Radio/TV

At 14, this kid can trump even the pros

Grant Paulsen, an accredited member of the Baltimore media, drops stats without pause and impresses players with his questions.

By JOHN C. COTEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 24, 2003

SAN DIEGO -- This is old hat for Grant Paulsen.

He's an accredited member of the Baltimore media and has covered Redskins football, Orioles baseball and Wizards basketball, he hosts his own weekly two-hour national radio show on XM Satellite Radio, he's done HBO's Real Sports, appeared on David Letterman, was a member of the WUSA TV9 Sports Eyewitness News Team and covered the 1999 NFC playoff game in Tampa between the Bucs and the Redskins, written for Sports Illustrated for Kids and was featured in a segment on NFL Film's Under the Helmet.

The Super Bowl?

No problem.

Even if he is 14 years old.

A ninth-grader from King George, Va., Paulsen is living the dream of youngsters across the country, and will step onto the biggest stage of his life when he appears on Sunday's Super Bowl broadcast on ABC.

Paulsen has been filming a behind the scenes look at Super Bowl week for a segment, and will also do a piece on video game battles between NFL players.

"This has been a wild ride," said Paulsen, who covered last year's Super Bowl for Letterman. "I think come Sunday, it's going to be an electrifying atmosphere."

Being in the middle of it doesn't faze Paulsen, who hasn't been shy about throwing questions out. He looked at ease interviewing broadcasting legend Chris Berman at a news conference Tuesday, even ad-libbing retorts to a couple of Berman's jokes, impressing the six-time national sportscaster of the year.

"I met him yesterday, I saw him interview Jerry Rice, and Jerry said, "Man, you've done your homework,"' Berman said. "It's fun. There will be a lot of kids watching, wishing they could be him."

"I followed him around for a little bit and he asked better questions than some of us in the professional football media were asking," Mike Tirico said. "As someone who wanted to be a sportscaster since he was 10 or 11, I see the same passion in him that I had to do this."

Paulsen got his start at a family picnic. His uncle, Scott Paulsen, a radio broadcaster, was talking to him about the Steelers and Grant started dropping stats on him about the team's failures in preseason games against Washington, even remembering a score from two years past.

Scott Paulsen called him on it, and promised him a gig calling football games on his radio show if his nephew was right.

He was.

Shortly after, Paulsen started writing, and then the television appearances began. He even has a talent agency.

When he calls for his interview, he is ready with his best television voice.

Jerry Rice?: "Jerry Rice, look at him, he's 40 years old and he caught 92 passes for 1,211 yards this season. I mean, the guy is astonishing. He's doing things at the age of 40 that guys who are 35 can't do in this league."

The Raiders?: "The Raiders have the experience with guys like Bill Romanowski and Jerry Rice. They have a lot of that leadership that the Bucs don't have. It's just something Tampa Bay lacks."

The game?: "I like the Tampa Bay Bucs in one of best games of all time, as far as Super Bowls go."

The outcome?: "I think we'll see a sluggish start and the offenses will eventually settle down and I think the game will be decided by a long scoring drive right at the end or a Martin Gramatica field goal. If it comes down to a Gramatica field goal, then Tampa Bay will be in great shape to win the game."