John Telich: This is your life

Avisit to the Fox 8 News building for John Telich ’75 these days kind of feels like an episode of the old TV show “This is Your Life.”

The Ashland University alumnus retired a little more than a year ago after more than 40 years as an on-air sports personality for the Cleveland news station.

While he still helps during its Friday Night Touchdown segments, employees at the station miss seeing him regularly and want to know what’s going on in his life when he does make an appearance.

“John Telich just walked into the studio and I got very excited. We love him,” Natalie Herbick said at the end of the Feb. 28 episode of “New Day Cleveland.”

“He is one of the kindest, most caring human beings you will ever meet. He’s such a kind soul. I have admired him the whole time I have been here.”

Herbick returned to co-host the noon show that day after being off for a few weeks following a diagnosis of breast cancer that required surgery. Because it was caught early, her prognosis is very good. Telich wanted to find out how she was doing. His concern didn’t surprise her.

Natalie Herbick, Fox 8 News Anchor and Host of “New Day Cleveland”

“He is one of the kindest, most caring human beings you will ever meet,” she said with a big smile. “He’s such a kind soul. I have admired him the whole time I have been here.”

Herbick said Telich warmly welcomed her to FOX 8 when she arrived from Pittsburgh about a decade ago and really helped her get to know co-workers, the station’s legacy and northeast Ohio.

“You look better than ever,” Gabe Spiegel said to Telich shortly before anchoring the noon news. “You look rested, you look younger – you look happy.

“Can you give us some of that magic?” Spiegel then asked as he and his co-anchor, Stefani Schaefer, caught up with Telich.

“The stress is gone,” said Telich, who often did sports reports at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m.

He’s now doing weekly podcasts, “Telich Talks,” in which he sometimes discusses sports, but they are mostly talks with people who have overcome tough times or have unique stories to share. Some of his episodes have featured local media personalities.

Before Telich left the building, he stopped in the newsroom to catch up with a number of FOX 8 employees, including one of the newer reporters, Brad Hamilton.

“The other day I got to anchor sports for the first time and I thought of you right away,” Hamilton said to Telich. “I thought, ‘J.T. would be proud.’”

Hamilton, a news reporter who does some sports, is one of many people in the business Telich has mentored over the years.

“I used to watch J.T. and all of them do Friday Night Touchdown,” said Hamilton, the son of Guardians play-by-play radio announcer Tom Hamilton. “That’s how I got my start in the business. I used to do the score bugs and was one of his interns.”

That mentoring hasn’t stopped with retirement.

“I probably have seven to 10 young people I am mentoring,” Telich said. “They will call and send me their latest story and I will give them feedback because I always wanted that when I was younger.

“It’s always been about paying it forward for me,” he added.

Ashland University, which was known as Ashland College when he attended in the early 1970s, provided him with several mentors, including the late Larry Hiner, who helped start the TV/radio program at the college.

Telich, who had always wanted to get into sports broadcasting, said he chose Ashland because it was a small school with a young radio/TV department that he had heard was good and would allow him a lot of hands-on experience.

From Ashland, Telich went on to work in sports at TV stations in South Dakota, Iowa and Buffalo, N.Y., before returning “home.” Telich grew up in Euclid.

He’s also covered some of Cleveland’s biggest sports moments –the Cavaliers winning the NBA championship in 2016, three of the Guardians’ World Series appearances (1995, 1997 and 2016 when they were the Indians) and pitcher Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981.

“It’s great to see you,” news reporter and weekend anchor Jennifer Jordan said as she ran out of the newsroom to give Telich a big hug as he walked by in the hall shortly after he arrived. “How is The Bride?”

The Bride is the nickname Telich affectionately calls his wife of 46 years, Jane Telich ‘76.

“Without her I would probably be living in a van down by the river,” Telich said with a laugh. Then in a serious tone added: “We’ve been blessed.”

They have three adult children, two who still live in northeast Ohio and the third in California working for an independent film company.

The Bride also retired, having done so when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Her career was in teaching dance aerobics and Pilates.

“Are you still running a thousand miles a week?” David Moss asked Telich after wrapping up that day’s “New Day Cleveland” with coanchor Herbick.

Before spending time in his home office planning his podcasts, which he actually started in 2019 before he retired, Telich runs most mornings with his 10-year-old English springer spaniel or goes to the gym, sometimes followed by a coffee shop stop.

Knowing he needed to stop smoking, Telich said the day after he graduated from Ashland he put away the cigarettes for good and started running – first about a half mile, then eventually 5Ks and 10Ks. He’s also competed in marathons, triathlons and ultramarathons, as well as 50-mile and 100-mile races.

It wasn’t only on-air personalities who Telich joked with, reminisced with and hugged. He also talked with, laughed with and shook the hands of those who work behind the scenes during his visit.

“TV news really is the ultimate team game,” Telich said.

His co-workers have been like family to him over the years, said Telich, and the best part is he’s always welcomed back.

“My (building entry card) still works so I can still get in the building,” he said with a smile, and then with a slight pause added: “That’s always a good thing.”

Jarred Opatz Content Writer