DJ Sixsmith ’11
Sports Editor
With athletic ability, business acumen and a loving family, it does not get much better than the life of Brian Sikorski.
The former Villanova graduate and NFL quarterback has translated his love of sports into a successful career as the Vice President of business development for ESPN Marketing and Sales.
Sikorski, whose son Jimmy is a Staples senior, joined ESPN back in 2000 when ABC was bought by Disney and merged with ESPN. He quickly realized that he needed to apply the lessons he learned on the gridiron in order to survive in the boardroom.
“My experiences from playing ball are very much what happens in every day life. In the corporate world it is all about your teammates and leadership,” Sikorski said.
While Sikorski has run network sports, orchestrated an $800 million advertising deal, and played in the NFL, the one thing that many don’t know about him is that he helped create the current college football playoff system: Bowl Championship Series (BCS).
The Westport resident hopes that one-day college football will develop a true playoff system as he believes a move would generate enormous revenue and exposure for the sport.
It is experiences like these that make Sikorski love his job so much. Being a sports fan at heart, he thoroughly enjoys and counts himself lucky for the position he holds today.
“I have a job that everybody would love to have… I am able to meet a lot of smart and intelligent people,” Sikorski said.
In addition to this, the New Canaan High School graduate has been able to witness some of the most magical spectacles in all of sports such as the Super Bowl and the National Championship of College Football.
For Sikorski, the best part about life is not his Roladex of contacts, but instead the two boys that await his arrival each night. Sons Jimmy and Joe hold a special place in the ESPN executive’s heart as the times he has spent with them outweigh any multimillion-dollar deal.
“The boys are very different and I am proud of both in their own rights for having been good citizens and respectful of people,” Sikorski said.
