Tommy Riles and Art Eddy talk about Tim Tebow coming back to the NFL. They also talks sports with their guest, author Sean Jensen.
What is your passion? If you looked up to someone in the field you wanted to work in would you contact that person? Well, Sean Jensen did just that. During his high school years Sean was living with his family in Virginia. He loved sports. He loved reading about sports in the Washington Post and USA Today. Two of his favorite journalists are Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post. He’d ask them about what they wrote. He’d ask them about what they were going to write. Wilbon even gave Sean some career advice.
Fast forward to his time right out of college he started working for a newspaper covering the Green Bay Packers. He went to fourteen Super Bowls for work. He got cover the Olympics. He got to cover The Masters. He was living the dream. He accomplished his high school goal of becoming a sports journalist. Then he gave it all up.
What would make Sean leave his dream job? Fatherhood. When Sean saw that his son needed him around instead of covering the ins and outs of the NFL, Jensen left his career. He wanted to be there for his son and daughter. Being adopted and not knowing his biological father made him vow to make sure that if he had kids that he would be there for him.
While reading to his kids Sean found that the books on athletes were not putting a spotlight on the person. Sean wanted to make children’s books that focused more on the person than the athlete. He came up with a concept and worked with Chicago Bears great Brian Urlacher, to create the book, “Middle School Rules”.
We had the great pleasure of talking with Sean about the book, “Middle School Rules”, fatherhood, and his passion for sports and journalism.
Follow Sean on Twitter @seankjensen
Get “Middle School Rules” here.