Jeff Kolb

Hi there! Thanks for checking out my bio. I’m really excited to join the FOX4 team and contribute to Free4All and our other sports programs covering one of the best sports markets on the planet!

A few things to know about me...

I was born and raised in Rhode Island which, according to Google, could fit inside the state of Texas 221 times! Rhody is nicknamed the Ocean State and I still love going to the beach as often as possible.

I played college baseball at Emerson College in Boston for four years and was the school’s pitcher of the year as a senior (I still play men’s league baseball to this day).

I am a proud Jew.

I love all Boston sports teams (which is never very popular outside of New England).

I love to eat and to cook.

I have a younger brother, Adam, and parents Ivy and Bill who make up the best family!

My dream growing up was to play shortstop and bat leadoff for the Red Sox. Although that dream didn’t work out, my love for sports led me to this career that I’m really passionate about. 

Like an athlete, this job has taken me all over the country to be a part of different teams. After graduation, I started out in the small town of Chambersburg, PA as a sports writer and video journalist for The Public Opinion newspaper. My most memorable assignment there was not sports related at all. A few weeks into the job I got the call to travel to Newtown, CT to cover the tragic shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary school as a video journalist. I will never forget the sound of the bells tolling in the pouring rain to remember the victims on the one-week anniversary of the shooting. 

From there I got my first break in TV in an even smaller place at WBKB in Alpena, MI. It was one of the five smallest markets in the country (209) and it was freezing (-30 on Christmas with wind chill). I’ll never forget reporting on things like deer hunting. 

From there I moved home to Providence, RI and worked at the powerhouse NBC station, WJAR. I got to cover the New England Patriots during the drama of Deflategate and stunning victory over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX on Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception. I also crossed off a bucket-list item by traveling to Williamsport, PA to cover Rhode Island in the Little League World Series.

Then it was back on the road, this time to Tulsa, OK for my first taste of Big 12 country, working at FOX23.  I was lucky to cover back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners/#1 picks in the NFL Draft with OU quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. I also was able to watch them play in College Football Playoff games at the Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl.

What I love most about this career is finding and telling human interest sports stories that can mean something to anyone. There hasn’t been a story yet that I’ve been afraid to chase after. I’ve been blessed to win some awards for my storytelling. I won an Edward R. Murrow regional award for best sports reporting for my investigative story on how two football teams in Tulsa were using helmet sensor technology to try and make the game safer. I also was awarded an Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters award for best feature reporting for my story on a woman who went out of her way to donate a kidney to prominent college basketball coach and Texan, Billy Gillespie.

I’m so excited for the opportunity to work with Mike Doocy, Sam Gannon and our entire team at FOX4. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter and Facebook at @JeffKolbFox4.