While Jason Whitlock is known chiefly as a conservative pundit these days, he made his bones as a sportswriter and columnist for outlets such as The Kansas City Star, AOL Sports, FoxSports.com, ESPN, and OutKick.
He would hope to receive the recognition he believes he deserves for that work.
In an appearance this week on The Sage Steele Show, Whitlock was asked about his legacy and how he’d like to be remembered.
“Someone who stood up for biblical truth and took all the heat that went along with that,” he told Steele. “I guess if I want the world to remember, I want the credit that—and this is just a worldly ego thing—but I believe I’m the best sportswriter. Maybe ever.”
“What makes you the best?” the former ESPN anchor asked.
“Most sports writers never take on the super-serious issues and… make that part of their brand,” Whitlock continued. “There’s issues from Colin Kaepernick to racial issues. I feel like I’ve taken a lot of bold stances. If I were to refine it and remove myself from it and be more Christian, I want to be remembered as, like, ‘Oh man, Whitlock was the boldest sportswriter ever because of his biblical worldview. Because of his faith in God. Because of the way his grandmother discipled him. And that just made him an elite sports journalist.’
“If you actually look at this era of sportswriters, and I apologize for this sounding narcissistic and arrogant, but I look out and see all these people trying to mimic what I did, and they’re doing bad versions of it.”
Whitlock added that the pinnacle of his career in sports writing came at ESPN. However, he name-checked the 2007 piece he wrote thanking Don Imus for his comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, which led to widespread attention, including an appearance on Oprah Winfrey’s show, as the moment his career trajectory really took off.
Back in the early 2000s, Whitlock rose to prominence as a writer for ESPN’s Page 2, guest-hosting several ESPN shows, and appearing regularly on The Sports Reporters. He left to join AOL Sports and aired grievances with several of his former ESPN colleagues, though that wasn’t enough to sour an eventual return in 2014. Whitlock was tasked with launching The Undefeated (now Andscape), but over a year of delays and issues led to his leaving the project and ESPN later that year.
From there, Whitlock worked at Fox Sports for several years before completing his transition into a conservative commentator at OutKick and later Blaze Media, where he hosts a podcast and isn’t making too many friends. Over the years, he’s shared many controversial commentaries, including comparing Black Lives Matter to the KKK, questioning if Michelle Obama was transgender, and expressing disdain for the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.