Top 3 Hometown Athletes from New Jersey
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 09: Derek Jeter is introduced during New York Yankees Old Timer's Day prior to a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium on September 9, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City.
Watching sports and rooting for local New Jersey hometown athletes is a feeling unlike any other. We always root for the hometown team. When there’s a hometown athlete who makes us proud, it makes it so much more enjoyable.
This happens more in college than in professional sports with the latest being Caitlin Clark. Caitlin is the perfect example of a local hometown athlete who excels beyond the norm for the hometown team. She was born and raised in Iowa and played for Iowa teams through her amazing and record-setting college basketball career.
Hometown athletes represent their community no matter where they play in college or professionally. New Jersey is no different than anywhere else when it comes to hometown athlete pride.
New Jersey Hometown Athletes
In my opinion, Derek Jeter is at the top of the list of athletes who hail from New Jersey. Unless you’re a diehard New York Yankees fan you probably don’t know that Derek was born in New Jersey. He spent the first several years of his life in Pequannock Township before moving to Michigan. During his toddler years, he lived just a few miles from Yankee Stadium where he was playing his entire professional Hall of Fame baseball career. If New Jersey had a baseball team, I like to think that he would have never been a Yankee.
You could argue that Shaquille O’Neal deserves equal praise for his professional athletic career. He was one of the best and most successful NBA players of all time. Shaq played in multiple cities including Los Angeles, Miami, and Orlando. However, he was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He continues to honor his hometown with his work in broadcasting, and his unmatched generosity.
Another great athlete, person, and New Jersey native is Mike Trout. He was born in Vineland and raised in Millville. While his baseball career forces him to live in California during the season, he still lives in South Jersey in the off-season. He is considered one of the greatest baseball players in the game, and according to MLB.com, he is off to another jaw-dropping start this season. Like Shaq, he is also known for his kindness and “great guy” reputation.
New Jersey Hometown Athletes Honorable Mention
Dennis “The Worm” Rodman is one of the best defensive NBA basketball players ever, and he was born and grew up in Trenton, New Jersey. Rodman’s personality outshined his athletic accomplishments, and that is saying a lot. He was an integral part of the Chicago Bulls during their championship years in the Michael Jordan era.
Joe Theismann was born in New Brunswick and raised in South River. Joe had an amazing college football career at Notre Dame and won a Super Bowl as the quarterback of the Washington Redskins (now the Commanders).
You can’t talk about stellar hometown athletes without mentioning Carl Lewis. Carl won multiple Olympic gold medals in multiple Olympic years. He was raised in Willingboro, New Jersey.
If you disagree with my New Jersey hometown athlete rankings, you can email me your thoughts at [email protected]
5 Retired Athletes Crushing It With Their Podcasts
“Everyone has a podcast now,” seems to be a typical response when the topic comes up. Maybe that’s true, or more so, that the ability to have the resources to create own is easier. However, some retired professional athletes are finding a great next chapter to their career through impactful podcasts and media platforms.
Still, that does not mean anyone can do it well. The question becomes, how do you sift through and find those that are really doing it right? Aside from what is spoon fed to you through social media, certain athletes have trusted their knowledge and experience of the game to carry them to conversational success.
What Is The Criteria For Compiling This Retired Athletes Podcast List?
Well, for starters they need to be legitimate former professional athletes. Meaning, they played in their respective sport at a high-level for a long duration of time.
Next, we’re looking for athletes who do this regularly now as a consistent means. In addition, the preference is for their subject matters to have a direct focus. For example, a former NFL star talking about football.
With the exception of Pat McAfee, there are not a ton of athletes (other than Michael Strahan) that can successfully cast a wide net and engage their audience on any topic under the sun. Sure, it can be done. But for this list, the preference is largely for the premise of each show to be somewhat specialized.
Another requirement here is that the athlete has to be retired from the sport and not currently on or associated with a team. That would make someone like Micah Parson (who has a successful podcast) and Travis Kelce ineligible (even though brother and co-host Jason is now retired).
Although the sports and subject matters will vary with this list, there are still a few common themes. Each athlete demonstrates their own personality in their podcast. Sometimes being under a helmet or on the court does not allow an athlete’s true personality to always shine through. With a podcast it does.
The host also has a talent where they give the listener a great perspective on the subject at hand. Greg Olsen from Fox Sports does a great job with this on live broadcasts. He gives the audience an inside view of what a player may be thinking in that moment of the game, given he played for so long. He’ll also share what goes on inside a locker room.
Before we get to the list, an honorable mention here goes to Fox sports insider, Jay Glazer. He did not make the list because he is not a former pro athlete. However, his Unbreakable podcast that discusses mental health in the world of professional sports has proven to be very impactful.
Without further ado, here are the six great podcasts hosted by retired professional athletes who have built an impressive following with their great shows.
Joel Katz is the Morning Show Personality, Assistant Program Director, Podcast Host, Voiceover artist, audio producer, and Digital Content Writer for Magic 98.3. Joel has been working in New Jersey radio since college and started at Magic in 2002 as the Morning Show Host, “I can’t think of another place where I’d fit more perfectly; it’s just a great company with awesome people.” Joel is married to Kathleen, his elementary school sweetheart (they were each other’s first dates at age 9), shares a birthday with his oldest son, Ty, and has twins, Kiera and Liam. Joel runs at least 3.1 miles every day and enjoys playing basketball, doing laundry, saving his turn signal for when he really needs it, kissing dogs through a fence, using coasters, making that cool noise by rubbing his fingers on balloons, and chasing after ping pong balls on a windy cruise ship.
