It wasn’t long after Tom Tolbert signed off on KNBR-680 last Nov. 14 that Daniel Ogden was surprised to see his former coworker’s number pop up on his cell phone.
Ogden heard about layoffs at the self-styled “Sports Leader” which also included Tolbert, host John Lund and others in a cost-cutting move. Ogden had worked at KNBR as a producer before being let go in 2021 and was working in Las Vegas at a beverage distribution company.
“He said, ‘My last show was tonight. If I want to get back on and we can do something on YouTube or whatever, can you help me?’” Ogden said.
Ogden said yes, beginning a process which gave birth to “The Tom Tolbert Show,” with one of the most visible sports personalities in the Bay Area debuting a podcast Wednesday on YouTube and other digital platforms.
It will include many of Tolbert’s favorite guests from his 28 years at KNBR, where he worked with several cohosts starting with the late Ralph Barbieri from 1996 through 2012. He went at it alone for a 90-minute stream of consciousness on his first podcast unless you count an appearance by “Lulu,” who goes by “Lu” (or Lucifer or Lunatic) and is a 9-year-old hyperactive bug-eyed Boston Terrier.
Ever the fashion plate, Tolbert, 59, wore a ballcap advertising one of his favorite beers and a white T-shirt.
“It’s hard for me to critique my own shows because I’m in the middle of doing it,” Tolbert said in a phone interview a short time after the first livestream. “I want to tighten stuff up a bit but I also understand it’s kind of who I am and I tend to digress and go off on tangents, so that’s going to happen from time to time. But yeah, it was fun.”
A chat component for interacting with the audience is still being ironed out, as are videos and graphics. The plan is for three podcasts per week with the capability of taking the show on the road to brewpubs and the like with a live audience.
The first show opened at 36 live viewers and had reached more than 6,000 by its conclusion. And Tolbert will never see it for critique and review.
“Hell no. Not a chance I watch it,” Tolbert said. “I don’t watch myself, don’t listen to myself. Once I’ve said it, I can’t change it anyway so I just move on.”
By the second show, which had former 49ers tight end Brent Jones as his guest, Tolbert, this time in another ballcap and a black T-shirt, was enjoying one of his favorite pale ales on camera as the two talked.
Tolbert’s self-deprecating nature, insistence on taking few things seriously and conversational style endeared him to listeners as well as guests at KNBR. Many of the guests, including former 49ers quarterback Steve Young, Warriors coach Steve Kerr, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, Giants announcer Dave Flemming and others are expected to join him on the podcast.
Kerr is a friend since their days together at the University of Arizona in the mid-to-late 1980s. Always referred to by Tolbert on the first reference as “Steven Douglas Kerr,” the Warriors coach laughed through the pain when one of his best friends did his last radio show.
Kerr mostly adhered to Tolbert’s request to stray from being overly sentimental, although he said, “I’m just crushed. I’m really bummed.”
Shanahan said, “You’re the one guy I can have a conversation with and not feel like it’s an interview.”
Young and Tolbert have met only twice in person, building a relationship through radio interviews, texts and phone conversations over the last two decades.
“Wherever you show up, just know I’ll be next to you,” Young said.
Tolbert’s first show came from the guest bedroom in his East Bay home, assisted by Ogden on audio and Max Schmeling, a local content producer who is handling the video.
“There was a couple of times he kind of looked over and I’m saying, ‘Tom, you’ve got to look at the camera,’” Ogden said. “But he wanted to see whether I was laughing or not. But it’s Tom — you put something in front of him where he can talk and be himself and have fun, and everyone’s going to have fun with him.”
Which to Tolbert, is the entire point. From 1989 through 1995, Tolbert played eight seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, Warriors, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers and gained a reputation for being a go-to interview subject for reporters and radio hosts, including appearances on The Jim Rome Show.
He’s the same guy who during a team distance run at Arizona, hid in a fountain unbeknownst to coach Lute Olson and his staff, emerged soaking wet, and got back into the run. Tolbert received “atta-boys” because coaches thought he was drenched in sweat. Teammates thought it was hilarious.
When Tolbert needed emergency surgery for a life-threatening aortic aneurysm in 2017, he was back on the air within two weeks and joked about how a serious health issue would positively affect his weight.
The podcast format gives Tolbert a more freewheeling forum than radio. Tolbert has no trace of bitterness from how it ended with KNBR, but conceded he felt restricted with the subject matter.
During his first podcast, Tolbert spent more than 20 minutes talking about hockey and the USA-Canada matches in the 4 Nations Face-Off as juxtaposed with the All-Star formats of other sports.
“That’s part of the freedom I think will be fun,” Tolbert said. “KNBR got to the point the last couple of years where it was ultra-local. Niners, Giants, Warriors. Repeat. And that was kind of it.”
Not that Tolbert on occasion didn’t color outside the lines at KNBR. His favorite topics with Young included Christmas decorations and the best Halloween candy. Tolbert and co-host Ray Ratto once broke down 1970s and 1980s afternoon game shows in detail, with frightening specifics of the hosts, guests and formats.
“He and Ray once talked about badminton for three hours and got the best ratings on the station,” Ogden said. “One of my favorite shows was ‘cereal day.’ I think he talked about cereal for 2 1/2 hours and every guest was asked their favorite cereal.”
Ridiculous? For most hosts, yes. For Tolbert, who has a gift for natural observational humor, it works.
Tolbert is prone to, as he puts it, “making left turns” and there will be plenty of good-natured nonsense. He’ll invite some of his best friends who aren’t sports celebrities on occasion.
“Grab a beer, come hang out, we’ll talk sports for an hour, an hour and a half,” Tolbert said.
The local teams will be covered by Tolbert and his guests but there will be plenty of time for gambling, craft beer, food and anything else that happens to pop into his head.
Two subjects are off limits — the NFL scouting combine and the whole concept of in-season “power rankings” in any sport. He made that promise on the first show, even sprinkling in a few profanities about how much he detests both topics. That’s another part of the podcast freedom, although Tolbert used only a few choice words in his debut.
“This is going to be like natural conversation,” Tolbert said. “If I curse, I curse. Will I do it more the more comfortable I get? Probably. Do I want to turn it into cursing every other sentence? No. If you curse every sentence it kind of loses its punch when you’re trying to hammer home a point.”
Keeping it light will always be a priority.
“It’s not about the grind, or ‘How do I grow this and make as much money as possible?’” Tolbert said. “This is ‘How do I have fun?’ And from there, we’ll figure out the money aspect of it.”