my dad. 62, OK, yeah, you got 64.
(04:18):
You definitely got the height. Yeah.
And so, you know, that's how it kind of started for me and
growing up in the house. So I was raised by my mom and
you know, it was, it was more like a single mom deal, but you
know it. They say it takes a village to
raise a child. And I have my village.
(04:39):
You know, my grandparents, big part of who raised me, my aunts,
uncles, you know, all of them are part of my village.
And you know, still are my grandparents no longer with us.
But you know, my aunts and uncles, they they're they're my
village. And growing up, either at my
mom's house or my grandparents house, the news was always on.
(05:01):
Always. My mom had this thing too.
She would pick me up from my grandparents house after school.
We would go home. Don't talk to her in that first
10 minutes of the newscast because she's trying to get the
headline. She's trying to figure out
what's going on. So if I'm talking to her too
much, she's like, hey, I'm watching the news.
Like give me some time. And so I will watch that.
(05:24):
And then, you know, hanging out with my dad, you know, we would
watch sports. My mom also was big into into
watching sports. So we're watching Michael Jordan
growing up, those Chicago Bulls teams.
And then the Rams got big. Greatest Show on Turf.
Yeah. And fucking the crew.
(05:45):
Yeah, so that became a passion to watch the Rams with my dad.
And I remember like very early just being like, oh wait, ESPN,
like, oh. So like, there's a place that
does what I see them doing on the news that my mom and
(06:06):
grandparents are watching, but it's just with sports. 24/7.
And it's all the time. And I was like, oh, so now I'm
coming home, I'm watching ESPN. I'm watching, you know, all the
shows that they're doing. And that kind of grew my love
for for sports. And so, you know, my dad passed
away lung cancer in 2004. It's crazy because I've now been
(06:32):
without my dad more than I've been with him.
And that's kind of bizarre. You know, my mom and dad got
married 9999 and he passed in 2004.
And so before before he passed, my brother was born in 2000.
(06:56):
And so he was four, I was 13. And we moved back across the
bridge to Illinois, as I told you about town called
Belleville, like a suburb, if you will, outside of East Saint
Louis. And that was kind of where
things just started to, to go. Like I got into sports a little
(07:17):
bit, you know, cup of coffee playing football.
It didn't work out. I always wanted to play
basketball. I I had some skills, but like it
was never really watered. So like, I wasn't near like the
product to play high school ball, but I did do track and
field. I was a discus shot put thrower.
(07:39):
But my story was always, you know, everybody's always like,
yeah, you tall, you know, whatever.
What they don't tell you is how brittle some of us tall people
are, right? And so I kept getting hurt.
Vivid memory of being in PE class.
You know, it gets fierce in PE class.
We're playing basketball. Especially when you're the
(08:00):
biggest guy. Yeah, dude.
Goes up for a layup. I jumped up, blocked it, came
down my ankle, broke my ankle one of the first few days of
track. I'm throwing discus, I'm doing
the spin, crack, crack knee. That's my whole summer is gone,
rehabbing my knee. That was the that was the end of
(08:22):
my high school of playing career.
Understood. I love sports though, and after
growing up watching the news andwatching ESPN and, you know, all
these different sports media entities, that was something
that I felt like I wanted to do.I want to be around the game
even if I couldn't play it, and I figured the best way to do
(08:46):
that would be to go into broadcasting.
So now you got the, you literally have the best seat in
the house, honestly. And you get to you, you get to,
I think the, the magic of what it is you do also is it you're,
you're talking from two different perspectives.
So you're speaking from obviously from the, the, the fan
of the sport, but also from the perspective of the athlete and
(09:11):
how their, their vantage point is too, which is it gives a
unique view of, of sports. All right, right about now we
going to we play a little game. OK, OK, called one got to go.
OK, this one got to go. We're going to give you a list
of things. And then we just got to
eliminate one of them. Oh man, it's pretty, it's pretty
simple. OK, this one, this one got to go
(09:32):
is going to be the Reggie's hot dish road map edition.
OK, list them all off. Oh man, I'm I'm a little
nervous. Saint Louis toasted ravioli.
Uh huh. Cincinnati style chili over
spaghetti, the juicy Lucy or dating style pizza.
(09:55):
OK, you said one got to go. One got to go.
I'm OK. I got to go.
Cincinnati Chili. Yeah, the the OK why?
I just, I never truly got into it.
So if it's homemade, it's delicious.
(10:16):
Our marriage parents used to invite us over and our marriage
mom, Mama Judy, she would make chili for us.
Fire. Fire, But the commercial places?
OK, so for people that don't know what we're talking about,
so there is, there's everybody knows chili, yeah.
And then everybody knows spaghetti.
(10:39):
So yes, it's chili on top of thespaghetti with some diced
onions. Yep, usually cheese.
Mound of. Cheese, mound of cheese.
And then for some reason they put little crackers on it.
Right, right. Which I still haven't.
Ate chili without crackers, yeah, but over spaghetti though.
(11:00):
Yeah, I So what I was told when I moved to Cincinnati.
And I love Cincinnati, one of the best places that I've lived.
Very underrated place for peoplewho don't know.
I felt like I was just a part ofthe community there.
Cincinnati's 47% black, which like, whoa, you know, the chili
(11:22):
is something that is an acquiredtaste.
How I was explained, it's not necessarily a dish.
Chili is a sauce. And so it's meant not
necessarily in like the Cincinnati style, not
necessarily to just because my mom, you know, my mom grew up
making chili and we I would get a bowl of chili, put some
(11:44):
cheese, some some oyster crackers, you know, go to town.
That's not how you eat Cincinnati chili.
It goes over spaghetti, over fries.
Over something. Something.
Yeah, it needs. It needs another.
Sauce. Yeah, but the thing if you don't
know. So there's two competing brands
in Cincinnati. There's Skyline Chili and
(12:04):
there's Gold Star Chili, and I'mnot giving away trade secrets
when I say this, but if you notice, like the Cincinnati
Chili secret is, there's there'sa hint of cinnamon in there.
Yep, there's some. Gold Star, apparently they put a
little chocolate in theirs. OK.
And so that's the that's the thing.
It's like a lot of times you're a skyline person or you're a
(12:28):
Gold Star person. You are seldomly both.
You're not usually both. And so the Cincinnati thing,
when I was like, you know, I, I heard too like people sometimes
eat chili with the cinnamon rolland I thought that was, I
thought that was a thing. I was like, what is that like?
(12:48):
I've never. Heard of that and so I've I've.
Seen it though and so, but for some reason the hen of cinnamon
and the chili does some plays. Yeah, it's but it's not my
thing. Yeah, it's this.
Same flavor profile. There's a little bit of that in
in the Detroit Coney. OK.
The Taconi sauce, which is another chili, it's very loose
(13:11):
sauce that has this warming spices in that as well.
That's yeah. It's an acquired taste though,
but it's not. I remember my first, you know,
running with that. I've seen I'm in Detroit, OK, I
see Coney Island like, oh, I'm thinking Brooklyn, you know, no,
no, no, no. Different.
A lot of different, a lot of different.
(13:31):
OK, all right, good. I I respect that.
I respect that. And that was just a little
history through places that you've been, which is I thought
that was cool. So we're going to have to kill
it. The the no shade to Cincinnati
at all. Yeah, yeah.
No shade. So it is a great place.
My brother has moved to Dayton, too.
OK. Yeah, love Dayton, too.
Yeah. That's great, that's great.
All right. When when prepping for a big
(13:54):
broadcast, what you do so often and and we've had a great couple
of years of sports for the for the city.
So this has been it's been awesome.
Yeah, yes. Tell me what are what is the
soundtrack that that gets you ready for these these big events
that you are particular and thenyou travel like you, you like
(14:15):
you part of the team pretty muchlike you're in different
sometimes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You're on the road too. So what what are you listening
to? What's your soundtrack?
What is the Reggie Wilson soundtrack or playlist if you
will, to get you up for the big moments?
So I think it just kind of depends on the mood that I'm in.
So for those who don't know my background, so I grew up a
(14:38):
church boy, OK, So you know Kojic.
So we in church all the time, OK, and.
I'm a pass this kids. Yeah, so.
We, we grew up, you know, I'm always in the church.
So I used to sing Sunshine Band and then I got older and at the
church that I kind of, I wouldn't say grew up in church I
(15:02):
grew up in. And then the church that I ended
up going to were two different churches, but the church that I
kind of went into adulthood and I became a praise and worship
singer for the church and I would lead several songs.
And so I'm big on music, so. That was a that was a subtle
(15:24):
flex, too. I just want to let you know I
saw. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. I, I lead several, several
songs. Yeah.
I sing, so I I'm a singer too. I, I sang to my wife at our
wedding. Like I, I've sang at so many
weddings. I sang at funerals.
I've, I've sang at events. Like I, I in college, I, I
(15:44):
cosplayed Luther Vandross and I,I sang A house is not a home.
There you go. That's on YouTube if you want to
look it up. Yeah.
Yeah. So like I, I sing.
So I think it just kind of depends It, it depends like
where my mind is. So, like, it's so funny.
My mom, you know, she had the foundation of faith for my
(16:09):
grandparents, you know, my grandmother mother in the
church, you know big time she prep and leader for 30 plus
years, you know, just missionaryin the you know, big woman of
God and she is who I get my faith rooted from really.
(16:29):
Her brother was a Bishop, you know, all kinds of pastors and
preachers in my family. And so I think for me, it always
comes back to gospel, you know, and you know, as I got older,
you know, I got into other things, hip hop and, you know,
R&B, you know, growing up, my mom always had that God
(16:53):
foundation, right, foundation offaith.
But you know, growing up with mymom, I'm listening to old school
R&B in the in the car. Growing up with my dad, my dad
was a big Drew Hill boys to men.If he was feeling ratchet, it
was masterpiece, silky, shocker,like, you know, that type of
stuff. And so but as I've gotten older,
(17:14):
I've found what my palate is. And I know I'm being really long
winded with this answer, but so depending on what the situation
is, my wife will tell you that sometimes I like to listen to
the old Isley brothers or, you know, Luther or boys to men or,
you know, Drew Hill or, you know, some of those things.
(17:36):
You know, some of that is like nostalgic for me.
Like I think it's really cool that RL I've met him several
times. And next they're they're from
Minnesota. So they just sang the national
anthem last week at one of the wolves games.
Like, you know, those are peoplethat I kind of grew up listening
to, but also grew up listening to, you know, Clark Sisters,
(17:58):
Bishop Morton, Kirk Franklin, you know, Fred Hammond, John P
Key, you know, all the. So it depends if I'm if I'm
trying to get like locked in, locked in, I'm putting on, you
know, Pandora station, you know,Corinne Hawthorne station or
play a mix of everything. Or if I'm really like, OK, I got
(18:19):
to get my mind right, Fred Hammond.
Or if I'm like, I'm trying to get amped up, you know, it'll be
like Lecrae 1K few or, you know,some KB, something like that.
I, I love. So my wife will also tell you
I'm a big like gospel rap, Christian rap type.
Yeah. You know, I sometimes you need
(18:40):
someone with a little little beat to get you, you know,
substance going. Yeah, but but you know.
Shout out to D1D1 is AD. 1D1. Is my guy right?
Yeah, so I sometimes I listen tothose things to, to get my mind
right to, you know, kind of get the juices flowing.
Yeah, Andy Mineo too. That's my guy.
Andy, Andy as well. Andy love Andy too.
Okay, because because food and music go hand in hand in my
(19:02):
world, and I believe in everybody's world, people just
don't think about it that way. What are you eating?
What is what is one of those after a long day, what is the
what do you lean on for comfort as far as in in the food realm,
comfort food. Now, now I know, I know.
You're big on your health kit. Well, yeah, but, but, I mean,
you got big, OK? You know, I grew up, like I
(19:25):
said, my grandmother and my mom are two of the best cooks that
I've ever experienced. And, you know, my mom learned a
lot of how she cooks through my grandmother.
So I grew up. That's so funny, man, how I grew
up. You know, my grandparents would
pick me up from school. And of course, my grandmother,
you know, she's just, she was old school.
(19:48):
So anytime I get home it might be greens, cornbread, butter
beans, you caramel cake. You was eating night.
Night food. Then I I was greedy.
So I would eat that and then my mom would come and pick me up
after she got off work and she gets home and of course, you
know, she wants to make some dinner.
She's like, did you eat over mama's house?
(20:09):
I was like, yeah, I ate a littlesalad.
I ate a lot. Yeah, But then she cooked.
I'm like, well, I'm not about toturn this food down either, you
know? So, you know, I think comfort,
comfort food for me, maybe like some good like fried cabbage and
some cornbread, some or some greens, Mac and cheese, yams,
(20:35):
you know, catfish, any type of chicken I will eat.
That's my chicken and fish, any of those.
I'm not a big red meat person. I, I might dabble a little bit,
you know, on a special occasion,maybe a little bit of steak, but
that's not really my thing. I don't really pork ribs.
That's not really my thing either.
(20:56):
But you know that or or you knowa good pizza from somewhere will
also. OK, OK, what's right now?
What's your favorite pizza in the cities?
My favorite pizza in the city. No precious.
I like. I like.
Luche. I like, you know, I'm, I'm, I
(21:19):
still grew up how I grew up. I'm a big chain guy too.
So Pizza Hut pizza is, is all right with me.
But wifey and I, we like young Joanie as well.
That's right on the corner. Yeah, that's that's a good spot.
Young Joanie's hits. Yeah, Yeah, we like that.
Young Joanie's hits have you OK?There's a there's a pizza place
called Elmar's, some New York style pizzas out in Plymouth
(21:40):
actually. OK, I haven't, but it's yeah,
it's legit. It's legit too as a as a as a
New Yorker and I don't stamp much.
I don't. That's why I'm saying young
Johnny's is legit too. But as just like no frills, just
pies. Yeah, yeah, it's they also do
bagels too. Like you had to get to get them.
(22:01):
They sell out immediately fast. I'm pretty sure they shipping
the water back from New York andit's crazy.
Like do they only. Yeah, it's it's that's the soap.
Just in case people don't know it is a real thing.
Anything that touches the municipal water from New York
City is innately better, innately better.
And and of course, super producer Gabe, he's an Element
(22:23):
pizza fan. So we got we got to plug
Element, which I have yet to have, which I need to make a
stop to have. I heard it's really good.
So if you like young Jonies, youwould like Element.
OK, All right, cool. So you're a Kappa man and and
your wife is, is like a OK. So how do you find a way to have
(22:45):
your, your background being a Mizzou grad and your Greek
heritage? How do you make a way to find
that into what you do on a dailybasis?
You, you're one of those people that that seem to seamlessly in
a weave all of who you are into every facet.
(23:06):
Like, you know, you have, you know, hot dish, you know, you
have your Reggie's hot dish and,and everything you do and
you're, you're, you love food. And you know, I believe your,
your, your intro video was in a supermarket, which is in the
grocery store. Use a use a.
So I'm like, I'm looking, I'm like, OK, I like this dude
because I love the supermarket. Yeah, me too.
(23:27):
And so it's it's, it's my happy place, so.
And there's so many here. There's tons there.
There are a lot here. They really are and I love them
for it. How do you seamlessly, how are
you able to do that? Like how you know, because it, I
believe the greatest storytellers come from an
authentic place. And it's less about trying to
(23:53):
code switch, if you will, and more about just being your
authentic self 100% of the time and everything you do.
And that's what I think shines the most about you.
So how? How are you doing it?
So that's a great question. I think for a while I kind of
ran from that, just kind of putting myself into different
(24:14):
compartments of life. And there was a cold switch.
And you know, it's so interesting.
I grew up as a person who was kind of shy.
I'm still pretty reserved, mild mannered I I guess you would
call me like a extroverted introvert if you will.
(24:35):
Until that mic is on, yeah, that.
Mic comes on, you got to. Break it you.
Know you got to come with it. And so I, I just think my mom
always encouraged me to be who God made me to be.
And I think meeting my wife and just how out loud she lives
(24:58):
encouraged me to just stop doingthe cold switch and just being
my authentic self. And I think I've, I've really
leaned into that. I started my career in Kansas
and I think it, it kind of gave me a little bit of a foundation,
But I had people in my life at that time who I was kind of like
(25:23):
working with and working for whowould tell me.
Like, I vividly remember having a manager say, you know, because
I would try to infuse some of mypersonality into my stuff.
And I remember having a manager say, Hey, like, you're here to
deliver the sports. You're not a comedian.
So focus more on that. And so, you know, I, I would
(25:45):
internalize that. And then I got to my next spot
in Dayton, and I kept that in mind.
And you know, I'm trying to get one of the opposite.
Heavy, heavy on, you know, give the analytical perspective, you
know, give the stats, give, you know, and I had a, a news
director, his name's Kevin Roach.
And, you know, shout out to him.He pulled me into the office one
(26:07):
time. He was like Reggie, Like,
where's the personality? Yeah, he's like, what?
He's like you're, you're a youngAfrican American man.
Like, where's that? Like, where am I?
Where's that happening in what you're doing?
And that totally opened up my whole thought process and
approach to how I did things, where if you saw me at the
(26:29):
grocery store or if you saw me at church, if you saw me in the
community, if you saw me at work, I was going to be the same
person. And I kept watering that and
kept watering that to the point where I am now.
Whereas like, you know, black people are not a monolith.
(26:50):
We are not monolithic. And there's no reason for us to
act like we have to be or we are.
And so at any given time, you know, when I'm doing sports,
when I'm in life, it is, it's, it's the same way you may get
some, you know, colloquialisms, you may get some euphemisms, you
(27:11):
may get some jokes. You may get, you know, silly,
you may get, you know, serious, you may get, you know, it just
depends on what I'm doing and, and what the topic is.
But like what you're getting is authentically me.
Absolutely. And it took me a long time to
lean into being unapologeticallyme and not being ashamed of this
(27:34):
or that part of me and just making that a part of my story.
You you talk about being a storyteller.
That that's one story to tell. Your, your perspective is what
makes your story so important. Your perspective is what makes
your story worthwhile to listen to.
(27:58):
And I think one thing that I've learned, especially being here
in Minnesota where this is probably the most different
place that I've ever lived, I had to be me because if I
wasn't, I would lose myself, right?
And that's important. I have to lean into who I am.
I have to be authentically me because I am Reggie the son,
(28:22):
Reggie the husband, Reggie the soon to be father, Reggie the
Kappa, Reggie the man of God. You know, Reggie the brother,
Reggie the friend, you know, Reggie the goofy dude.
I am all those things at once. And the reason why that that
that came up, so I've I've bumped into you on on a bunch of
(28:43):
occasions. You're the same dude.
No, and and and you're the same dude on TV, though.
So it's like that's that's I know, you know, being in in the
business that I've been in for, for for decades.
That's not an easy thing to do unless you're either a
phenomenal actor or you just, that's just you.
(29:04):
And so that, that that shows. It takes an amazing amount of
courage and self-awareness to beable to be that vulnerable.
And so I, I see it, I recognize it.
I commend you for it. Yeah, and, and when you're on,
when you're on TV, that was one thing I had to learn as well.
I would grow up like really justloving people like Stuart Scott
(29:29):
on ESPN, like loving people, youknow, television's John Butchy
gross call himself Bucci, man. You know, like people have
personalities and people lean, and Stuart Scott was a big
person who just leaned into one.100%.
If you listen to any of Gus Johnson's calls, you know he got
(29:52):
big doing March Madness. He, you know, just.
Chris Berman is another one. Chris Berman, you know, all
kinds of personality. And that was something that I'm
like, OK, those dudes are not afraid to be themselves.
Let me lean into that with who Iam.
And it got to the point where, you know, at first, you know,
(30:13):
you know, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Well, you, you emulate some of those people, but I can't say
stuff like, oh, you know, the Carl Anthony Towns cooler than
the other side of the pillow. Like, that's not that's not me.
You know that That's Stew. That's Boo.
Yeah. Like that's Stew, you know?
But I have my own isms. My own, you know, you might get
(30:35):
some pop culture references. You might get, you know, some,
some references to to TV shows or, or, you know, churchisms or,
you know, instead of me, you know, people, people watch my
sports casts and, you know, say,hey, it's his.
It's his third home run of the season.
I might say, man, he hit that thing, the Eden Prairie, you
(30:57):
know, on a home run call or something like that.
Just something that's just me. Right.
Yeah, And that's destiny. Talk to me about, you know,
you're you're a visible black voice and just be honest, a
space that hasn't made a lot of room for always made a lot of
room for diverse storytellers. How do you carry that
(31:22):
responsibility and reflect it into your work now?
And the reason why I use the word responsibility, because no
matter how much you would shy away from that as, as people of
color, we have this unspoken sense of responsibility.
I know I, I feel it on a daily basis, specifically someone that
(31:43):
is visible in the public eye or I don't care if you weren't,
it's, it's if you're in a position that that is abnormal
for the, you know, whatever thatis, you feel this unspoken
responsibility to, to represent in a way that is beneficial to
(32:06):
others, specifically youth. So how?
How do you deal with that? That's such a heavy question.
Especially being a person of yourself that is deep into the
community. So you're you do a lot in the
community because of. Those things, that's such a
heavy question, man. So coming to Minnesota, this was
(32:34):
probably the most high profile job that I've ever had.
And you look around and it's nota whole lot of people who look
like me in roles that I occupy. That's a heavy responsibility,
(32:54):
but also, at times, a heavy burden.
Sports director. So in case, in case that hasn't
that he's the sports director, it's up on the screen.
But I I it's important to to audibly hear it.
You know, it was funny because, you know, and I'm not even
trying to go there, but with black people, we are often made
(33:19):
to be humble. And there are often
opportunities that people take to try to humble us.
And, you know, I, I would say, oh, yeah, you know, people would
get introduced to me. I would say, oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah. I do sports at Care 11.
And I remember when my wife heard that on too many
(33:40):
occasions. I guess she's like, Reggie, you
are the sports director at CARE 11.
She's like, you need to start saying that with pride.
And I'm like, yeah, but you know, I am now.
She's like, no, that is your title.
It means something. And you know, when I first got
here, there was don't read the comments section.
(34:01):
There was there was announcements about me coming
here and if you read the comments section on the strip on
Facebook, nasty, nasty. And my mom, bless her, she read
all of them. And I had to stop because I'm
(34:22):
like, this is crazy. Like I haven't even gotten there
yet. Like they haven't even given me
a chance. And you know, I'm already
getting told I'm the diversity hire.
You know, we know why he got thejob.
It's like, Dang, like, has been black ever been an advantageous
thing in society? Because I.
That would be I missed that e-mail.
I missed that e-mail, yeah. And, and so getting here, I had
(34:44):
that and I, I, that was in my mind and that that stifled me a
bit out of the gates just being real.
And I think internalizing that too much and the imposter
syndrome of it all really, really held me back for my first
(35:10):
about six months to the point where I had internalized it so
much. I, I called my wife.
I was like, hey, you know, I appreciate this opportunity, but
I think I'm good. I think I think I'm going to
tell him like, I'm good. I don't want this anymore.
And she was just like, let me talk to God about it.
(35:32):
She's like, don't, don't do that.
And she was just like, you know,God told me that that's not the
move for you. And I was like, girl, he didn't
tell me that, you know? And true enough, God spoke
through her in that moment to tell me not to give up.
(35:53):
And yes, it's been hard. Yes, it was a lot to sift
through, but it's been beneficial and I do believe that
God put me in this position for a reason.
And it's so funny you ask that question because I will go into
these press conferences. I will go into these rooms, look
(36:16):
around, oh, I'm the only black person there other than the
athlete at the podium right now.And I would see myself and feel
myself in that room. And it took a while for me to
just get comfortable enough to just say, yeah, I'm occupying
this room. And that's what it is.
So be confident in that because everybody else in this room is
(36:38):
confident in who they are. So you be confident in that.
Yeah, you might be the only. But that's all right.
Lean into it. And, you know, it's, it's taken
a while for me to really get my feet set and really just own the
position I have and the person who I am as I'm occupying these
(37:01):
rooms. And we talk about visibility.
I don't know that there's a morevisible sports media person than
me in the Twin Cities right now.And that's a bit jarring.
Like, I can't go to the grocery store without people being like,
hey, we love watching you. And I'm just like, wow, like.
(37:24):
The reason's crazy. The reason, really reason why I
asked that question is because we were just talking about you
as a kid watching Stuart Scott. You're Stuart Scott.
That OK. No, no, as far as no, you got to
think about really leaning to the fact of you are now there's
a kid that comes home from school kids watching the news,
(37:45):
though. Kids watch the news, yeah,
whenever they can. And, and and it's it's you know,
it's on social now, you know, it's not like we used to watch
the news, but you, you are the example.
So it is important to to see youcarry yourself the way you do.
You're knowledgeable. You're you're you're well
(38:06):
spoken. You're and all these things
sound like. Oh well, it's not about the fact
of what they are. The fact is, you are the example
of possibility. And that's so when you talk
about the the balance of it being a burden with the balance
of it being a responsibility, I think that's where I learn more
(38:28):
towards the responsibility because I am one of very few in
this industry. Oh yeah, national.
Like me national doing this roleand I got to represent, you
know, I got to, you know, representation is everything.
And if there's a young kid on TVwho looks like me, who likes
(38:51):
what I do, who is inspired by what I do, I have made the
difference because I've showed that person that this is what is
attainable if you work hard, if you get, get a few favorable
bounces from the from the good Lord above and and you take
advantage of the opportunities that you're given.
(39:12):
And just be a good dude. That's just so the other side of
that, the other side of that coin is to, you know, for
specifically in inner cities, you know, there's usually one or
two ways out. People think, oh, it's going to
it's going to be this, you know,it could be on the other side of
that ball. You don't even have to ever
touch foot on the court unless it is to cover the game and you
(39:36):
can still be around things that you love.
And there's another way to skin that cat.
Yeah, when it really hit for me,I didn't really realize.
I don't think that most creatives and people that just
doers really take a minute to understand their impact.
So I did then my fair share stuff.
But this last thing I did on Netflix with the pressure
(39:57):
cooker, I was getting so many messages from, I had to hit the,
the translate button on an IG. And an overwhelming amount of
those messages were from young black kids.
That or their parents saying that they appreciated how I
conducted myself. Wow.
And I never and my whole thing, I, I, you know, I've been on
(40:19):
record saying this. I went on to be 100%
authentically myself 100% of thetime.
Because no matter how it shook out, I could live with the
results of whatever happened after that.
And that to me was was powerful that people saw themselves or
(40:40):
the possibility of themselves inwhat I was doing.
And I never thought, you know, Inever, I don't think of myself.
I don't take myself too seriously.
It's like me neither. So it's like I'm just, you know,
anybody can do this, so. I'm just a vessel.
Exactly. And I'm just, I'm just walking
to my purpose. Yeah, 100%.
(41:00):
I'm also and I if if you haven'theard that or I wanted you to
really soak that in because that's a real, it's a real
thing, Reggie, like you, you're that you're that guy right now.
So you have to understand that people are looking at you and
not all of it gets written in the comments.
(41:21):
You know, some there's somebody that that is really you are
changing their view of what could be.
That's powerful. Wow, Wow.
Yeah. I, I, I appreciate the love,
man. It's, it's it's humbling, but
it, it, it's also gratifying. You know, I, I do understand the
(41:43):
responsibility that I have and I, I don't play with it, but I
try to be a good steward of thatfrom the time I open my eyes
until the time I close them at night, you know, I try to make
sure that I'm impacting in the right way.
Let's let's talk about some accolades because you, you with
that. So to, to get to where you are
now, you would have to have a series of really, really
(42:06):
prominent accolades. Nobody's just handing out sports
directed titles to, to, to to people.
It doesn't work that way. You had to earn.
So you stacked up a series of milestones and wars, Emmys and
things of that nature to date. How do you feel about those
(42:26):
accolades? Is it a checkpoint to where OK,
I'm I'm on the right path, we'redoing what we need to do?
Or is it more of a thing of OK, I, I expected to be in the, in
the place I'm at now. Now it's like, what's next?
How are you looking at these? I just, I look at it as a
(42:47):
blessing, man, a little bit about my story, man.
When I graduated, I graduated from the University of Missouri
School of Journalism and it is known as the top journalism
school in the world. And so it's a, it's a great
experience. I got great hands on experience.
The station that I worked at in college was an NBC station owned
(43:11):
by the university, but they broadcast over mid Missouri and
that's where I got my chops. When I graduated, I could not
find a job in television. It took me a year and a half to
get my first TV job and it was anews photographer, so I was the
(43:32):
guy that. Photojournalist.
Yeah, I was a photojournalist. I was the guy that you saw
running the camera for the reporter.
And what I ended up doing, I always said that was the best
and the the worst thing, I guess, because I would take the
camera, turn it on myself at theend of my shift.
So on my off days, and put reports together based on things
(43:55):
that I had been sent to do during the week.
And I put a, a resume, reel, tape, whatever you want to call
it together. And I will bug the heck out of
my news director finally, to thepoint where he was just like,
all right, man. We got a job just opened up in
Dodge City, KS, guy from Minnesota, his name's Andrew
Lovelitt. I think he's back here in
(44:16):
Minnesota. He was filling the role.
He he left the role and it left the vacancy for me to fill in
Dodge City, KS, covering sports within a 2 1/2 hour radius of
Dodge City. So I covered high school sports,
JUCO sports, rodeo, whatever youwhatever you want to think of
(44:41):
for Dodge City, KS. And I remember coming to
Minnesota for NABJ National Association of Black
Journalists. Every year they have a huge
convention, 2015. It was here in Minnesota at the
Convention Center in Minneapolis.
And Boyd Hooper, my personal goat, one of my journalism
(45:02):
heroes, he did 3 or 4 workshops during that week.
If you know Boyd Hooper, one of the best storytellers of our
generation, landed 10,000 stories on care every week.
And I took those workshops with him and it changed my whole
(45:24):
perspective. And I went back to dodge and I
was like, OK, how would I tell this story if I was Boyd Hooper?
And I was like, OK, how would I tell this story if I was black
and I was Boyd Hooper? And I started to find my own
style. And from there, I started to win
some awards and some of the workthat I was doing started to get
(45:47):
recognition. And that carried over from
Kansas to Dayton to Cincinnati. I was in Cincinnati.
I was nominated for my first Emmy couple Emmys, got
nominated. Fast forward to here in
Minnesota. Every year I've been here, I've
been nominated. For every single year.
And, you know, finally won one last year and oh, man, what a
(46:11):
tremendous triumph that felt like because you just been
chopping wood, chopping wood, chopping wood.
And you finally, you finally winan Emmy.
And that was that was dope. That was a dope moment for me.
And it's it's something that I'mjust like, you know, once you do
it, it's so funny. If you if you think back to A.J.
(46:33):
Brown when the Eagles won the Super Bowl, the next day, he was
just like, OK, I did it. Now what Now?
What I, I OK, it happened now. And I think that's the thing
where, you know, you ask kind oflike where I'm at, I think, I
think what he was kind of pointing at was the thrill
wasn't the destination. The thrill was the journey.
(46:57):
And now he's accomplished this major feat, but like the journey
is not over. And so that's kind of where I'm
at. I'm like, the journey is not
over. There's still so much more to
accomplish in this thing. I'm thankful for the accolades.
I'm thankful for where God has brought me to to this point, but
man, I I turned 35 in in August.Yeah, you got some things.
(47:20):
I got I, I still got plenty of living.
God willing. I still got plenty of living and
plenty of things that I want to achieve ahead of me.
Yeah. Is there any, has there been any
viral moment or, or story that resonated with people in a way
that totally surprised you? Like that's what they that's
they really attached themselves to that.
(47:41):
Like is there one? Like could I have, I have for
me, I'm like, I, I couldn't believe certain things that
people took and, and made it their own.
And that's what I got the most praise off of.
Is there something like that foryou?
OK, so when I was in Cincinnati,there was a series of stories I
did on. There was this Blackhead coach
(48:04):
of this pretty prominent high school called Princeton in
Cincinnati, and he took the football team to the playoffs
for like, the first time in verylong time, started getting this,
like, sustained success, startedchurning out like NFL talent,
(48:29):
like left tackle for the ArizonaCardinals, Paris Johnson.
He went to Princeton. And so he was getting mentored
by this NFL coach, Hugh Jackson.And that story kind of took off.
And I was just like, man, like Ifelt like it was a big deal at
(48:50):
the time, but it really kind of took off.
And that was something that I thought was really dope.
Also, there was a story I did inCincinnati where I kind of
talked about the history of the Negro Leagues in Cincinnati.
And there were people who kind of knew, but there were so many
(49:13):
people who really didn't like know.
Had no idea, Yeah. And that was that was a story
that really resonated with people that, that, and that's
the, that's the powerful part oftelling stories and why I love
telling stories. I work at care 11.
Care 11 is known as one of the best storytelling stations in
(49:34):
the country. And to now be able to, you know,
one of my storytelling heroes, as I said, was Boyd Hooper.
To now be a teammate of his and now to call him friend.
Like, I've had dinner at this man's house and I'm just like,
what are we serious? He came to my baby shower.
Like, these are really cool deals.
(49:54):
But the power of storytelling can really change lives,
absolutely can really change lives.
I think that's something to me that that really just kind of
resonates like you, you tell a story, you make a difference.
And you know, one of the cooleststories that I kind of knew it
(50:16):
was going to be that. But one of the recent ones that
I've done, my Co worker Gary Knox made a tweet about Paige
Becker's when she was in the 6thgrade.
Well, he had never talked to anybody about this, but his
tweet has gone viral so many times as Paige just continues to
climb the ladder of achievement.So I finally, right before Paige
(50:38):
got drafted. Yeah, yeah.
Sat down with him. Yeah.
It was a great. Conversation that was That's a
great interview. It was a great conversation and
that kind of took off. Yeah, I know there's a long
winded answer, but the last thing I say, last year my team
and I had just a conversation ofhow we could take our sports
(51:01):
covers to the next level. And you know, being a
journalist, we were always taught, and I would like to
consider myself a journalism purist, if you will, we were
always taught that the story is never about us.
So the best storytellers, I feellike get out of the way and let
(51:22):
what the subject of the story is, tell the story.
Well, I think as journalism has evolved, there is a way to put
our own perspectives onto what we're doing.
And you talked about hot dish. Hot dish was born last year.
(51:44):
And it was a way of me being able to really kind of get a
little bit underneath the headlines and really kind of
just not really go there, but just go there.
And it's been, it's been a success.
You know, my, my teammate Julia Daniels Juju, she came up with
(52:09):
Bad Juju as a way of, of really kind of bringing her personality
to it. She won an Emmy for her work
last year. And we were like, OK, we all
need to come up with something. So my, my Co worker Will Hall,
he came up with Will's word and mine was Reggie's hot dish.
And so if you watch Vikings extra, if you watch Timberwolves
(52:30):
extra, we'll have our last Timberwolves extra since the the
wolf season is now over. There's a hot dish at the end of
every show. And it's just, it's a way to
call attention and really just kind of give my perspective, how
I see it through my lens of a hot topic in the world of sport,
(52:52):
the Vikings, Timberwolves, you know, in our sports extra shows
on Friday. It's just about anything
happening in sports, just my spin.
And it's not like a first take type thing where you just like,
it's just like yelling into the void about something.
It's something that's a little bit more thought out, you know,
because I, I grew up enjoying shows like real sports where,
(53:16):
you know, at the end of real sports.
Bryant Gumbel gave his like lastopinion.
Yeah, uh, I always thought that was powerful.
Scott Van Pelt at night, he has this one big thing.
It's like an essay, if you will.Bob Costas Yes, I think we all
kind of learned from from Bob inthat, but it was a way for me to
(53:36):
put my own spin on a current headline.
And I think people have really taken to hot dish like people
like, oh man, we look forward tohot dish.
We look forward to bad juju and hot dish every week.
And it's just like, wow, like something that we created to
really just kind of take our ourskills over the top was was
(53:57):
something that has really been received well.
The, the one, the few things about that, what I love about
sports is, is the parallels between life and specifically
team sports and being a part, you know, the, the, the team
being more important than the sum of his parts.
(54:20):
And you just touched on that without even, you know, you
talked about your team and this is a was a good mark of a great
leader and a good teammate. Love my team man, love my team.
Let's talk about the home team. So your wife and you and your
wife are the preeminent journalism team, to be honest.
(54:42):
I mean, so you guys and and you do a lot for the community, a
lot of a lot of things that are,you know, helping to pour into
the youth, which I think is an important, obviously important
for you and your wife. But it's important for the next
generation to to get these things and these jewels from you
(55:03):
guys. How do you see and define your
legacy with journalism and the optics of being a great teammate
specifically for a husband and wife?
Because what do you know it or not?
The the optics of that is very powerful.
Yeah, I think if you ask both ofus, we both didn't think we
(55:24):
would marry journalists. That's just not, you know, you
know, it makes sense now that we're together, but.
Yeah, it wasn't in the. Cards.
No, but she is a phenomenal person.
I always say I'm married to likethe next Oprah.
She's the Alexis Rogers, you know that that is she is
somebody OK? She's a she's a force.
(55:47):
I learned the importance and thelove of community from her.
She is always just been. I remember there was one year we
were in Cincinnati and she did 1000 events in a calendar year
and it was just like, how do youfind the time?
(56:08):
Like how do you find the time? But it's something that she's
passionate about is not performative.
She truly cares about that. And that inspired me.
I'm like, man, what more can I be doing to be impacting people
and boots on the ground? And I think journalism is about
the people. And so many times there are
journalists who telling, there'stelling people's stories.
(56:35):
That's their contribution to community.
And that sometimes they feel like it, it starts and ends
there. It's like, well, I, I went into
this neighborhood and told this story and I tell stories every
day representing communities every that's my contribution.
When I'm off work now, that's mytime, but I'm serving the
community on my hours of work. And then they go home and you
(56:58):
know, they do whatever they do, respect to them, the more power
to them. You know, not saying that
there's something wrong with that per SE, but I think, you
know, community to me, we go to church with people that we, you
know, are on their TV's everydayand they tell us that, you know,
(57:20):
it means something to see me praise and worshiping with
somebody who watches me on TV everyday.
Oh, they just like me, you know.And I think that that's
important. It's important when there are
events at schools and events at community centers and you know,
serving food to less fortunate or, you know, whatever the event
(57:42):
may be, it's important for people like us to show up
because we have to let the people know that we're not just
reporting on their communities. We are a part of their
communities because you let us into your homes to, to have
conversations with you. You let us into your homes,
being on your TV. You, we, we, we almost like owe
(58:07):
it to the people who we serve toreally serve.
And I think that's something that, you know, I learned from
from my wife and something that is now a very important part of
what I do. And it's a very important part
of what we do because there's a certain kind of joy that comes
(58:27):
from serving people where you can take the attention and the
thought. You know, some days when I am so
heavy laden with my own stuff isthe best opportunity to get in
the community and serve others because for that amount of time,
it gives you a perspective 1 of what other people are going
(58:50):
through. Maybe your problem, you know
your problems may be big, but you know Dang like this person
you. Have no idea?
Yeah. So it shifts the focus, but it
also gives you a sense of gratitude.
And some purpose. And purpose.
And I think that's something that you just can't put a price
on. That's something that is
(59:11):
invaluable, just being people, being productive, you know,
Christians being productive members of of society and
community. Yeah, the act of servitude.
It's everything I do is all of my many tools in the toolbox
that God has bestowed upon me are to serve others, including
(59:35):
this platform. Is this everything about what I
do is shine a light elsewhere. And I get so much from it
though, you know, it's it's an but not the way that people
think. So I the the community, the
conversations and then the the just seeing myself in the work.
(01:00:01):
Of just just being a good steward is is everything to me.
So before I let you go, we're going to play something I call
the Lightning Round. All right, OK, so.
This is going to be a quick fireround.
I'm going to give you a list of of things or phrases, and then
you're going to give me the first thing that popped into
(01:00:21):
your mind. OK, cool.
All right. All right.
Favorite athlete you've ever interviewed?
Dang, it's supposed to be quick.Favorite athlete I've ever
interviewed. Wow, this is tough.
(01:00:43):
You know what? Just just for the sake of he
just being a great dude, I'll go.
Justin Jefferson. OK.
Yeah, Great. Great one.
OK, most overrated sports cliche.
They came to play. They came to play.
Look, that's that is by far that's never.
(01:01:03):
Like, yeah, they came to play. Like they came to play today.
Like, you know, a team goes up 21, nothing.
And they're like, oh, they came to play.
Like the other team came to playtoo.
They just came to play and it didn't work out.
Absolutely they they got hoes. First meal you ever cooked for
your wife? It was salmon and asparagus and
(01:01:29):
I think a little rice. It was, it was my first time, or
it might have been like potatoesof some sort, but it was my
first time ever. I know she said she likes
salmon. So I cooked some salmon in a
cast iron. I think I I looked at a recipe
online somewhere and I was like,Oh yeah, I could do that.
And so I cooked the salmon and then cook some asparagus.
(01:01:51):
I think I got a picture of her with the plate, but that was
like the first ever plate that Iever cooked.
I think it was a Valentine's Daymeal.
Yeah, you went. You went big on.
Valentine Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like to cook, so yeah.
Good, good. Pregame playlist banger?
What's that one hype joint to pregame with?
(01:02:12):
Pregame playlist banger. Probably like A there's a song
by KB 10K that's good. I like 1K few church house trap
house that that that bangs. It sounds like a bang.
It bangs as well. Yeah, yeah.
(01:02:33):
Those are my sounds OK. And if you could give a few
words of advice to your 13 year old self, what would you say?
Hang in there, hang in there. I know it looks crazy right now.
Your dad just passed. You seem like you don't really
have a direction, but hang in there because it gets better.
(01:02:58):
It gets better. Absolutely, absolutely.
So you got to tell everyone out here listening and watching
where they can follow you and catch up with all the things you
got going on. So please tell everybody where
they can find you at. Yeah, at Reggie Wilson TV on all
platforms. You know, I haven't gotten into
(01:03:19):
the TikTok deal yet. I know it's big, but you know, I
that's just that hasn't happenedyet.
Probably will at some. Point as the media.
Landscape changes I'm probably going to have to get on TikTok,
but Blue sky X formerly Twitter,Facebook, IG, I'm at Reggie
Wilson TV. OK.
(01:03:40):
And obviously on K-11. Yeah, yeah.
Care 11 as well. Yeah, at Reggie Wilson TV.
Absolutely. So again, thank you so much for
for for coming to the platform. I had an amazing time.
Yeah, it was fun, man. Absolutely absolutely check out
(01:04:00):
Reggie every night on care 11 aswell as on the socials again,
Reggie Wilson TV on everything including TikTok soon to come.
He's about to get all the all the dances and everything good
again. I also want to give a shout out
to your lovely wife and and yoursoon to come baby girl.
(01:04:21):
Yeah, we're weeks away from me having a daughter in this world.
That is crazy. Welcome to team girl dad.
So I'm that's. Probably going to be the reason
why I'm on TikTok soon. There you go.
Yeah, sure. Absolutely, Absolutely.
All right, this has been the Taste Music Here food podcast
show. Until next time, Peace,
(01:04:56):
NBC. Our relation to NBC.
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