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Boylan\u2019s passion for the world of sports dates back to his early childhood. He was heavily influenced by his father\u2019s love for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. It was the Devils\u2019 television broadcaster, Michael \u201cDoc\u201d Emrick, who made an impression on Boylan at a young age, setting him along the trajectory to his current occupation in the industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen it comes to commentating, I always knew that was something I wanted to do, from the time that I was seven or eight years old. After hearing Emrick, and hearing how excited he made games, I knew I wanted to be that, I knew I wanted to provide that for somebody else,\u201d Boylan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By his junior year at Flowery Branch High School in Georgia, Boylan was commentating football games at his school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCommentary just kind of came as second nature. I knew I wanted to be involved in sports,\u201d Boylan said. \u201cI think that\u2019s one thing that kids forget now. Everybody wants to be the next superstar like Patrick Mahomes or Stephen Curry. And they have to realize that while doesn\u2019t happen to everybody, there are plenty of ways to stay involved in sports in other careers. Whether that be photography, videography, broadcasting. I knew I wanted to stay involved, and I was fortunate enough to have a talent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the summer preceding his freshman year at Gardner-Webb, Boylan was contacted by Ryan Bridges, a Director of Sports Information for multiple sports at the university. He was offered a position on the commentary team, and began broadcasting soccer games for the Big South Network within his first week at GWU. Boylan also partnered with Gardner-Webb\u2019s online streaming radio service, WGWG, from 2014-2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBrendan was a freshman at the time, and he wanted to do sports commentary on broadcasts,\u201d said Jeff Powell, radio station manager for WGWG. \u201cHe was already working with sports information here at Gardner-Webb, and some of the football, basketball, and baseball games were being streamed on WGWG.org, so he just wanted to be a part of it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Powell also mentioned his appreciation for Brendan\u2019s work ethic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was pretty impressed early on with his prep work. He would spend more time getting studying and researching for the game than it would take to broadcast the game itself,\u201d Powell said. \u201cHis willingness, even as a freshman, to jump right into three-hour football broadcasts was quite impressive. Even with some technical difficulties, he would solider right on through it with a great attitude.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following years at Gardner-Webb brought Boylan a great deal of valuable experience, calling games for various sports and developing enriching professional and personal relationships with others in the broadcasting realm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a sophomore at GWU, Boylan found a position with the Saints News Network, an online publication covering the New Orleans Saints. Boylan continued to refine his skills and abilities as a broadcaster, co-hosting a podcast called \u201cD\u2019Professor Speaks\u201d with the late Derek Stephens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 2019 NFL season, Saints News Network became officially affiliated with Sports Illustrated<\/em>. Boylan has written weekly articles for Saints News for the past year, as well as additional podcast duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo be able to have my name tied with Sports Illustrated<\/em> at such a young age \u2013 words can\u2019t describe that feeling,\u201d Boylan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The extraordinary events that have transpired across the world in 2020 have made their impact in a variety of circumstances, and Boylan\u2019s life is no different. His entire daily outlook and perspective has evolved. He began to re-evaluate the influence that he might be able to have on the world around him with his talents. This is where the idea of Bottom of the Mug Productions was conceived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m more than just a broadcaster. I\u2019m more than just the dude behind the microphone. I can have my hand in a lot. And not just be successful, but make a difference in somebody\u2019s life. I want to change people\u2019s lives or save people\u2019s lives with my work. And this gives me an opportunity to do that beyond work,\u201d Boylan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On Oct. 16, 2020, Bottom of the Mug Productions saw the release of its first feature-length documentary, \u201cThe Dancin\u2019 Bulldogs: A 16 Seed\u2019s Journey to the NCAA Tournament.\u201d This documentary tells the story of the 2018-2019 Gardner-Webb University Men\u2019s Basketball team, which reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. Boylan worked on the project as associate producer. The documentary was helmed by Christian Jessup, as director, editor and composer. Thomas Manning contributed as executive producer and first assistant director, along with Eli Hardin as co-writer and second assistant director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis gave me a chance to get back into filmmaking, which is something I previously did in high school, writing and directing documentaries for various contests,\u201d Boylan said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely excited for the next chapter for this production company.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Boylan also preached the importance of connecting with one\u2019s audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen it comes to things you are interested in, there\u2019s always going to be someone else interested in the same thing. There is always going to be an audience. So, find it,\u201d Boylan said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Boylan is uncertain as to what his future holds, he looks forward to each new challenge on the horizon. Boylan is carving out a path that is wholly his own, which is sure to bring more excitement and intrigue. He aims to live by the words of NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who breaks every huddle with the simple phrase, \u201cBe you.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Thomas Manning\u00a0 \u201cWho you are and what you do are two completely different things. We are not our jobs. Our jobs are not us.\u201d At 24 years of age, Gardner-Webb University alum and New […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[981],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alumni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}