Erin Byerly ’25 is a sports editor for The Wesleyan Argus. This semester is her sixth as sports editor, her seventh on masthead, and her eighth being involved in The Argus. In her four years, Byerly has revitalized The Argus’ sports section, establishing long-lasting connections with countless athletes and producing one of the most consistent and comprehensive sections of the paper. This semester, Byerly is graduating, so The Argus sat down with her to discuss her career in sports journalism, hot NFL takes, and hopes for the future of The Argus (featuring an interjection from News Editor Spencer Landers ’26).
The Argus: Can you introduce yourself?
Erin Byerly: No.
A: What’s your earliest sports memory?
EB: My dad coaching me in baby softball. I remember I had a pink glove, and I wore jeans to practice.
A: Did it work?
EB: No, I was pretty bad. I never made it past the tee.
A: Did you engage with sports journalism before The Argus?
EB: I followed my high school sports teams a tiny bit. I remember my junior year, the men’s soccer team won Group 1 in New Jersey, which is like the state championship for small schools. And I remember one of the guys on the team got interviewed, and there was a quote, which I’m assuming was incorrect, where he said, “I’ve never been happy in my entire life,” and he presumably meant to say, “I’ve never been happier in my entire life.” So that sticks out.
A: Do you remember seeing your first football game on Andrus Field?
EB: The first game I ever went to watch was the season opener versus Bates my freshman year, and I remember that quite vividly. They were holding up the belt every time they got a turnover, and I didn’t really know what it meant. And I remember [a cornerback] was yelling at someone on the other team, and I didn’t really understand why. I thought it was personal [but] I later realized cornerbacks and wide receivers just do that with each other. And we won, obviously, by a lot.
A: How did you first get involved with The Argus?
EB: I played sports in high school, and I was kind of struggling with the idea of having so much unstructured free time, because I don’t really do well with that. Actually, this is so unrelated, but I remember when I toured Wesleyan, and we went to the info session first, and they made us go around the room and say something that we wanted to do in college. And I said journalism. So that’s kind of prophetic. I never brought that up in another school. But, there was an [Argus] open house, and I remember the sports section was all boys, and I thought that was kind of weird. I liked going to sports games in high school, so I thought that would be a way I could get involved.
A: What was your first article?
EB: It was a co-write with a senior editor about the field hockey team, because that was what I played in high school, so it felt like the right place to start. They gave me zero direction, and he wrote almost the entire article without communicating with me at all. So I kind of just had to figure it out. And then I think my first solo write was another field hockey article, which I just wrote by copying what other people had done in the past, looking at the archives. But I wasn’t really given any guidance or direction. I just hoped I was doing it right, and never got told otherwise, to be honest.
A: What was the most surprisingly enjoyable sport that you covered?
EB: Football. When I was a freshman, I told them I would write about any sport except for football, and my head editor Drew [Kushnir ’22], who I’m still friends with, was like, “Don’t worry, you’ll never have to do that.” I didn’t know what the difference between defensive line and linebackers were. [But] we just didn’t have anyone to do it. So my co-head editor, Cameron [Bonnevie ’23], was like, “Okay, I’ll email the coach and you email all the captains.” I didn’t even think most of them would respond. Obviously, that’s not what happened. But yeah, it’s my favorite sport, so that would be the most surprising one.
A: You brought consistency and culture to the sports section. Where did that come from and why didn’t you settle for a more laid-back coverage?
EB: Before my time, relationships were not always the best between The Argus and some sports teams. So when I was in charge in the fall [of 2022], we wanted to remedy that. We got to a point in that spring where a lot of the coverage was only about professional sports. And I thought it was strange that The Wesleyan Argus wasn’t really writing about Wesleyan sports. So I think it just came from that.
A: Why is what we do important for the community, even for someone who doesn’t follow sports as much?
EB: [About] a quarter of our school is student athletes. And I think it’s kind of weird to ignore them and what they do. I was always someone who did all sorts of different shit in high school: sports, music, and different social clubs and political stuff. I don’t really understand why people would want to close themselves off to a whole segment of campus.
A: When you became the full leader of the sports section, how did it feel to take on that role?
EB: It was really hard, because it didn’t really feel like I had anyone to sort of bounce things off of, except for [arts editor] Sulan [Bailey ’25, who] was in a similar position, where it was her and a couple assistant news editors. I hadn’t fully taught you [assistant sports editors] on how we do interviews and write beats. I tried to instill that our coverage of Wesleyan sports was the priority, which is how I still feel. But it was tough because I had to find the balance between teaching you and also giving you your independence so you could develop as writers. I had to kind of make up the style guide and it was definitely a learning process.
A: In an ideal world, what do sports journalism and coverage do for the sports world?
EB: I’m very against the media personality as entertainment. Just hours of GOAT-debate talk and the arbitrary debate about how many elite quarterbacks there are in the NFL. I find that stuff pointless. What I like in sports journalism is when you actually get to know the athletes and the coaches. I like what Mina Kimes does and what Taylor Rooks does. They’re more interested in getting their subject known, rather than media personalities chasing fame [like] Stephen A. [Smith] going on to air out his beef with LeBron [James]. People are farming for engagement more than trying to reveal interesting information about the actual athletes. I’ve always said it’s more important that you spend your time talking to the players and getting their perspectives on the games than [writing] 1000 words recapping game-by-game from whatever’s in the box score.
A: Okay, time for our quick-fire round. Who are the top five hottest quarterbacks in the NFL?
Spencer Landers: Oh, good question, great question!
EB: Okay, Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen is up there, and then Jayden Daniels.
A: If you could say one thing to Jalen Hurts right now, what would it be?
EB: Why weren’t you at A. J. Brown’s engagement party?
A: Okay, bear with me on this one. If Jalen Hurts could give your first-year self advice about how to be successful and work well on a team, what would it be?
EB: He would definitely say, “Keep the main thing the main thing, never get too high or too low,” which I think is probably good advice as someone who tends to get really low.
A: Would you give yourself the same advice?
EB: No, I think all the stress I put in was probably manifested in pretty fruitful results. Also I think it’s kind of pointless to try to change what you did.
A: Have your interviewing and writing skills from the Argus helped you in other areas?
EB: Being able to ask good questions is a good skill. Even [for] going to office hours. Being able to talk to people more easily. For the most part, when I was a freshman and sophomore, I was so nervous every time I had to [interview] someone new. But I think being able to confidently talk to a new person for the first time is a good skill to have, [as is] being able to write faster when you don’t have time to doubt your writing skills as much. Having more trust and confidence in your ability helps in school and life.
A: What do you hope for the future of Wesleyan athletics?
EB: I want the school to continue to develop [its] sports programs, because over the past decade or so, there’s been a lot of growth for a lot of different programs at this school, like women’s tennis, volleyball, field hockey, women’s lacrosse, [and] football. [There are] a lot of good things that have happened, so I would like to see that development continue. And I don’t think everyone needs to have a national championship within the next five years. But just continuing to make strides and steps, like the football team getting into the [NCAA] Division III playoffs, [is] really exciting and a good step for them. So there’s lots of positive momentum, and I don’t foresee that slowing down. The NESCAC is so competitive [and] seeing more recognition for the programs and what they’ve accomplished is gonna be good, and I guess that will hopefully lead to more rings and chips and ugly wooden statue trophies.
A: Finally, what do you hope for the future of the Argus sports section?
EB: I don’t really think I have anything that I need to teach you guys anymore. I also think I am like a little voice in the back of your heads, telling you that if you don’t try hard enough or do it up to my standard, I would be disappointed with you. And I don’t really think you’d want to say it, but I don’t think you guys want to disappoint me, because I think you guys would be embarrassed if the coverage got worse when I left, because I made so many jokes about how much you’re going to miss me when I’m gone. I’m not excited to leave, but I think I couldn’t really leave it in better hands.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Ethan Lee can be reached at ejlee@wesleyan.edu.
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