How Evan Roberts Rose through the Ranks at WFAN
Evan Roberts checks in from his vacation to talk about his career and the future of WFAN.
The Giants and Jets are still in the midst of preseason, the Mets are in the final stretch of another disappointing season, and the Yankees are in the middle of a hotly contested mad dash between themselves and the hated Boston Red Sox for the AL East crown.
Still, for Evan Roberts, it’s a quiet enough time to take a vacation.
So via his vacation spot, Roberts, 34, phoned me for a chat about everything, chronicling his journey from his early years on Long Island, to his current position as co-host of the Benigno & Roberts Show.
You can listen to the full, unedited discussion up above, or get the gist of what went down here:
Mike Colon: In the early days, what was it like growing up in a household with a dad who I assume was a huge sports fan, and how did you get into your teams that you’ve come to love and bash whenever they’re not doing so well?
Evan Roberts: This is all my dad’s fault, he was a Mets season ticket holder from 1976 on{ward}. I think like, a few months after he got married to my mom they were waiting in line for tickets to the 1973 World Series so, he’s a diehard and so when I was a kid he would take me and my sister to Mets games all the time, so I really had no choice, I was brainwashed to be a Mets fan from the early going.
As far as Evan’s Jets, Nets, and Islanders fandom?
Evan: My dad’s a Jets fan don’t get me wrong, but it was all Mets as a kid, so I kind of picked that up as time went on. I think there’s this feeling that when you root for the second team in town, there’s this connection to root for all the other second teams in town like the Jets, and the Nets, and the Islanders. I think I got into the Nets and the Islanders ‘cause of convenience because that would be where my dad could take me to games. Growing up on Long Island the coliseum was 15 minutes away, and even though New Jersey was far away, it was impossible to get Knicks tickets and so I developed this bitterness towards the Knicks at a young age.
Mike: When WFAN started, I was -13 and you were four, so growing up when did you first become a listener of WFAN, and did you have any inclinations early on, throughout high school or maybe even earlier than that, that this is what you wanted to do for a living?
Evan: It evolved, I think I first remember hearing the station when I was 6 or 7 years old, so that must’ve been two or three years into their existence, ’89, ’90, ’91 in that area, and it was Mike and The Mad Dog. That was the sound I heard, I remember went to camp one year and you miss everything when you’re away, and when I came back in the car I heard Mike and The Mad Dog and it was like ‘I’m back now! Now I’m back in New York!’. The first thing I ever wanted to do was be a play-by-play announcer and I think that just changed into being a talk show host, because I would listen to the FAN all the time and I found myself imitating them and doing my own shows in my bedroom.
In 1993, Roberts would get his first opportunity to live his dream when he was picked to fill in for then sports update and future MSG and ESPN NBA announcer Mike Breen on Imus In The Morning.
Mike: What was it like to meet the I-Man during his heyday at WFAN’s old studios in Astoria, Queens?
Evan: I remember as a 10-year old walking these really long dank halls, these dark scary halls, waiting to meet the legendary Don Imus, and I remember off-air him being a very nice guy and I remember him giving me life advice like “read as much as you can and write as much as you can.” Weirdly enough, I kind of remember more of the off-air conversation I had with him more than what was on-air because I was very young, I was 10-years old at the time, but it was a great experience because it got me the opportunity to be on WFAN at such a young age.
Evan, at 21 years old, would join WFAN 11 years after his experience with Imus in July of 2004, initially as an overnight host.
Mike: It’s often implied that the station’s glory years were in the ’90s considering the fact that so many New York teams were in the mix for or won a championship. By 2004 the Rangers, Knicks, and Mets were no longer any good and the Yankees were the only contending team. What was it like for you to join the station during such a down era for the New York City sports scene and what were your early experiences at FAN like in ‘04?
Evan: It was just so exciting to actually be on WFAN finally and get to host overnight shows, it was overwhelming because at the time I was working at Sirius Satellite Radio and I was on from, I think seven through 10 at night, and then I would race on over to Astoria, Queens to do an overnight show at 1 a.m. so I remember it being a big challenge because I wasn’t able to watch all of the games that I would then be talking about, because I was doing a radio show about something completely different. One thing I’ve noticed over the years I've been there [at WFAN] is while the teams being great is exciting, and it gives you a lot to talk about, I also think there’s more to talk about when the teams are bad, people love to complain!
In January 2007, Roberts was tapped as Joe Benigno’s new co-host. Benigno had been doing the middays solo since the controversial departure of his former partner Sid Rosenberg in September 2005. The decision to fill the void and pair the then 23-year old Roberts with Benigno has proven to be the right one, as the duo has remained together ever since.
Mike: What was it like to not only co-host alongside a legend in Joe Benigno, but have your show be sandwiched between an iconic morning show in Imus In The Morning and an iconic afternoon drive show in Mike and The Mad Dog?
Evan: It was very, very, intimidating. I give Joe a lot of credit because we did our first show together about a year earlier and he was the nicest guy, he made me feel very welcomed because as a 23-year old, it’s intimidating because I grew up listening to Benigno too…man I’m a passionate listener and Joe was one of my favorites especially as a Mets and Jets fan so it was very intimidating but he was very, very nice to me.
Throughout this summer, Roberts has been among the candidates that have been mentioned as possible successors to the retiring Mike Francesa, who departs FAN this December.
He’s co-hosted shows alongside CBS Sports Radio’s Damon Amendolara, Detroit sports radio star Mike Valenti, and even New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Mike: What are your thoughts on just being in the running to replace Mike to begin with?
Evan: It’s been an honor when Joe and I even fill-in for Mike and Mike and The Mad Dog over the years because that’s fine real estate, it’s afternoon drive in New York City and they’ve done an amazing job with it so, we both know it’s an honor.
Mike: What do you envision post-December 15 — what do YOU want?
Evan: I honestly don’t know what they’re gonna do, and I'm kind of happy with whatever happens. I love working in the middays with Joe, if both of us move and replace Mike? Great. It’s a big challenge obviously because Mike’s been incredibly popular, if they split us up it’ll be very awkward because we both prefer working together obviously but I'm sure we would get used to it.
Mike: Are you worried about the future of the station or does it not matter one bit to you?
Evan: I think the future of the station’s gonna be strong and I think a lot of the credit goes to Mike and Chris even after they’re long gone. They created such a strong foundation, when you think of New York sports, you think of WFAN and I think there will be great success for a very long time and I think they’re going to deserve a lot of credit for that. When you build such a strong foundation, the personalities may change, some of the names may change, but I think the FAN remains the same.
As far as the new show that succeeds Mike come January 2018 or sooner, Roberts had this to say:
Evan: Whatever the new show is, naturally some people will really hate it, there's gonna be some people who love it, there’s gonna be some people that are indifferent to it, some people that grow to like it, some people that grow to hate it, but I think at the end of the day, it’s the FAN. And I think people are still gonna wanna come [to the station] and react to what happened in New York.
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