Many kids around the world dream of going pro in their favorite sport, but very few do. For the vast majority that come up short, they are faced with the harsh reality of giving up on their childhood dreams to pursue “a real job.”
However, there are a few kids like Brian Tripp, who played sports as an adolescent, realized by the time he was in high school that playing Division I or professionally was not realistic, and took his athletic career in a different direction.
Tripp was a wrestler and baseball player, so the fall wasn’t the time to pursue an athletic scholarship in football or participate in offseason training for the sports he did play. Rather, he attended his younger brother’s football games where he found inspiration for his future career, although he didn’t realize it at the time.
At these games, Tripp listened to the Philadelphia Eagles play on his Walkman radio where he heard long-time play-by-play commentator Merrill Reese call games. Those moments sparked his interest in sports broadcasting.
“It became something that as I got older, I realized that I wanted to turn into a career, but that’s when I knew I was hooked,” Tripp said. “I was always more fascinated by probably the people calling the game and listening to the announcers than maybe even the athletes on the field.”
Tripp enrolled at Penn State in 2007, studied broadcast journalism and was part of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. He also worked with Penn State Athletics, CommRadio, ESPN Lehigh Valley and the Big Ten Network Student U Program.
“The opportunities that I had as a student just to get reps, it was so valuable to learn from my mistakes,” Tripp said. “To get the opportunity to be around programs and teams, the network, the relationships you could build and by getting on campus and just throw yourself into the fire and learning by trial and error, that was the biggest thing.”
Tripp landed his first job with Penn State Athletics after he graduated from Penn State in 2011. He first worked as a broadcaster and content producer covering women’s volleyball, women’s basketball and baseball. Tripp still does the play-by-play for Penn State baseball and picked up men’s hockey play-by-play when the program went Division I in the 2012-13 season.
“They took a chance on hiring a broadcaster who had never called a hockey game,” Tripp said. “But I think it was my reputation within [Penn State] Athletics, the hard work I put in, and what I did to position myself for that role. They took a chance on me and I’ve had a chance to grow with them.”
Those opportunities have led to many others. As of May 2024, Tripp no longer has a full-time position with Penn State Athletics. Instead, he does freelance work for a variety of companies.
Along with baseball and hockey, Tripp does the pregame show and sideline reporting for Penn State football through Penn State’s multimedia rights holder, Playfly Sports.
He also does contract work with Penn State Athletics, a local high school football TV package in the fall with SportsFever TV where he does play-by-play of Friday Night Rivals in the Johnstown, Altoona and State College markets, and is an adjunct professor in the Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State.
On the national level, Tripp has worked with the Big Ten Network to cover football and is entering his seventh year with Westwood One where he calls the NCAA Men’s Frozen Four Championship.
“When I do my taxes, I’ll have like eight different forms to file here next month. Really, a lot of fun,” Tripp joked.
Despite his resume and broadcasting experience, Tripp has little desire for a change of scenery. He noted that State College’s distance to his hometown in the Lehigh Valley region and the pride of the university as two reasons, but there are three major factors.
The first is that Tripp loves what he does because no two days are the same.
“People always ask, ‘What is your favorite sport to do?’ Honestly, and this is truly sincere, it’s whatever one is in season because it keeps me fresh, keeps me on my toes and doesn’t get redundant,” Tripp said. “And I think that’s the beauty of working in sports and sports broadcasting is that no two days are similar.”
Some sports that Tripp covers, like hockey and baseball, for example, overlap. Covering two sports at a time creates challenges, but Tripp says he stays at the top of his game by remaining a student of his craft and having a pulse on the sports he covers.
“Very few things that I do have a script, so it’s thinking on your feet, you’re performing in many ways, and you’re using your knowledge and your preparation all the time and effort that you put in to go out and [perform],” Tripp said. “Certainly, not to the extent of the athletes competing, but it is a bit of an adrenaline rush.”
The second reason is that Penn State is one of the top programs in collegiate athletics. There are a select number of professional teams and an even smaller group of top-tier collegiate athletics programs to cover, and Penn State is one of them.
“There aren’t many stages bigger than a Beaver Stadium on a Saturday night under the lights,” Tripp said. “There are not many stages bigger in hockey than Pegula on a Friday or Saturday night with a sold-out Wear White crowd or this past spring getting to be with the Penn State baseball team in Omaha and calling a Big Ten Championship game.”
The final reason is because of the people he gets to work with. One of Tripp’s greatest mentors is long-time Penn State football and men’s basketball play-by-play commentator, Steve Jones.
The two worked together when Tripp was at State College’s ESPN Radio station earlier in his career and they still work together on Penn State football radio broadcasts. Tripp said Jones has been a great mentor, colleague and friend and said that he could go “on and on” about what he learned from Jones.
“He’s an outstanding person,” Tripp said. “He’s a walking sports encyclopedia. He’s got a true gift right there with his mind and his sports knowledge acumen.”
But Tripp said it’s more than just Jones’s sports knowledge. The biggest thing Tripp learned is how to handle himself around a program and represent that program the right way. He added that Jones’ work ethic and level of preparedness is unmatched.
“I don’t think you could pick a better broadcaster to have calling Penn State football and basketball on a night-in, night-out basis than Steve,” Tripp said. “I think he’s at the top of his profession, and I’m really lucky just to watch, observe and learn from a guy like that.”
However, sports broadcasting doesn’t come without its challenges. The occupation calls for late nights, plenty of travel and working on weekends and holidays. Tripp said he has had to miss some marquee events with friends and family because of his job.
“I don’t know that people realize it all the time, but when people, as fans, are going to games, that’s often when I’m working, or anyone else in this profession is working,” Tripp said.
Early on in his career, Tripp said he rarely turned down an opportunity, but as he has gotten older, he says it’s hard to have a work-life balance, but it’s an area he has improved at.
Tripp’s advice: Get away when you can, take care of yourself and reward yourself.
“There’s a lot of places you can go to get away and then take advantage of that time when you have it,” Tripp said. “That’s something that I’ve been a lot better at the last couple of years and just trying to make the most of those moments when you have it.”
What started as just a fascination has turned into an extensive sports broadcasting career for Tripp. Although he’s satisfied with where he’s at in his career, Tripp said he continues to improve every day, and the same guy who once had no experience covering hockey said he’d someday like to become the voice of an NHL team.
“Penn State has helped open those doors to give me those platforms and to get those other national opportunities,” Tripp said. “I think everyone in their career wants to get to the highest level possible. I know I’m highly motivated to see where my career takes me, but I’m really happy where I’m at, at the same time.”
