Scott Van Pelt has shared an incredible insight into his thoughts before going live in front of millions.
The popular broadcaster will call the first two days of The Masters, starting on April 10.
The longtime SportsCenter anchor went on Travis and Jason Kelce‘s ‘New Heights’ podcast to discuss his career, stunning the co-hosts with a moving story about his late father, who passed away in 1988.
Asked how he prepares to go on air, Van Pelt’s response had the brothers moved and fired up in equal measure.
“At some point in the last minute I’m sitting there and I’m getting ready,” the 58-year-old began.
“There will be about a 30-second bit where I get into this zen sort of place where my mind is still, my heart is grateful and I think of my father.
“I think, ‘Let me be calm, let me do my job well, let me speak slowly and clearly.’ I think of him, and I think, ‘Man if my father were here.’
“They say a young man who loses his dad early in life spends the rest of his life trying to make him proud and I know damn sure sitting in that chair that my pops is proud of his boy.
“Then we come on the air and I swear it’s like time stops for five seconds and I’m like, ‘Are we good? Here we go.’ And off you go and you do your job.
“I give myself that very focused attention to that feeling. What you feel in that moment, gratitude just exploding in your soul.
“I don’t mean for it to sound too goofy and heavy but it’s sincere.”
“This is getting me fired up right now, man,” Travis said.
Van Pelt’s voice is synonymous with one of golf’s most illustrious tournaments but he is modest about his contribution.
“I’m here and Jim Nantz is here,” he added. “It’s his show, I’m just here to welcome people on. I don’t do a lot of heavy lifting.”
Fans caught wind of the footage and praised SVP for his openness and eloquence given the difficult subject matter.
“Loved this from SVP. Worth your time,” posted one fan.
“He’s always *so* eloquent,” added a second.
“This was actually one of the best interviews they have done,” a third added.
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ESPN picked up Van Pelt, who also hosts SportsCenter and Monday Night Countdown, from the Golf Channel in 2000.
Nantz says he wants to continue until 2036 and some have suggested Van Pelt as a potential successor but he insists the role isn’t for him.
“I don’t have some burning desire to be the one in the tower on 18 on a Sunday,” Van Pelt told ‘The Varsity podcast.
“Frankly, I wouldn’t want to do it, especially after Jim Nantz, because those footprints are too big.”
In 2019, Van Pelt have an emotional tribute to his father on SportsCenter.
“What I’d give to have just five minutes today to tell him how the story has gone since 1988,” he said. “To introduce him to the grandkids, one of whom is named Sam, after him.
“I’ve always avoided focusing on the day of his passing and I’ve chosen to talk about birthdays instead. To celebrate them, not obsess about the death day, but this year I’m surrounded by it.
“My good friend Jill buried her dad today. She said she wanted to speak at his funeral but wasn’t sure she could do it. I told her to think about love, I told her should and she’d be glad she did. Well, she did and I’m told she was great.
“Tomorrow I head to Maryland to be there for one my boys who just lost his dad. That funeral is Thursday morning, and I realized that I’ve been pretty good at giving advice to those who deal with this specific pain. I tell them when the grief comes not to run from it, not to bury it because it grows and it gets a whole lot heavier to carry around, because it does.
“I encourage my friends to share it, to articulate it, to say it out loud. It’s time to take my own advice. Today isn’t worse than another day, it’s just another day. But to try to swallow it and ignore it today would be a mistake.
“So maybe this is selfish to do it here, but it’s intentional, because we all have our pain to deal with. And maybe it helps somebody else or encourages someone to tell a loved one who’s still here how you feel. Maybe it doesn’t. Either way, I miss you dad today and every day, and I hope you’d be proud of how it all turned out.”
