Owl on the Air 

For Breland Moore, KLN ’14, coming back to Philly to be a sports anchor is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. “I set a really lofty goal, and it was very secret, and I only told one person. I said, ‘How cool would it be if I could be back in Philly by the time I’m 30? That’ll never happen, but how cool would that be?’” 

She shoots, she scores

The road back to Philly has been paved with hard work, of course. After graduating from Temple, Moore worked for Service Electric Cable in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for two years and then for WHEC in Rochester, New York, and KCTV in Kansas City, Missouri. Her work in Rochester led to her being nominated for an Emmy for The Bills are Back, a special about a Buffalo Bills playoff game in 2017. 

The thing she enjoys most about being a sports anchor is that no two days are the same. It’s also important to her to represent Black women and mixed-race women in sports media. While spending time with some Temple professors recently, she found herself asking, “Has there ever been a Black woman that has done sports in this market as an anchor? ‘We’re not sure,’ they answered. We think the answer is not up until me, and that shouldn’t be the case in 2021.”

The ball’s in her court

Being the animating force inside Hooter the Owl was a privilege in its own right, but her time as Temple’s wise mascot was beneficial in ways she couldn’t have expected. “I never thought being an owl dancing in an owl suit would open so many doors, but it really did and those are the things that are going to stick with me forever,” she said. 

Having been interested in a career in sports anchoring since childhood, Moore made the most of her time as Hooter. She relished opportunities to work with ESPN for a commercial and to fly all over the country for various tournaments and bowls. “Just being around those crowds and being in those high-energy environments, that was the coolest thing,” she said.
 

Slam dunk 

Moore attributes her success to her involvement in all of the opportunities available to students, both on Temple’s campus and throughout the city. In addition to being Hooter, she worked with Owl Sports Update, served as the athletic department liaison for the Office of Sustainability, completed an internship with the Philadelphia Flyers and made connections with faculty members that she still maintains.

Her advice for students is to get involved: “Take advantage of everything, no matter what college you go to. You only get out of an institution what you put into it. I put everything into it and I got everything out of it that I wanted. But you have to put that work in in order for it to be successful.”