Editor’s Note: After five years in Bristol, anchor Josh Elliott is leaving ESPN for a job with ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Front Row asked him to write a few words.
This ESPN Front Row blog is, at its essence, exactly what I’ve always felt makes ESPN different, and what makes so much of what we do, soar: the willingness to try new things, to lend existence and execution to ideas that might go discarded elsewhere. It is the fiber of the place: the constant pushing of itself, wondering simply: Why not?
It’s what makes it a joy to come to work…and it is, now, what I’ll miss most.
Because of this company’s willingness to take flyers on the unknown, I somehow snuck past the guard-shack one day, five years ago, and began what has been as satisfying a half-decade as I might have ever hoped. From The Hot List on ESPNews, to the weekend SportsCenter with Bob Ley and Chris McKendry, to the last few years, when Hannah Storm and I were lucky enough to help launch the daily morning SportsCenter, I have been blessed to work with the finest production talent in the business. I’ve had bosses who proved very understanding, especially when things ran off the rails (the Friday 11am EST hour was particularly bumpy).
Now, my commute will change, as I’ve been named the newsreader for ABC’s “Good Morning America.” It was a surreal moment, when it came — and a bittersweet one. For leaving this campus — and all the great and talented people I was lucky enough to know — will be tough. (The wakeup call won’t help matters).
I will take so much of this place with me to Times Square. Above all, though, I’ll cherish this place’s spirit — to constantly push, to never fear failure, to find out what can be.
Best of luck, then, to this new venture. Or really, adventure.
