“You’re going to be national someday.”
That’s what Curt Menefee’s mother said to him when he told her he was moving to New York to become a sports anchor, two years before she passed away in 1997.
27 years later, she’s still right.
In life, there are those who crave the spotlight and unabashedly fight to secure it. Then there are others who are bestowed the spotlight because their accomplishments and talent speak volumes.
Fox Sports’ Curt Menefee is of the latter.
Oftentimes, individuals like Menefee are overlooked for they aren’t the loudest in the room. They don’t slam their fists into their chests to purposely demand attention.
Those built like Menefee actually wield more power than the “look at me” crowd due to their morality, ethics, hard work, professionalism, preparation and upbringing.
They don’t seek attention, power or the crown. They attain it because they’re both deserving of it and because they don’t actually seek it as part of their life’s journey.
In Curt Menefee’s case, he earned it because his life’s journey has always been about the work and not the throne.
The Beginning
Many success stories start in the home. That’s how it started for Menefee.
His work ethic and values were instilled in him and his younger brother by their mother. That’s not an easy task for a single mother raising two boys in inner-city Atlanta.
But values, hard work, focus and a “no excuses” attitude were the mortar for the foundation she built for her sons, and that’s a major part of the reason why he was able to start his sports media career while still in his teens.
“If you want something, you will find a way to get it,” Menefee told me during our interview.
A sports media career was what he wanted so he had to find a way to get it, a challenging task for a Black teen during a time when sports media was far from what it is now.
But that couldn’t stop him.
At 16, Menefee read newspapers out loud in front of the mirror, a practice that makes people more comfortable with public speaking. It was also a precursor for Menefee’s commanding presence in front of a camera.
A year later, a college recruiter came to his high school to speak about Coe College, a small liberal arts institution in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
At a predominantly Black school, the response to Coe was far from enthusiastic.
Yet one student was intrigued, particularly when he heard that broadcasting veteran Fred Hickman was a graduate of the school.
So Menefee picked up the phone and left a message for Hickman, who was at CNN in Atlanta.
A day later, Hickman called back, and the two had a conversation that sparked his broadcasting career.
It started with a CNN internship for Menefee, where he was responsible for logging game times for producers.
Far from glamorous, but highly impactful, necessary and educational for someone looking to break into the field.
More importantly, his dedication to the position, which included staying late and learning how to edit video segments while others went out to party, endeared him to producers who, in turn, taught him the craft.
That internship laid the bricks in his media path, but bills needed to be paid, so he worked at a loading dock as well.
It was a grueling schedule, but a necessary one for a young, Black teenager to get to where he wanted to go in a highly competitive field that lacked faces like his.
Moving On Up
Young Menefee eventually decided to enroll at Coe College, and it proved to be another great decision.
In Iowa, he channeled his work ethic into the grunt work that taught him the business.
Editing, filming and voiceovers. Carrying production cables up a snowy hill for a press conference. They were tasks not of the famous but of those who strived for success.
Others noticed his effort and commitment and soon he was on air covering high school and local college games in Cedar Rapids, IA. From there he worked in Des Moines and then moved to Madison, WI to become a weekend sports anchor. Then it was on to Jacksonville for a brief stint at a short-lived startup sports network.
After it folded, Curt moved back to Madison without a job. He remained out of the business for almost eight months, a time in which indecision turned to clarity.
“That was a time of soul searching for me,” Menefee said. “Being out of it made me realize that this was my true passion, and so I wanted to get back in; however I could and wherever I could.”
Getting back in arrived in July 1991, this time in Dallas.
There, Menefee got his first taste of big-time football when, ironically, his future Fox NFL Sunday colleague and friend, Jimmy Johnson, led the Cowboys to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1992 and 1993.
After an award-winning tenure in Dallas, Menefee got a call from an executive who had tried to recruit him to another station in Dallas previously. Only now she was a news director in New York and she wanted him to come to the Big Apple to be the “sports guy” on WNYW FOX5.
Moving to New York City is no simple task.
Moving to New York City to cover New York sports is something entirely different. It’s not for those with thin skin or fragile egos.
New York sports fans are knowledgable, passionate and no-nonsense about their teams. And in 1995, Curt Menefee helmed Fox’s local sports coverage during a time when New York sports teams were thriving.
The year prior to his arrival, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup and the Knicks lost a heartbreaking seven game series in the NBA Finals, so expectations were sky high in 1995.
A year later, the Yankees won the first of the four World Series titles they would claim during Menefee’s tenure in the City.
The storylines were writing themselves, so the content was there for the new sports anchor. All he had to do was give New York fans what they wanted and he would be embraced.
“New Yorkers crave authenticity,” he said.
And he’s 100% correct.
They might not like you, but if you can play and you don’t “fake the funk”, you’ll earn their respect.
Just ask Reggie Miller.
If you insult New York sports fans, you had better be prepared for the consequences.
Unfortunately, Menefee, without any malicious intent, tested fans in 1996. And he quickly “found out.”
With the Yankees down 2-0 to the Braves in the World Series, he went on air during the postgame show and said that New York was done.
It was a head slap moment for the Atlanta transplant.
Not only did the Yankees bounce back and win the World Series 4-2, they duplicated the feat in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
It’s a good thing Twitter wasn’t around back then for Menefee would have been slain and served.
“I caught more crap for the next couple of days….” joked Menefee before trailing off.
Yankees flub aside, his stay in New York City was extremely successful. He won an Associated Press Award for Best Sports Reporter in New York and was recognized as one of the city’s best on-air personalities.
And that caught the attention of FOX Sports.
FOX NFL Sunday
In 2007, Curt Menefee was tapped as the new host of FOX NFL Sunday, replacing sports media icon, James Brown.
Despite doing play-by-play for NFL games, most of the country was unfamiliar with him Menefee. That didn’t phase the show’s new host though. He won awards in Dallas and New York, so he was ready.
Preparation is a characteristic Menefee is ferociously proud of. It’s helped him ascend to the position he’s in.
“I’ve done the work, so I’m ready for what comes next,” he told me.
Some mistake confidence with cockiness, but when you’re prepared and put in the work, self-assurance, not cockiness, shines through.
His confidence is bred from preparation. It’s developed from learning the basics of production and mastering your craft in different cities and amongst different sports fans.
And it’s hardened through error and success.
Curt had paid his dues and it was time to take the national stage alongside Pro Football Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson.
He was ready.
Curt Menefee had been on air since he was 19 years old.
As a teenager, he left the big city of Atlanta for Cedar Rapids, IA in pursuit of a sports media career. He trudged up the snow-covered hill with the heavy cables to ensure a press conference would proceed unfettered and he conquered New York City during some of the greatest and worst times in city history.
“My goal was to always be the best sports guy in that market,” said Menefee. “To me, that meant outworking everyone else.”
So he was prepared and ready for this new challenge. The only thing left to do was to check in with the boss, Fox Sports chairman David Hill.
His advice to Menefee before assuming the hosting duties?
“Don’t f**k it up.”
Over the next 15 years, Menefee has abided by Hill’s words and successfully captained the ship manned by some of the more entertaining personalities in the industry.
But it’s something his colleagues knew he could do before arriving at Fox, which is why they wanted him on board.
“Curt Menefee, that’s the guy we want,” said Bradshaw in an interview with Uproxx. “I said, don’t look, I don’t even want to come out and audition anybody — ’cause that’s what we did when I started. I said, it’s Curt Menefee. He’s our guy. He’s smart, knows football, cares about football, puts in the time. He’s likable, he’s engaging, he’ll fit perfectly with us. I knew Curt would be fabulous, and it was that easy.”
Two years later, another Hall of Famer, Michael Strahan, joined the show.
It was a smooth addition to an already successful cast. He and Curt hit it off and quickly became “brothers from another.”
One weekend, the two decided to have a pushup contest. Michael, still in playing shape, figured it would be easy money.
But he failed to realize the extent of Curt’s work ethic.
The final score was 62-50, Curt Menefee. At $100 for every pushup in the difference between the two, that meant the NFL’s single-season sack record-holder owed his new colleague $1,200.
As of today, Curt has yet to see that money.
‘Michael refuses to pay because he said my pushups were not quality,” laughs Menefee. “Eventually, Howie wrote me a check and he put it in a frame and he said ‘it’s for half the price because you did half-ass pushups.'”
Jokes like that are what bonds the team, what makes them family, and what makes the show successful.
Two decades later, they’re closer than ever.
The show continues its suceess, maintaining its position as the No. 1 NFL pregame show since its inception. In 2019, the entire cast of FOX NFL Sunday was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Hall of Fame, the only sports show to hold such an honor.
That’s a testament to the entire team and its on-air leader, Curt Menefee.
More Than Sports
Sports and society have an intimate relationship that many try to minimize and/or dismiss, but it’s a bond that cannot be ignored for sports reflects society.
On May 25th, 2020, we all watched in horror as George Floyd was murdered by now incarcerated police officer, Derek Chauvin. It was a moment that unleashed anger, frustration and pain across the nation.
From athletes to regular individuals, many asked themselves “what can I do to help” in response.
Curt Menefee was one of those people.
Being an award-winning broadcaster, published author and a successful media personality did not exempt him from seeing and feeling what others did, so he felt he had to take action.
“I’m a guy in my mid 50’s. I have a platform. I’ve been blessed with it and for me it’s gotta be worth something more than just giving football scores. I’ve got to use it to help someone else,” he said.
So he did what he did best; he prepared.
In 2020, Menefee returned to the classroom and enrolled at Northwestern University. This past spring, he graduated with a master’s in Public Policy & Administration.
“For me, in order to help the people that are asking for help, I needed to have a pathway forward,” in response to me asking him why he went back to school.
Having a path, working hard and being prepared helped forged his decorated career. As he told me, others might be smarter than him, but no one will outwork him.
Menefee has done what many others wouldn’t, couldn’t or simply didn’t want to.
That’s why every Sunday at 12pm EST, he leads his Hall of Fame team.
And he’s damn good at it.
Curt Menefee has covered the NFL, the NBA, MLB, UEFA matches, UFC fights and NASCAR. He’s learning about F1 and would love to cover the Summer Olympics.
But Menefee is about much more than sports.
He grew up playing the bass and now plays electric guitar. In his lifetime, he’s only played the bass publically twice.
The first was at his wedding where he and his wife, who played drums in a band when she was younger, got on stage and played Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” together.
His second on stage appearance was at his friend’s 50th birthday party where he played the bass alongside David Grohl of the Foo Fighters, who was on the drums that night.
These are a few of the incredible stories and experiences that Menefee’s humble nature deters him from sharing publicly.
But that’s because he’s never seeked out attention. Instead, he just wants to be great at what he does.
And in all honesty, he doesn’t need to brag about his career because his work and resume speak volumes for him.
Now that he’s achieved so much, he wants to give back as Fred Hickman and James Brown did for him in his career. So he’s using his platform and his shiny new master’s degree to do just that.
“If you can do that [have connections and power], then make it beneficial. Make it worthwhile. Get something out of it or help someone else get something out of it,” he said.
Curt Menefee has made the most out of the opportunities he’s both been given and that he’s created. It’s made him one of the most successful sports broadcasters in the business and, much to his mother’s joy, made him national.
And since his humility won’t allow him to talk about his incredible career and accomplishments, I’m honored to let my words do it for him.
