February 10, 2023 | SPORTS | By Olivia Xerras
In 2023, podcasting is more intrinsic to American culture and lifestyle than ever before. During the pandemic, there was limited ability to physically have meetings and conversations with others. Podcasting fills this void and has allowed instant direct conversation in an entertaining format.
Jackson Safon has capitalized on this and, while doing so, has made quite a recognizable name for himself. As a freelance associate podcast producer working alongside some of the biggest names in professional sports, Safon has slowly but surely joined a network of sports geniuses.
His world revolves around the production of “The Draymond Green Show”, a podcast that explores NBA knowledge, current league drama, and expectations within professional basketball. “The Draymond Green Show” regularly brings on knowledgeable guests guided by questions from Green’s point of view.
He’s also involved with “Jenkins & Jonez”, a podcast focusing on Twitter drama and banter with an NBA flare. Safon also works on “R2C2”, a podcast that touches on MLB knowledge as well as NFL and NBA updates, as well as “Youth Inc.”, a podcast hosted by former Panthers tight end, Greg Olsen (a father himself) about how he navigates the world of youth sports with help from legacy families, coaches, and psychologists.
Safon’s audio, film, cutting, editing and overall coordination of these projects makes his day-to-day routine seemingly impossible to fathom for most, yet he manages to become more creative by the episode. Safon says, “It’s a world that’s not for everyone. There’s an inherent sort of looseness of it and lack of consistent job security is like a challenge that some people don’t want to face, which is totally understandable.”
“The Draymond Green Show” takes up most of his time, but even before his successful career in podcast freelancing took off, Safon’s path to success was all planned out after graduating from the University of Southern California.
Safon explains that after his junior year summer internship at ESPN, pasting together highlights for in-season sports, he dove right into another sports media company where he could put his innovative mind to the test titled The Ringer. He says that during his time at The Ringer, “There was no getting my foot wet, I was just in the pool. All of the sudden, I was just like meeting all these [famous] people.”
It was during this opportunity that Safon was able to grow his skillset and build a network to incorporate into his current work.
The point of diversity was brought up later in our conversation. Safon had a wide variety of voices across these successful projects, many of which were led by a racially diverse group of hosts.. On the potential need for a WNBA or female NCAA Division I basketball player to be a voice for “The Draymond Green Show”, Safron’s response was, “Definitely…almost all of our guests have been NBA players with a few exceptions to that…It’s definitely a priority.”
Hearing Safon’s response, there is certainly hope that a female voice, Paige Bueckers or Caitlin Clark for example, will appear on the podcast in the near future.
Jackson Safon has quickly become a producer to watch out for as a standout in his field of sports podcasting. Safon has proved that he has obtained a diverse set of skills from a broad range of experiences, and nothing seems to stop his creative potential.