About Jake
Experience: Founder, head writer and editor of Bears Backer, a Chicago Bears blog on Chicago Now. He covers high school sports for the Tampa Bay Times. He also runs Prep Sports Scouting, a site all about high school sports. He also contributes as an NFL columnist on Today's Pigskin. He most recently worked as a sports writer for The Tampa Tribune (2014-2016) and for The Naples Daily News (2013-2014)
Jake created his own scouting website in Nov. 2015, Prep Sports Scouting. He scouts the top talents in Florida and with the site he writes in-depth one-on-one feature stories with up-and-coming high school players.
He's also contributed to websites including Bleacher Report, About Sports, MidWestSportsFans.com, Thexlog.com, MVN.com, Gridirongrit.com, TheSportsDig.com and Bullsextra.com. Previously he was a Chicago Bears beat writer for NFL Touchdown and a contributor at NFL.com’s Blog Blitz.
He was also a team insider for the Arena Football League's Tampa Bay Storm during the 2011 season.
His work has appeared in the USA Today, SEC Today, Fox Sports, CSN Chicago, Arena Football, Fuse.tv and Yahoo Sports. He's also appeared on Sirius 210/XM 87 Rotoexperts, ESPN 1310 Asheville, The Pulse Network, DePaul Sports Radio, Chicagoland Sports Radio, WUTT Radio in Tampa.
Education: He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management at the University of Tampa in the spring of 2013. He was a Sports Information Assistant for three years with the Sports Information department where he assisted in game day and pregame functions . He worked in the areas of broadcasting, writing and statistics for Women’s and Men’s Soccer, Women’s and Men’s Basketball, Baseball and Softball.
Personal: He created Bears Backer in 2008 during his junior year of high school. He interned for the Florida Everblades of the ECHL in 2009 and again in the summer of 2011 working in the sales department. He volunteered as a quote taker for the 1st and 2nd rounds of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament at the Tampa Bay Times Forum in March 2011 and once again in April 2012 for the Frozen Four.
He interned with WGN-TV in Chicago as a sports intern assisting with editing of highlights for the news and gathering interviews on gamedays during the summer of 2012. He interviewed current Bears players running back Matt Forte, linebacker Lance Briggs and former wide receiver Johnny Knox at separate events in Chicago.
He also interned with DeBartolo Sports as a media writer in the spring of 2013, where his duties inlcuded work on player profile stories, news stories and help with social media. While there he helped with events such as a the High School Combine and Quarteback Challenge.
He's an avid sports fan, especially when it comes to the city of Chicago. He's driven by his passion for sports and he hopes to use it as his advantage in the near future.
Contact: Follow him on Twitter @Bearsbacker and like his page on Facebook. You can find him on Linkedin.
To download a PDF file of Jake's writing portfolio please click here or download file below
writing_portfolio.pdf | |
File Size: | 453 kb |
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