Sportsillustrated.cnn.com
July 2, 2012
Peter King is on vacation, so he's recruited some help filling in on Monday Morning Quarterback. This week, Indianapolis Colts rookie tight end Coby Fleener takes the reins.
I'm sure you're probably wondering why Peter asked me to express my musings in this guest version of Monday Morning Quarterback. I'll try to explain briefly why he chose me instead of my little-known sidekick at Stanford and, now with the Indianapolis Colts, Andrew Luck.
As I worked toward my Master's Degree in Media Studies, I took a journalism course last winter in specialized reporting and writing about sports taught by author Gary Pomerantz, a former sportswriter. We studied the history and evolution of sportswriting and wrote features and profiles ourselves.
I had been interviewed plenty of times, but had never really thought much about the process. For my first story, I interviewed former Washington Redskins great Joe Jacoby, the man for whom I am named, and wrote a first-person account of the experience. As the family story goes, my mother was pregnant with me in 1988, saw an NFL game on TV and noticed Joe's last name on the back of his jersey. She liked it so much that she and my dad gave me the name Jacoby Fleener.
My first experience as an interviewer was exhilarating. The preparation was challenging, and so was the give-and-take of our phone conversation. I confess I was a little nervous. I quickly learned that the best sports reporters must be multitaskers, and that I have a ways to go in that regard. Thankfully, Joe was kind and patient with me, knowing that I was a rookie sportswriter. He allowed me to slow things down a few times. We talked about his life, and about life in the NFL. He advised, "Be yourself."
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