Guest Speaker Series: Tim Schlittner

September 20th, the Newhouse Sports Media Center was joined by Tim Schlittner, a director for the National Football League’s (NFL) Communications Department and Syracuse Alumni (’03). Kay Racine, a graduate student studying BDJ, was our host for the day.

Kay Racine (Host, Graduate Student – BDJ) with Tim Schlittner (Director of Communications, NFL). Photo credit: Samantha Barlow.

To open the conversation, Schlittner discussed his thoughts on Syracuse and snippets from his time here. He recalls the draw he had to the university almost instantly, a feeling that was only further emphasized the very first time he laid eyes on the Carrier Dome (now JMA Wireless).

As he walked through campus this afternoon he thought to himself, “I could do this again, now. This is great. My time at Syracuse was so great.”

One of his favorite memories from his time at the university was attending every football and basketball game. Prior to working at the NFL, he considered sports to be his “unpaid passion” in life, and to this day, it is a central element of who he is as a person.

He credits much of his personal growth and success to the influence of John Nicholson, whom he had as a professor while at Newhouse. Nicholson was the founder and director of the Newhouse Sports Media Center until his retirement in 2017, and his legacy within Newhouse and the university as a whole cannot be understated. Schlittner recounts the time he spent in Nicholson’s office hours every Friday and continuously expressed the gratitude he has for the professor emeritus.

When Schlittner first arrived at Newhouse he was pursuing a degree in BDJ but quickly realized writing was his strongest skill. After a semester taking a television class, he recalls Professor Michael Cremedas saying, “Tim, you went from rough to damn decent.”

“That’s why I’m now in PR,” Tim said.

However, getting to where he is now was no easy feat. He recalls a period in his career when he felt lost and in need of guidance. A friend close to him advised him to write down his three dream jobs, to which he listed the NFL, the NBA, and Whitehouse speechwriter. He told the students, “I made that list of dream jobs… the next morning, I open my email and there is a listing for Director of Communications at the NFL”.

Students listen intently as Tim Schlittner shares his insights. Photo credits: Samantha Barlow.

As a leader in the industry, Schlittner had some incredible insights to offer the students in attendance. He emphasized the importance of learning to take a pause and the value of embracing chill. Looking into the crowd of students he noted, “what’s going to make you stand out is not the stuff on paper”, and told them to embrace the things they were passionate about and to specialize in those things.

Throughout his conversation with the students, one theme was the most clear, and it came from one of his first messages to the group: “I let go of who I thought I needed to be and leaned into who I was”. Overall, he highlighted the importance of honoring the truest version of yourself and using what makes you unique to create a life you love to live.