Kyle Phoenix here, and I want to express my thanks and appreciation over the past four years.
Nearly four years ago, I packed all my belongings and moved from Colorado to Maryland to cover the Baltimore Ravens as a full-time beat reporter. It was not required or requested by SB Nation, nor the Ravens as I joined the team as a freelancer, writing Late for Work. I did so because I wanted to see if I had what it took to work a beat each day and cover an NFL franchise. To make the leap from content creator to sports journalist.
I wanted to be an extension of a passionate fanbase who crave answers from the front office, coaching staff and the players. To question when things were bad and why, and to give recognition when the team was successful.
Over the past four years, coverage from Baltimore Beatdown vastly improved. I delivered content covering the team. My incredible staff did, too. I asked well-crafted questions (most of the time) and did my best to force non-generic answers. And, I discovered a true passion to learn about the human beings under the jerseys and pads, spotlighting those who made sacrifices and endured struggles that led them to being a Raven was a joy.
And I’m disheartened to write I won’t be able to do so in the same capacity anymore. A U-Haul is filled with the few possessions I have left, and I’m heading West, back to Colorado.
For the past year, I’ve been fending off financial challenges. While I covered the Ravens full-time for Baltimore Beatdown, I didn’t accomplish enough to earn a full-time wage or salary. And for the Ravens, I’m just a freelancer, writing one article per week. These two jobs combined weren’t enough to afford rent and the few bills I had.
The month before training camp in 2024, I sold all my furniture and any non-essential possessions to afford rent. I cut back even further, to the point that I wasn’t living.
Skip breakfast, go to the Ravens’ facility, work, go to Costco for a cheap slice of pizza or a $5 rotisserie chicken, go home, write, eat, watch free content online or play games, repeat. Wait for Wednesday, the day the Ravens cater food for the media, have a meal and keep another in my bag for dinner or the next day. On Sundays at home games, I’d eat the catered food for press until my stomach hurt.
And on payday, I’d splurge by buying pizza for the media room because they were what kept me going. The media corps covering the Ravens is incredible. They’re supportive, caring, brilliant and such hard workers.
The sacrifice was worth it. Covering this team was – and is – my dream. But I can’t sign another year-long lease and endure another year of this.
I will still be writing for Baltimore Beatdown. I will still be writing LFW. Or, at least I hope they’ll still have me after this whining and sappy drivel, complaining about my decisions, my actions and my sacrifices they never requested.
But I won’t be doing it from the media room. I won’t be at the press conferences, in the locker room or attending games.
I consider what I’ve done to be a success, though I didn’t achieve my ultimate goal of a full-time role covering the team. Similar to how Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta considers this season a success, though they didn’t accomplish their ultimate goal of a Super Bowl. But just as DeCosta, Head Coach John Harbaugh and the team are disappointed they didn’t achieve the ultimate goal, I am, too.
I wrote compelling copy. I published content that spoke to the fanbase and gave perspective. I challenged when things were going wrong and recognized when they course-corrected. I built and established relationships with media members, staff, coaches and players.
Before I step off this soap box made of the consequences of my own actions, I want to thank all those who supported me. From my friends and family to the members of the media, the Ravens’ staff, and the readers of Baltimore Beatdown. While I won’t be leaving this site – which makes all this seem like a bizarre farewell when I’ll be posting again about this team next week, it’s still a transition from what I’ve delivered over the past four years.
If you have any interest in helping my move back home, here are my accounts you can send to:
$KylePBarber | @KylePBarber