Rob’s Bio
Simply put, Rob Parker loves sports.
It’s that passion that makes Parker, perhaps, one of the most controversial and hard working sports writers currently on the scene.
Parker — a contributor to WDIV/Local 4 from 1993 to 2016 — has been writing columns for over 25 years and been a mainstay on TV as well, delivering hard-hitting and honest opinions.
On the national online level, Parker is a columnist for www.theshadowleague.com.
Born in New York, Parker graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a B.S. in journalism and Columbia University with a Masters in journalism. He also was accepted and started his Ph.D at New York University.
Parker has worked at a lot of newspapers, including the New Haven Register, The Greenwich Time, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Daily News in New York and Cincinnati Enquirer.
For 16 years, Parker was an award-winning newspaper sports columnist. He was the first black sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press in 1993. He was also the first black sports columnist at Newsday in New York. Parker also worked nine years at The Detroit News.
Baseball is his true love. For two years, he covered the Cincinnati Reds for the Enquirer. Parker has a Baseball Hall of Fame vote.
Parker – the first-ever on-air host hired at WDFN in Detroit –and Mark Wilson also hosted a popular sports-talk radio show, “Parker and The Man’’ for a decade on DFN, WKRK and WCHB. Rob also co-hosted a show on ESPN radio in New York and filled in on ESPN’s national radio network.
Parker finished an eight-year stint with ESPN, both writing for ESPNNY.com and debating sports topics on TV’s “First Take.” After spending more than half a year in 2016 anchoring sports on Action News at 10 on MyTV20, Rob made the move to Los Angeles and took a dream gig at FOX Sports 1. He teams with his old ESPN cohort Skip Bayless and NFL star Shannon Sharpe on “Undisputed.” Rob is also working Saturday’s 1-4 PM eastern on FOX Sports Radio with Mark Willard.
In Detroit, Parker’s TV segment, Clubhouse Confidential, was one of the most popular segments in Motown, giving fans the buzz going on in the sports world. It’s his signature TV piece.
Personally, Parker loves to travel the world. Egypt was his favorite destination. He is also a businessman in Motown. He co-owns barbershop Sporty Cutz and carry-out hot dog spot All-Star Dawgs which offers some of the best franks in the nation. He also penned a book called, “Getting Robbed.” He does it all!
