Alumni Spotlight: Lydelle King

      Following Your Passion:

            From Football Player to ESPN Sports Producer

                                                                                                                By Ty-Saiah Moss

Photo: Courtesy 

                                                           

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing University High School Alumnus, Emmy Award winner Lydelle H. King. As a football player I was excited to speak with an alumni that also played football while in high school. You may or may not know this but, University doesn’t have it’s own football team. So, if you attend University then you have to play football for another school. I play for West Side and Mr. King played for Shabazz. Right away we had something in common.

After high school Mr. King went to Colgate University in upstate New York on a full scholarship to play football. I"ll be going to Clark Atlanta University next fall to play football on a full scholarship as well. From that moment on I was very interested to hear what Mr. King had to say because it is always good to know what life after football looks like.

It is good to know that you can still be involved in a sport you love even when you’re no longer playing. Now I'm going to be honest, and I'm know Mr. King agrees with me-- I hope I can play football in college and beyond but it is good to know that there are other career options available to me that are sports related. Mr King is a SR. Managing producer at the television sports network ESPN, INC. He oversees the department that produces long form features, and short documentaries that air on various platforms including ESPN films, sportscenter’s marquee brand Sports Center featured and My Wish Series, College Gameday Football & Basketball, NBA and NFL Countdown. Basically, Mr. King is in charge of the programs we all watch on ESPN especially College Gameday Football & Basketball. Anytime I need to know the latest information in the world of sports I turn these shows on. I thought it was really cool to know that the person in charge of these programs has roots right here in Newark, NJ. Plus, it’s kind of dope to know that Black people are behind the cameras at ESPN and not just on the field playing ball. 

Photo: Courtesy

When I asked Mr. King about his time here at University he had so many good memories he wanted to share. When I asked him his fondest memory he had this to say:

“My fondest memory of University is actually a conversation I had with a teacher during my time there. Mr. Hankerson was an Algebra teacher with a tendency for making us think about things other than math. He wrote the following on a piece of paper… Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968, Malcolm X 1925- 1965, Sojourner Truth circa 1797-1883, -- The list continued with several other names, and he repeatedly pointed the “hyphen”, my life-- what it meant at that time, what it will mean after I’m gone-- what accomplishments and/or failures it will represent. It didn’t resonate with me then because only sports mattered at the time, but it’s when I started to become older, and a lot slower did this conversation spark decisions I began to make in life.”

It was important to me to know what someone that has gone on to be successful in their chosen profession has to say to those of us trying to get there. So I asked Mr. King to drop some knowledge and he leaves us with this...

“My advice to UHS students is simple-- “Live your life for you… follow your curiosity.

Even though you may not have a clear vision for your career, you are probably curious about things which may or may not be obvious to you. It’s important to follow your curiosity and uncover your less obvious interests. The reason it’s important is that those interests tap into your unique motivations that separate you from others. Pursuing them sets you on the path of unlocking who you are and your creativity.

A good way to tune into these interests is to ask yourself,  'What you would do if you had a billion dollars?' Once you figure them out, be dogged in your pursuit of happiness.

• Make a list of everything you plan to do with your life. 
• Write it down in a notebook. 
• Don’t work about how crazy or insane it sounds or how it’s ever going to happen. 
• Just make the list. 
• At the end of every year see how many things you’ve managed to cross off. 

It may sound cliche but if there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something that matters to you, that moment is now. Start investing in you!”

It is good to know that University High School played a role in helping to prepare Lydelle to do the best and be the best. This atmosphere and the teachers in it pushed him toward success. Now, he’s doing a job that he loves and not just a job he has to do. All in all, I walk away from this experience knowing that I can have a life in sports outside of playing football.

Thanks Mr. King for trailblazing another lane.