"You have all these challenges.. and the world doesn't know" - Derek Jeter talks about hardships and overcoming obstacles as professional athletes
Five-time World Series champion Derek Jeter founded "The Players' Tribune," which launched almost 10 years ago in October 2014. The publication focuses on bringing the stories firsthand from athletes who can connect directly with their fans in their own words.
Over the years, "The Players' Tribune" has covered several athletes belonging to different sports, including Serena Williams and Kobe Bryant, among many others. Jeter believes that every athlete has a story to tell and his publication gives them the platform to do so.
Teasing the date "9.12.24" or September 12, 2024 in the caption, the publication's social media accounts uploaded a video on Tuesday where Derek Jeter spoke about the values and reasons why they started this endeavor.
"People see superstar athletes and they feel as though that life was easy," Jeter said. "You talk about an amazing story, Rick Gankio, Kevin Love, he's the one that broke the mold. Kobe, KD, Venus and Serena. You have all these challenges that you go through and the world doesn't know. Quite frankly, if we didn't start the Tribune, the world probably still wouldn't know."
Derek Jeter thinks The Players' Tribune helped him get into broadcasting seamlessly
The New York Yankees star started his broadcasting journey as an analyst for Fox Sports, most notably when he covered last year's World Series alongside Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Kevin Burkhardt.
During a conversation on "Calm Down with Erin and Charissa" in December, Jeter spoke about how The Players Tribune, which he launched just after retirement in 2014, has helped him pave the next path in the world of broadcasting. (Start at 16:35)
“When I first retired, I started a company called The Players’ Tribune, so it’s not really the first time I was in the so-called media world,” Jeter told hosts Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson.
“And I got destroyed when I started that. People were like, ‘You didn’t say anything, and now you’re going to start a media platform.’ But I looked at it as, and I truly do believe the Tribune was … a little bit before it’s time. Because it really was one of the first to do it.”
Derek Jeter was right when he said The Players' Tribune was ahead of its time. After all, since then many retired/former athletes like Pat McAfee, JJ Redick, Gilbert Arenas and AJ Pierzynski have also stepped into the media world through their own podcasts, shows, and columns.