Jake McGrady found success as one of the most influential televisions and podcast personalities in Portland. Now, he’s focused on one thing: the music industry.
Jake ‘Mr. Portland’ McGrady had no idea that one day he would have created a career for himself in television, podcasting, and social media. The Portland native graduated from Oregon State University in 2016 with a degree in marketing and broadcasting and he hasn’t slowed down since. In Portland, there is one thing that the city cares about more than just about anything else: the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jake has been able to successfully build a career in media that was fueled by his passion for Rip City through his Mr. Portland personal on social media. His network of followers/fans has watched his career evolve from hosting the ‘Beaver Sports TV Show’ and ‘2nd String Sports’ radio show in college, to hosting an NBA talk show on NBC Sports Northwest.
In 2018, Jake joined the cast of Blazers Outsiders, bringing his NBA Twitter personality onto television screens, covering the Trail Blazers, NBA news, and providing pop culture commentary.
In addition to the TV show, Jake continued to grow in the sports media scene with his ‘2nd String’ podcast. What started as the ‘2nd String Sports’ radio show that Jake founded at Oregon State had now become one of Portland’s #1 podcasts. Initially, the podcast grew as a sports talk show with Portland Trail Blazers commentary which attracted Jake’s Mr. Portland following.
Through the podcast, Jake has found a passion and talent for interviewing. The trio of hosts has gone on to interview the likes of Mike Barrett, Lamar Hurd, Meyers Leonard, Anfernee Simons, and many other athletes, coaches, and sports media personalities.
As the podcast grew a larger fanbase, so did Jake’s vision for himself and the direction of the show. The podcast rebranded from 2nd String Sports to 2nd String Show, ditching ‘sports’ from the name as the trio pivoted towards a broader audience of pop culture and entertainment.
If there is one thing Jake is just as passionate about as he is with the Portland Trail Blazers, it’s music. McGrady has now started to grow his resume on the music scene, interviewing guests on his show such as Grammy Award-winning band Portugal. the Man, Grammy-nominated rapper/singer iLoveMakonnen, and music industry photographer and social media personality Jake Chamseddine.
In 2021, Jake joined the RapTV team as a social strategist and @rap TikTok lead, helping create content for the largest hip-hop community in the world over a network of accounts accumulating 25+ million followers.
2022 is gearing up to be a big year for the media personality as Jake plans to really make a splash in the music industry and mainstream media scene with some new projects that have been in the works. His goal is to launch his own label/management company that offers full-service social media management and content creation for artists in the hip-hop space while he also continues to further his own career in television.
From sports to music. Stay on the lookout for Jake McGrady.
