by Roscoe Nance
Special to boxtorow.com
Howard University alumnus Bruce Speight returned to the place where he launched his professional career when he joined the Carolina Panthers this season as manager of social engagement and alumni affairs this season.
Speight is in a different role than he was during his previous 12-year stint with the Panthers. He was a communications assistant in their public relations department prior to becoming director of public relations for the New York Jets in 2007. He says while the titles may be different, much of what he does in his current position is not unlike the duties he performed in his first tour of duty with the Panthers.
“Even though my title is manager of social engagement and alumni affairs, it does have some similarities in that I support the communications department and community relations department,’’ Speight says. “One of my primary areas of emphasis is on the social justice area in terms of identifying issues players are passionate about and then identifying organizations in the community they can partner with and help the community. It’s similar in the sense that I do have a lot of interaction with the players. It’s different in that it’s my first time focusing on social responsibility and social justice.”
Speight says the transition from public relations to what he does now has gone fairly smoothly with minimal challenging situations.
“It’s the challenge of mastering something and learning something different,” he says. “In other ways is kind of easy.”
His history with the Panthers and having numerous familiar faces who are still with the team before he left for the Jets helps to ease the transition.
Social Action: ‘Lord, Use Me as You See Fit’
One of those familiar faces is defensive end Julius Peppers, who like Speight returned to the Panthers after a hiatus. Peppers, the Panthers’ first-round pick and the second player chosen in the 2002 NFL Draft, spent seven seasons with the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers before signing with Carolina in 2017.
This is the first season of an agreement between NFL owners and players that calls for owners to match dollar for dollar up to $250,000 funds that players raise for social action programs. Speight and Peppers started a hurricane relief fund in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, which ravaged the Carolinas in September. They went Robeson County in North Carolina and Marlboro County in South Carolina — “two underserved counties that don’t get attention when disaster strikes” Speight said — and assisted victims.
“We were able to meet people who had been impacted and use money to help them,” Speight says. “Anytime you get a chance to make a difference in those people’s lives. Some of them knew football; some of them didn’t know football. But on that day when Julius visited them, they knew somebody cared. That again was very fulfilling. Oftentimes you help but you feel like you haven’t done enough and you want to do more, and you’re always thinking about how you can do more.”
Peppers and wide receiver Chris Manhertz also promoted voter registration prior to the November midterm elections and early voting process.
Speight says he derives a different kind of job satisfaction in his current role than he did while working in public relations.
“I’ve always been somebody who enjoyed helping people,” he says, “being on the ground and developing relationships in the community, understanding what the issues are and being able to help and make a difference in people’s lives. You meet people from all walks of life. I’ve met people who have been incarcerated and who are now forming foundations and organization that help people who were also incarcerated. I use this prayer all the time: ‘Lord use me as you see fit and help me be discerning and help me to help You use me as a tool to do good for others.’ It’s been very fulfilling.”
Howard Roots: Learning Under Legendary Hill
Speight’s career goal when he arrived at Howard was to become a sports broadcaster. He interned with legendary Washington, D. C., sportscaster Glen Harris – another Howard alum – at WHUR, Howard’s radio station. He also had an internship at the Washington Post, where he worked on the paper’s high school desk and with the Washington Redskins in their public relations department.
But it was the time he spent as a student worker in the Howard Sports Information Office under MEAC Hall of Fame SID Ed Hill that laid the foundation for a successful career in public relations. Hill ran a two-man shop with Jessie Batten as his assistant. Batten left to become sports information director at Coppin State about the time Speight became a student-worker for Hill, and Speight basically filled Batten’s role.
“Mr. Hill didn’t have the same size staff as other departments,” Speight says. “It afforded students an opportunity to do more like write media guide bios. It enabled you to refine your fundamentals in terms of attention to detail, your writing style, making sure of your subject-verb agreement, proofing the bios to make sure all the information was accurate. That set a foundation for me when I went to the Washington Post and we had to do those similar things in terms of attention to detail and copy editing.”
NY State of Mind: Adjusting to the Big Apple
Hill’s tutelage helped Speight stand out in the public relations arena as he became well-respected in the field. Speight cut his teeth in public relations with the Panthers after Charlie Dayton hired him in 1995, their first year of competition, and he grew up with the franchise. The things that he learned and the opportunities he experienced prepared him to take on the challenges that come with working in a media market the size of New York.
“It’s just like in sports,” Speight says, explaining how was able to navigate his way in arguably the nation’s toughest media market. “Even though the market may be bigger, you rely on fundamentals – attention to details, your ability to get along with people, your ability to get along with people with a variety of personalities. You’re dealing with the owner, head coach, the general manager. You’re dealing with veteran players; you’re dealing with younger players. Seeing and observing Mr. Hill deal with all those people – and also Charlie Dayton with the Panthers deal with all those people even dating back to the Redskins – those things give you a foundation. Your environment may change but your foundation and your fundamentals stay the same.’’
“The difference is you’re dealing with a larger volume of people,” he continued. “People in that market and that part of the country are a little bit more direct and the impact of having tabloid newspapers – the New York Daily News and the New York Post — isn’t in smaller markets. Both markets are competitive. Because there are more outlets in New York, the competition among reporters to break stories for the shear volume and for their coverage to stand out from the other media outlets elevates the level of competition amongst the writers.”
Speight’s ability to handle the New York media was tested mightily when the Jets traded for Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre during training camp in 2008.
“You’re in the middle of training camp and you add a player of that magnitude to your roster, that’s an experience,” Speight says.
In 2012 the Jets signed quarterback Tim Tebow, a former Heisman Trophy winner and one of the most popular football players in the country on any level.
“You add a player of his stature probably at the height of his popularity in the NFL,” Speight says. “They’re not challenges. I look at them as unique experiences.”
Speight says the highlight of his time in New York came in 2009 and 2010 when the Jets reached the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons by upsetting the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots, respectively. He says those seasons were also his lowest points because the Jets failed to close the deal and advance to the Super Bowl each time.
Speight says working with Rex Ryan, the brash, talkative former Jets coach is another fond memory from his time in New York. But now that he is back with the Panthers, there is little time for reminiscing about the good old days in New York.
“I felt like the time with the Jets had run its course,” he says. “I look at jobs as mission trips. You go there and serve as long as the Lord deems necessary. My prayer wasn’t to come back to Carolina. My prayer was to go wherever the Lord directed me and my family so that we could do good for Him. I’ve always loved this part of the country. I still have a lot of friends here. This has been fun for me.’’
Note: This is the third in a series on HBCU graduates who run PR for pro sports teams. Our last piece was on Redskins vice president for public relations Tony Wyllie and our first piece was on Cavs PR man BJ Evans.