He was fired for refusing the COVID vaccine. Now, ex-Georgia sportscaster is back on TV
Dave Platta is back on a TV newscast with former Channel 9 colleagues in Columbus — sorta kinda.
At 36 years, Platta was the longest-serving TV sports reporter and anchor when WTVM fired him in September 2021 after he refused to comply with station owner Gray Media Group’s mandate for its employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Platta, 64, sued WTVM and Gray in January 2023. One month later, he was inducted into the Chattahoochee Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
The lawsuit, filed in the Atlanta Division of U.S. District Court, alleges Platta suffered discrimination and retaliation for the failure to accommodate his religious beliefs. It also alleges breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He is seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
Yes, that’s Platta doing the weekly high school football preview each Thursday this season during newscasts at 7 a.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on WXTX Fox-54. And, yes, WXTX uses on-air talent from WTVM (an ABC affiliate) for its newscasts. But, no, Platta doesn’t work for either station.
That three-minute segment, titled “Friday Night Lights” and posted on the WXTX Facebook page, actually is a commercial, sponsored by Platta’s new employer, Tires First, as well as Glynn Smith Chevrolet-GMC.
Regardless, Platta is grateful to be reporting about Columbus area sports in some way.
“It’s really neat getting a chance to do it again,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “But I’m also aware of what it is.”
WXTX is owned by American Spirit Media of North Carolina. They have a shared services agreement with WTVM. That means American Spirit supplies the general manager and the sales staff, and WTVM supplies the on-air talent. WTVM also provides the video of the teams Platta features in his segment.
“That’s generous of them,” he said. “We really appreciate that.”
Platta also appreciates the positive reaction from folks who tell him they’ve seen the segment.
“It’s kind of heartwarming to be able to know that people actually want to see it and care,” he said.
Still helping his audience stay informed about high school football in the Columbus area is a joy for Platta.
“It just feels normal,” he said with a laugh. “… Being able to be out there, even in this little bit, is fun. It’s just fun.”
What Dave Platta has been doing since WTVM fired him
Since he left WTVM two years ago, Platta has done play-by-play for some Pacelli football home games, available on the school’s website, BeAViking.com. He also has done play-by-play for Columbus State University’s soccer home games.
But those are part-time gigs. Platta needed a full-time job.
After being unemployed for about four months, Platta received an offer from Liberty National to sell insurance.
“I didn’t have anything else going on,” he said, “so I was like, ‘I can give this a try.’”
Platta tried it for about two months.
“It’s very difficult,” he said. “It is so hard, especially selling supplemental insurance versus The Duck (Columbus-based Aflac’s mascot) in The Duck’s hometown. That was kind of tough. I was having some success, but not as much as I wanted and not as much as I needed.”
One day, he stopped at Tires First and tried to sell insurance to co-owner Mark Morrison.
“He bought me instead,” Platta said with a smile.
Tires First had an opening on the sales desk. Co-owner Wes Hargrove suggested to Morrison they should hire Platta.
“No background in tires, no background in auto repair or anything else,” Platta said. “But I have a background in talking to people.”
Platta chose tires over insurance because the income was more stable, the learning curve wasn’t as steep, and the job was a better fit.
“I’m a lot more successful with it,” he said. “My personality, I feel more comfortable with people coming to me.”
Platta recalled the experience with his first customer.
“I was confused mostly,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure out what buttons to push and where everything was. Talking to the people felt natural, but I had no idea what was going on — none. But everybody was very patient with me, including the customers. … As long as I don’t pretend to know something I don’t, we’re all good.”
Platta gets a kick out of customers who are surprised to see him working there.
A typical customer question is, “Aren’t you the TV guy?”
And his typical reply: “I used to be. I’m the tire guy now.”
TV or tires, both are about connecting with folks, Platta said.
Although the products are different, Platta senses more similarities between the two jobs.
“When you’re covering sports and you’re doing interviews, people get to know you,” he said. “… So when you run into them in other situations, it’s comfortable. I always described being a sportscaster in Columbus as basically I was everybody’s next-door neighbor. Sometimes I’m the one you wanted to get rid of but couldn’t, and sometimes I’m the one you wanted to hang out with. … So this is just an extension of it.”
How Dave Platta returned to TV
This past spring, WXTX general manager and sales manager Jackie Lynch, whose office is in WTVM’s building, called Platta and asked whether he would be interested in doing a weekly high school football preview as a commercial. He had been doing Tires First radio ads, so this was a natural expansion, Platta figured.
His reaction: “Great. Yeah, let’s do it.”
It’s running during the 15 weeks of the high school football season.
When folks remark about seeing him on TV again, Platta said, “I have to kind of explain to people what’s going on. It’s actually a commercial. I’m not actually doing the sportscast or anything. It’s kind of a taste of what I was doing. It’s a chance to get out there and have a little fun.”
Platta never considered leaving Columbus to be a sportscaster in another market.
“There’s no way,” he said. “I mean, my grandkids are here. Well, two of them are here. One’s up in Atlanta. … Besides, I’ve been in Columbus almost 40 years. This is home. … Coming in with my Chicago accent, it took a while, but the city embraced me. The whole area embraced me, and that’s just an amazing thing. It’s awesome. It’s so awesome.”
Platta had a few discussions about possibly joining WTVM rival WRBL, the CBS affiliate on Channel 3 in Columbus, where his son Drew is a videographer, “but nothing ever came out of it,” he said.
Update on Dave Platta’s lawsuit
When customers ask about the firing and the lawsuit, Platta answers their questions, but he’d rather talk about tires.
“If they want to get into detail, I’ll get into detail,” he said. “But usually, … we just drop it. Beating on a dead horse is no fun, and it’s painful.”
But it’s still gratifying to be recognized and appreciated.
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. “It’s nice that they remember me. It really is, and the number of people who come up and say they’re rooting for me in the lawsuit is amazing. A lot of people do that. I hear it not quite every day but pretty close.”
Platta’s lawsuit is pending.
“Nothing much has happened,” he said. “There’s been filings back and forth. … There’s a possibility they may want to go into mediation. We’re listening to all that.”
Platta insists he doesn’t regret refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and costing his job at WTVM.
“Nothing has happened that tells me I did the wrong thing,” he said. “Everything that I have seen in terms of shots and everything else just confirms my choice, my decision — it really wasn’t a choice — my decision was the correct one. … I had to do what I did, and if there was a price to be paid, so be it.”
The principle he acted upon, Platta said, is “the right to determine what medical procedures you undergo. To force somebody to take part in a medical experiment is wrong. … Somebody has to stand up and say, ‘No. Enough. This is not only illegal; it’s immoral.’ … People who do that kind of thing don’t just stop at that. They go to the next thing and the next thing.
“It’s a slippery slope, and that slope is lined with razor blades, and it’s gonna hurt. The type of people that will force folks to do things like that will stop at nothing.”
