These days, it seems nearly impossible to “make it big” without influential connections or a stroke of luck. So often, it’s all about who you know, rather than what you can do. But St. Louis native Graham Bensinger is proof that hard work and dedication are still enough to achieve your dreams. He figured out his dream at an early age, and hasn’t stopped pursuing it since.
“I used to be one of those kids who’d run down to Busch Stadium and wait for the players and get their autographs,” recollects Bensinger. He amassed the autographs from elementary school until junior high, at which point he created a baseball card store online, quickly developing his own website. “After a while of getting these autographs, I realized it wasn’t getting the autographs that I liked but just meeting the players and hearing their stories. So I got the idea for [an] internet sports radio station.”
When he was in 8th grade, Bensinger sent out 50 letters to former baseball players and Hall of Famers, in the hopes of doing interviews. They didn’t make him wait long; he quickly received several responses.
“Will Clark, who had just retired after leaving the Cardinals through a playoff run called, then Ernie Banks, the Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer, then Bob Feller and another former Cardinal’s player, Tim McCarver called.” Laughing, Bensinger recalls, “I didn’t even have a cell phone. They would call my parent’s house. My mom or dad would answer and yell, ‘So and so is on the phone.’ So that was how it started. I developed the show on the Internet over the following years. I got on a local sports radio station in St. Louis in my last couple years of high school. Going into my freshman year of college, I started doing freelance television interviews for ESPN. I worked for them for a few years, and then NBC sports for a year after that, and that lead into my current series that I created.”
Now in its fouth season, “In Depth with Graham Bensinger,” continues to run exclusive interviews with some of the sports community’s biggest names. In previous seasons, Bensinger spoke with prominent figures such as Muhammad Ali, O.J. Simpson, Yao Ming, Venus and Serena Williams, Shaun White, Kobe Bryant, and Tony Hawk. Probably the most significant interview was with Mike Tyson at his home in Las Vegas. Bensinger won an Emmy for that interview at the young age of 25.
So far this season, Bensinger has interviewed Terrell Owens, Brian Urlacher, Kobe Bryant, Jerry Rice, George Foreman, Mario Andretti, Tony Romo, Craig Robinson, and Clayton Kershaw.
The 27-year-old has already accomplished so much, and is sure to continue on this successful path. ESPN sports columnist Bill Simmons once said of Bensinger, “There’s a decent chance he could end up ruling the world someday.” He certainly has the dedication and passion.
“I feel lucky that I found something early on that I really like doing,” Bensinger says. “Whether it be this series now or what I was doing in 8th grade, I’ve always had to create it for myself because nobody ever gave me the opportunity that I was looking for. I had to create my own platform. Even now with this syndicated series, we created the business that independently hosts, produces, distributes and handles advertising and media sales for the series. I spent [about] 220 days on the road over the past year, personally syndicating the series myself.”
Do you ever get tired of all of the traveling?
Sure. Sometimes it seems never-ending. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to personally syndicate the show…and travel to all these local markets around the country, and meet with the heads of these local television stations that would ultimately sign on to air the series, but it’s not necessarily something I want to repeat a second time. It was a great learning experience; I’m thrilled I went through it once, but I don’t care to do that sort of grueling travel again. It’s basically hotel, airport, meeting, airport, hotel…and between travel for the business end, traveling for the actual interviews, and miscellaneous other travel, it can be a bit much.
Where do you do the interviews?
We travel to the athletic figure for the sit down. I [recently] taped one with a guy by the name of Craig Robinson who is the head coach of Oregon State Men’s Basketball. He is the brother of First Lady Michelle Obama, so his brother-in-law is President Obama. We were in Corvallis, Oregon for that. We’ve been to New Zealand for Tiger Woods’ ex-caddy Steve Williams; the Philippines to tape Manny Pacquiao; and China for former NBA player Yao Ming for his first interview after he retired from the league.
Do you ever get nervous, interviewing such prominent athletes?
Sure. I mean, I think a lot less often now, because I’ve done it a lot, but there are always instances where you can feel your heart pounding a little faster and you get your adrenaline going a bit. Now it’s more if I’m getting ready to cover a topic that is sensitive, a topic that the person I’m interviewing might be a little uncomfortable about covering. Sometimes as I’m getting closer to those moments, I’ll feel myself getting a little uneasy. For example, when I talked to Ray Lewis about being charged with the murders of two people…I think those are the instances that will get the nerves going a little bit.
Have you had a favorite interview?
Yeah, there have been a lot that I’ve really enjoyed. One of my favorites is probably one that people wouldn’t expect. I’ve interviewed Jim Brown on a number of occasions, and he is arguably the greatest football player ever to live, one of the most socially significant athletes in the past century. This is a guy who is in his mid-70s now, but when he retired, he was at the peak of his career, playing his best football. He retired to get into acting and paved the way for black actors, and ended up creating hundreds of black-owned and operated businesses through his foundation. J. Edgar Hoover actually had spies tracking Jim Brown for the better portion of a decade, because they viewed him as a political threat. This was a guy who, back in the day when he was in his prime, the people he called close friends were Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, Richard Prior, Jack Nicholson, Hugh Hefner, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr., so the stories he has are just unbelievable. I mentioned he’s in his mid-70s now, but he could still kick my you-know-what 10 times over if he wanted to. He’s also somebody who is very quick to tell you if you ask an unintelligent question, so you really feel like you have to be on your game going into an interview with him. I’ve sat down with him on a couple of occasions at his home in the Hollywood Hills. Those are always instances I really look forward to.
What’s the best part about what you do?
First, just to have the opportunity to do it. I feel like I am living out my dream. Granted, I still have a very long way to go to achieve my professional goals, but it’s really exciting to have the opportunity to pursue something that you’re passionate about because then you’ll do everything you can to make it happen.
Bensinger’s show, “In Depth with Graham Bensinger” airs locally Saturdays 5:30 a.m. on KTVI and Fox. Some full-episodes can also be viewed on Yahoo!Sports.
