Gridiron Glory 25: where are they now? Season 19 host – Joseph Payton

Growing up in southeast Ohio, Joseph Payton was familiar with Gridiron Glory before he ever set foot on the Ohio University campus as a student.

“I grew up in Ironton, which is outside of WOUB TV’s viewing area,” said Payton. “But my Uncle Matt coached football at Gallia Academy, and when we went to the games in Gallipolis, we’d go to his house afterward and watch Gridiron.”

Payton wanted to be a sports broadcaster since he was a little kid and knew when he got to Ohio University that he wanted to be involved with Gridiron.

“The first week of classes I went to the Student Involvement Fair and the Gridiron booth was the first one I went to,” said Payton. “I was told they were having a meeting for incoming freshman, and I went to the meeting and immediately started working on Friday nights.”

In the beginning, Payton went to games, jotted down notes for the reporters covering the games and took a few pictures for the Gridiron Instagram account. He also got the opportunity to get a glimpse of a future NFL star.

“The first game I went to was Athens at Meigs during Joe Burrow’s senior year,” said Payton. “That was so cool. And I always think about the fact that Joe didn’t win Gridiron Player of the Year that year. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year, was given the state of Ohio’s Mr. Football Award, and led the Athens team to play in the state championship game. There was no question he was the best player in the state of Ohio. It just didn’t make sense.”

As he progressed in college, Payton got more involved with WOUB. During his sophomore year, Payton became a beat reporter for Gridiron and got involved with WOUB’s high school basketball program Hardwood Heroes. During his junior year, he made his Gridiron on-air debut covering the TVC Hocking. So, by the time his senior year came around, Payton decided to throw his hat in the ring for Gridiron host.

“I honestly did not think I was going to be named the host,” said Payton. “There were so many talented people that were my age. It was exciting and surprising.”

And it was also a lot of responsibility. Payton knew that the role of host was a big one and he wanted to do his best to serve the community and lead the students working on the show.

“I instantly realized there was a big responsibility,” said Payton. “The hosts before me like Nathan Takitch, Justin Holbrock, and Dani Dean critiqued reporters and did everything they could to make the show the best it could be. Dani always made me feel comfortable on the desk with her. She would fist bump you right before you went on and it made you feel confident and like the expert. I saw how hard they all worked and how seriously they took it, and if they were going to pass the baton to me, I couldn’t drop it.”

Payton says he learned a lot during his senior year as host, skills that he took into his career after graduation.  Payton was first hired in Evansville, Indiana at the NBC station as a news multimedia journalist. Then three years later, he was hired as a news and sports reporter at WSAZ TV in Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia. During football season, he covers some of the same high school teams as the students working on Gridiron, and he’s so proud of what the show has become.

“Isn’t it crazy that a bunch of kids started that show 25 seasons ago and it was built into what it is right now? When I explain to people that there is this show that students work on and how important it is to community and how many people watch, they can’t believe it,” said Payton. “Gridiron is a huge deal. You can feel that in the studio and in the newsroom on show night. If you mess up a kid’s name or a coach’s name, you are going to hear about it. It matters to people. 25 seasons is amazing, and it’s a testament to all of the people who have had their hand in it over those 25 seasons.”

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