Meet Jerry Humphrey III, your new Montgomery Advertiser high school sports writer
To the community of Montgomery, Alabama:
It’s a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Jerry Humphrey III, and I’ll be serving as the new high school/recruiting reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA Today Sports Network.
I’m a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and like every kid, I had aspirations of playing in the NFL or NBA. When that dream quickly fizzled out, I knew I wanted to be as close to the game as possible. And that's when I knew I was going to be a sports journalist.
Throughout high school, I would email all the local journalists asking to job shadow them for a day and learn the ins and outs of reporting. After numerous attempts and no responses, I just took it upon myself to begin my own sports blog titled "Elite Total Networking Sports," where I covered high school sports in Charlotte. The camaraderie I shared with the athletes and coaches allowed me to become a household name in the area and grew my platform tremendously.
My career officially launched in 2018, when I enrolled in North Carolina A&T State University and joined the campus newspaper "The A&T Register." For two years, I worked as the lead reporter and editor of the sports section covering all HBCUs in the MEAC and SWAC before moving up the ranks to editor-in-chief.
During my college tenure, I also wrote for outlets such as SLAM Magazine and USA Basketball covering high school basketball recruits and collegiate sports. In addition, last summer I interned at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut. During the internship, I wrote a feature story for ESPN.com about the first HBCU athlete to get a NIL deal with the WWE. The story did extremely well on the website and shined an even brighter light on HBCUs.
Being an HBCU graduate, I’m super ecstatic being in the same city as Alabama State University. I’ve attended many Celebration Bowls in the past, so I look forward to covering my first Turkey Day Classic and Magic City Classic this fall.
Moving to a city that served as a ground zero for the civil rights movement gives me great appreciation to be here and learn so much from the community. From the Montgomery bus boycotts to the march to Selma, I'm grateful to be in a city with so much history and culture.
To have this opportunity to work with the Montgomery Advertiser is amazing. Coming from a basketball background in North Carolina, I wanted to make the transition to covering sports outside the hardwood. This opportunity will allow me to cover some of the nation's top prospects across all sports.
One of the first things I heard before accepting this position is how serious high school football is in this area. The amount of talent and recruiting buzz here is incredible, and I look forward wait to highlighting and telling the stories of these exceptional talents.
Being in the heart of SEC country here in the state of Alabama, I’m going to pride myself on being a reliable resource for local and state news. I promise to be an active leader in the community and connect with the local sports scene.
The city of Montgomery may be quiet and reserved, but the sports culture is raucous and loud. I can’t wait to be a part of the madness. Thank you for welcoming me to your city!
Jerry Humphrey is a sports writer for the Montgomery Advertiser who covers area high school sports, Auburn recruiting and Alabama State athletics. Follow him on Twitter @jerryhump3.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Meet new Montgomery Advertiser prep sports writer Jerry Humphrey III
