EP 25: Mike Rodak, ESPN Bills Reporter

On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, Patrick Moran interviews ESPN.com Buffalo Bills beat reporter Mike Rodak.

A native of Massachusetts, Rodak (@mikerodak) talks about growing up a fan of nearby Boston sports teams and moving on to Providence for college because his older brother went there. Partially due to being unsure of what exactly he wanted to do with his life and also because Providence didn’t have a major journalism program, Rodak majored in finance and management.

While still in school he caught a break in 2010 and got a gig helping to cover the New England Patriots as ESPNBoston.com. He would go on to be part of the Patriots coverage team for three years there and covered his first (and to date only) Super Bowl when the New York Giants defeated the Patriots, 21017 at Super Bowl XLVI (46).

Rodak talks about that experience as well as moving on to Buffalo in the summer of 2013 to take over as Bills beat reporter for ESPN.com. Naturally because of his ties to New England both as a native and covering the Patriots, Rodak almost immediately drew the ire of many Bills fans who regarded him as a Patriots fan providing biased coverage against the Bills. Mike shares his feelings on that then and now.

They spend considerable time talking about the sports media life —from personal friendships to direct competition and Mike has a strong take on the recent Buffalo News “buyout’ of longtime columnist and friend of his, Jerry Sullivan.

Of course, they do talk a little about the Bills, including Rodak’s thoughts on why the organization may have passed on Josh Rosen in favor of Josh Allen, the wide receiver position and the big differences between the Sean McDermott and Rex Ryan regimes.

They wrap up a mini-lightning round of random questions, something that’s become a ritual with each guest on the podcast, including revealing Rodak’s favorite sports movie, city to visit, the one person he’d follow on Twitter if only allowed one follow, three dinner guests and more.

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