[piano intro] - Hello, I'm Nido Qubein.

Welcome to "Side By Side."

My guest today is an award-winning sports broadcaster who has a story you won't forget.

More than a decade ago, he found out through a checkup that he had prostate cancer.

That cancer would kill him if he didn't have surgery right away.

Today we'll meet Brian Custer, a cancer survivor, and well-known anchor at ESPN.

- [Announcer] Funding for "Side By Side with Nido Qubein" is made possible by... - [Announcer] Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors, locally, thanks to our teammates.

[upbeat music] We are Coca-Cola Consolidating, your local bottler.

- [Announcer] The Budd Group has been serving the southeast for over 60 years.

Specializing in janitorial, landscape, and facility solutions, our trusted staff delivers exceptional customer satisfaction.

Comprehensive facility support with the Budd Group.

- [Announcer] Truist, we're here to help people, communities, and businesses thrive in North Carolina and beyond.

The commitment of our teammates makes the difference every day.

Truist, leaders in banking, unwavering in care.

[gentle upbeat music] - Brian, welcome to "Side By Side."

I've watched you for many years on television on ESPN.

I've heard you call and comment on many football and basketball games, collegiate football and basketball games.

What got you into all this in the first place?

- Always passionate about sports.

As a kid, I loved television.

I used to think I was gonna be in the NBA at one point, and then once I got to college, I realized that's not gonna happen, but love television and I figure why not get paid doing something you love, and that's talking sports.

And that was really the emphasis on why I wanted to do it and I think it's the best job in the world.

- But you didn't start there, you started in a local station.

- Yeah.

- Where were you?

Give us a little overview of where you started, how tough is it, and how did you get the big break?

- Yeah, you know, for me, I started in radio, which I thought was great because it helped me develop my voice.

And I worked overnights.

I started in news radio.

I worked from midnight to 08:00 in the morning and at the top of the hour, I'd come in and do a five-minute newscast.

I got paid $18,000.

That was my first professional job out of college.

- Per year.

- Yes.

No matter what game you're doing, no matter what program you're doing, you always deliver it like it's the Super Bowl because you never know who's watching, you never know who's listening.

And one night, the guy who was the news director of the ABC affiliate in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, got up at 05:00 in the morning, turned on the radio, heard my voice, loved it and said, "I need to find out who this guy is."

And he ended up calling the radio station and asked me if I wanted a job, basically like that, and that's how I got my first TV job.

- Wow.

So, you went to Hampton University.

- [Brian] I did.

- And you majored in what?

- Broadcast journalism.

- Broadcast journalism, so that prepared you well.

- [Brian] Absolutely.

- Hampton's a very fine institution- - Great.

- In Virginia.

And you, in the seventh grade, sixth grade, you were watching television?

- Yeah, my grandmother and my mother raised me in my early years.

She used to watch, you know, people who are young, Google him, Walter Cronkite.

Every night she would watch the news and I'd sit right next to my grandmother and we would watch Walter Cronkite deliver the news.

And so I was always fascinated by television as a kid and I was a guy who used to watch "Nightline" all the time.

- "Nightline"?

- Ted Koppel I thought was so engaging.

- That's 11 o'clock at night.

- Yes.

Friday nights- - You went to sixth grade.

- Friday nights I would watch "Nightline" and Ted Koppel and I thought he was so, I thought his voice was engaging, the way he interviewed people, he made them comfortable.

I love Ted Koppel to this day, but he was one of the main reasons why, and I watched, I said, "I wanna get in television."

- You were living in Columbus, Ohio, at the time?

- [Brian] Yes.

- You were born in Columbus, Ohio.

- Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio.

- Give us an inside look about how does a person like you prepare for a football game, or a basketball game, you pick.

- [Brian] Right.

- But what is the preparation that goes in advance where you get the stats, the names, because when you do it, you're well-known for your clarity and commentary.

I'm interested to know how do you actually prepare for them and how do you not mess up- - It's a lot of work.

- Calling a live game?

- It's a lot of work and you're always gonna have mistakes, but it's a lot of work.

I mean, you start Monday, I mean, every week.

I always say it's almost like you're preparing for an exam every Saturday.

Monday you find out who your game is.

Tuesday you're having a production meeting talking about, "Oh, well, these are maybe the players we're gonna have to highlight and talk about."

I'm on the internet.

I'm reading everything about those teams from their local papers on the internet.

I'm reading everything so that I know everything about those teams.

Wednesdays you usually have a Zoom call with the opposing, the visiting teams' coaches, their head coach, defense coordinators, you're talking to them and finding out everything about who's playing, who's healthy, who's their stars.

And then Friday you fly into that town where you're going, and then you're on campus with the home team, and then you have meetings with their coaches and players.

You have to put together a board that we look at.

- [Nido] What does that mean?

- That board is what we look at.

So when you're calling a game and you say, "Handoff to Dr. Qubein," Dr. Qubein's on my board, and then on that board, I have everything about you.

- The board is a screen?

A sheet of paper?

- Yes, it's a board that you have made.

I have mine made at Kinko's and it's got every player on there.

- I see.

- And your background information.

- I see.

- And so that's how we know.

- You flip pages?

- Yes.

- We never hear you flipping pages.

- You don't, no, you gotta do that, and then you have a spotter.

I have a guy next to me so when you throw that football and my spotter's pointing to whoever it is, and I'm saying, oh, he is throwing it to Dr. Qubein, Qubein that's the junior out of High Point, North Carolina.

- So, you're cheating then?

[Brian laughing] - There're cheat sheets.

- [Nido] That's plagiarism.

- It's cheat sheets on there, and that's how you sound as if you know everything.

- But the spotter, what does the spotter do exactly?

- His job is to point to on that board to who that pass is getting thrown to, who's running the football, so that's how we know- - I see.

- Everything that's going on there.

- Have you ever made a big mistake?

- Sure.

- An embarrassing mistake drive?

- I think, let me tell you something.

First of all, people you love the pageantry of college football.

People are passionate about their teams and they should be.

If you get a name wrong.

If you, let's say, I think one time we were doing Oregon State and they're the Beavers and obviously Oregon are the Ducks, and it was like, "Hey, Oregon State, the Ducks are really," and I was like, "Ooh boy, that's not gonna go well."

And as soon as I said it, I knew I was in trouble.

Man, social media went crazy.

"We're the Beavers, you know, get it right."

Oh my gosh.

- And you've never called them Beaver since.

- [laughing] Exactly.

- That's fascinating.

I'm fascinated by the quickness and the accuracy and the ability to connect the plays in such a way that keeps the viewer really enthralled with what's going on, and we're watching it on a, you know, we used to watch it on a small screen, now we all got these big screens, but we're listening.

I love to listen to commentary because in part I learned from the commentator.

And a lot of the rules change and the commentator will make explanations how that works and so you have to be fluid.

You have to be fluid and flowing and the preparation has to be significant.

- It has to be.

Preparation is the key for success and my whole week is knowing everything about those programs, those kids, because let's be honest, when you're doing a game, it is about promoting the programs, both of them, and those kids.

This is their opportunity to shine and you wanna make sure that you give them their flowers, so to speak.

I do it passionately because for a lot of those kids, this is their Super Bowl on Saturdays and that's why when people always talk about, "Man, you're so enthused when you broadcast and you commentate."

Yeah, you should be.

These kids are playing hard and for the love of the game.

- Which is harder to call, football or basketball?

Football has many more players.

- Many more.

- Yes.

- When I talk about that chart that we have, for football, for a team, you may have 90 something players on your chart.

- [Nido] Yes.

- Basketball's only 10, 12.

You know what I mean?

So it's easier.

- Gonna play, yeah.

- It's so much easier.

- [Nido] You might have a bigger bench, but- - Absolutely.

- The players are gonna kept to a maximum.

- The prep is so much easier.

Football, it is really like an exam every week.

- And you played basketball in college.

- Basketball, yes.

- You know, both football and basketball and all collegiate sports are going through an adjustment period because of NIL.

- Yes.

- And because of the portal.

I don't wanna put you on the spot, but I'd love to hear your opinion about what is happening, and more importantly, is it damaging collegiate sports?

- I think everything has to change and evolve and I think that's what you're seeing in college sports.

NIL for those people who don't know now that these students, they get paid for their name, image and likeness.

I think it's good for them.

It's like a job for a lot of these major programs.

The kids spend a lot more time in the football/basketball program than unfortunately they do in the classroom sometimes.

I think they need to be compensated for that.

I think the amount of money now that they're giving is maybe getting a little bit out of control because of the way that the system- - What's the highest number you've heard?

- Well, I mean they're, you know, you're quarterback, let's say- - Two million?

- You're quarterback at Ohio State, yeah, absolutely, you're gonna be over a million dollars, definitely.

1.5, depending on the program.

So, you know, I would like it more distributed equally among some of those people.

I think it is good.

The portal is probably the problem thing.

Listen, I think it's great that these coaches change jobs every year.

Why can't the kids do it?

I think that the danger comes when other colleges now start to poach other programs and say, "Well, how much are you getting?

Is this program paying you 200,000?"

- [Nido] That's exactly what's happening.

- We will pay you 450,000 to come to ours.

- The bigger schools are hurting mid-majors, let's say.

- Yes, absolutely.

- Yeah.

- I think that's where the problem comes.

We'd like to see some changes there.

- Is it hurting the response from the fan base at all, as you can see?

- I think the general fan doesn't really care 'cause they're just passionate about their team.

Those who are really into it, yes, I think that that's what gives them their angst when they see that that player that they love, "Hey, we recruited this kid and all of a sudden he played one year for us.

Now he's at Alabama the next year."

Because they've given him so much more money.

- You know, we talk about sports, we can talk all night about sports with you.

You certainly know the field quite well from both sides, playing and now reporting and commenting on it at a high level nationally and internationally.

I wanna talk about something personal that you have been through that to an extent changed your life, perhaps an unusual way for the better, and that is that at age 41, something happened to you.

- I did, you know, I've always been a healthy guy.

Probably one of the very few in my family who goes and gets a medical checkup every year.

I always tell men, "You need to get checked every year."

And went there and just so happened that at that time my doctor, I had a regular checkup and he said, "You know, now that you're 40, you should get a PSA test for prostate cancer."

I said, "What is that?"

And he said, "Well, you know, prostate cancer is something that is on the rise among men among color."

And so he said, "Hey, look, it's just a simple blood test, also, we'll have to do a simple digital rectal exam," where he puts the finger, obviously, goes up there.

And I said, "Whoa, doc."

And he said, "Ah, you know, don't worry, it's gonna be simple."

He did it.

He said, "Let me, you know, take me a couple days to get the results back.

If your number comes back a four or higher, then we need to talk.

If not, you know, you're okay."

Came back at 5.4, which was really high.

- On the first time that you've done the exam.

- The first time, and it was really high.

- What were you doing at the time?

What were you working then?

What was your job?

- At time, I was a sports anchor at a regional network in New York City.

And, man, shocked.

- Shocked, scared.

- A little bit because, and I tried to justify it because, you know, again, they always say if it's over four, four or higher, you got problems.

But he had told me before, like, he had guys who had like pumped out a 10, 12 and they were okay, so I said, "5.4, that's not so high."

And you know, he had to go back, I had to get it done again.

It was still that number and that's when he said, "Well, you know, we gotta do probably a biopsy and find out what's going on."

Had the biopsy done and they took 12 specimens and seven of the 12 were cancerous, like aggressive.

- Wow.

- Very aggressive.

It was so aggressive that the doc looked at me and he said, "If I don't get you in surgery now, you got problems."

And I told him, I said, "Doc, I've been physical and I've been active"- - [Nido] And I got a game coming up.

- Yeah, I got this and that, and I said, "I've never really had surgery before in my life.

I've always," and I said, "Well, can we try something else?"

He said, "Sure, we can."

He said, "But I'll be honest with you, Brian, if it doesn't work, you'd probably be dead within a year."

And you could have knocked me over with a feather.

- That's why they have to catch it very early.

- You gotta catch it early.

You have to.

- How did that affect your life?

How did that affect your work?

- Well, you know, I have three- - And why are you so open about it now?

- Well, because first of all, I have three boys and I can, you know, doctor, I can only tell you, when someone tells you you have cancer and it's not messing around, man, that was life-changing.

And, you know, all I thought about at the time were my boys.

Will I see them become men?

Will I see them graduate?

Will I see them go to college?

You know, at the time they were 10, nine and four and I was scared and even telling them, and I remember telling them and I remember my 10-year-old looked at me and he said, "Will you die?"

And my 4-year-old- - [Nido] You said, "Will you die?"

- Will you die?

And my 4-year-old came and just hugged me and I just, I lost it.

- Just heart-wrenching.

- It was, and at that point I said, "Okay, I gotta fight."

And I was like, "Okay, this will not take me down."

And I just remember my doctor telling me, "Look, we're gonna get you in surgery.

I'm gonna save you.

You're gonna be great, but I need something from you."

And I said, "What is that?"

And he said, "I need you to use your platform to tell men of color they need to get checked for prostate cancer and get regular checkups."

And I told him, I said, "Man, I'm not telling nobody I have this."

You know, I'm 41.

All I heard at that point, once I started doing research, was incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

I was like, "I don't want anybody to know I may have this."

And he said- - It's a man's man right there.

- Yeah, exactly, and that's how we are.

And I remember doctor looking at me, he said, "So you mean to tell me I'm gonna save your life, I'm gonna make you healthy and you're not gonna help anyone else?

That's what I need from you."

And at that point on, I went home, I prayed about it and I said, "He was right.

I need to do this."

And so that's why I've always been very outspoken about it.

Every time I go to the doctor, I make sure I post it on social media.

I tell men to do it.

And the number of, I haven't, half the men I haven't even met who have contacted me and said, 'I went and got checked.

I had this, I found out I had cancer, da da da, but I wouldn't have known had I not read your story or had not seen your posts."

So gratifying to me because it is really raging among young men now, prostate cancer.

Used to think that it's like an old man's disease, but it's not anymore.

And men of color, we are now what, three times as more likely to get prostate cancer, twice as likely to die from it, so it's so important that we get checked.

- And how are you doing now?

- Feel great.

I feel great.

Used to be, I used to have checkups every three months.

Spread that out now to every six months.

And, you know, knock on the wood, every time I've gone, numbers have been really low and everything's been good and life is good, man.

At that time, like I said, my kids were, my boys were 10, nine, four, and now they're in college.

Hey, I got one here at at High Point and so I'm happy, I'm very happy.

- What do you want 'em to do in life?

- I want 'em to be productive young men.

I always tell them all the time.

- They're gonna follow in your footsteps?

- I would love for them to be, to do so, but no, I think one's gonna be an engineer, which is great.

I think the other one's gonna be into sports marketing.

He's majoring in marketing here.

And I think the youngest one will probably follow in my footsteps.

I think I may have a sports broadcaster out of one of 'em, but as long as they're productive young men in society, I'm a happy man.

- Realistically speaking, how tough is it for someone to get at the level of ESPN and be a commentator on college football and basketball at a high level?

That's gotta be tough.

I mean, the entry point to that cannot be very easy.

- It's competitive.

It's probably one of the most competitive fields out there.

And even when you look at the broadcasting scene now, I mean, a lot of the networks are cutting back, so you have to bring your A game every day.

You have to endear yourself and your talent and really just be your true basic self.

You can't fake it, because I think if you're your true authentic self, you will connect with the audience and you'll be an asset to that network and I think that's the way I view it.

Obviously, it's worked for me.

I love working at ESPN, but it's very competitive.

It is probably one of the most competitive cutthroat businesses that you can get in, but I love it.

- How does a commentator stays up with all the NCAA rules changes, which are often frequent?

- Again, a lot of work.

But the great thing is that our network provides us with seminars before the season.

So before the college football season, we had a seminar with the head of our officiating and he talked about, "Hey, these are the new rules this year."

Before basketball season, we do the same thing with the head officiating for college basketball, and even for the NBA, we do the same seminar.

You attend those because the one thing, as you talked about, broadcasting these games, if you don't know the rules, you get exposed.

And you have to educate people.

You're not only entertaining people when you present this game, but you gotta educate people as well, and so you have to stay abreast of- - And for millions of people watching you, somebody there does know the rules and will call you on it.

- Oh, absolutely.

- Yes.

- Especially now with social media.

They have direct access to you and everything else, so yeah, they will let you know.

- So one of my dear friends over time, he's an older gentleman now, was the gentleman, his name is Jim Tunney, he was referee number, NFL referee number 32.

The only one in history who's done three Super Bowls in a row and they changed the rules on that.

And what's fascinating about Jim is, let's say Super Bowl, for example, now we're talking about professional, but Super Bowl, we would be together at a conference somewhere and he's gonna go watch the ball game.

He wanted to watch it alone, nobody with him.

And he said, "Because he can really concentrate, see what's going on and learn from it."

If their buddy's sitting there chitchatting, he can't concentrate.

How do you watch other games?

- Yeah, sometimes, you know, I used to do this when I was younger.

Because I knew I wanted to do this as a profession, when I was in college, I used to watch games with the sound down with a tape recorder and I would record myself calling the game.

- [Nido] Wow.

- Just to practice and to see how good I was.

- That's good.

- I would critique my own self.

- Yeah.

- But now, when I watch games now, I watch it just like any other fan.

And there's part of it, now, some of it, I may look at and say, "Oh, why did they cut to that shot?

That was ridiculous.

What did he say?

Oh my gosh, please read the," you know, so I'm a little more critical.

- Yes.

- I'm looking more at the production side than the actual game.

- Which is harder, play by play or color content thing?

- Yeah, I think play by play, without question.

- Nerveracking.

- Play by play because you gotta know a little bit about, hey, the analyst, he can just look and say, "Hey, this, he did there, he missed a block here, blah, blah."

But the play by play, you gotta describe everything that's going on.

You've gotta make, like you say, you gotta know the rules, you gotta know a lot of things here, and you gotta bring in the analyst, make sure you set him up well, or her up well, so there's a lot of things that you're doing.

You got the producer in your ears saying, "Okay, as soon as you say this, we're going to go to something, a promo that you need to read."

So you got so many things going on as a play by play.

- What do you do after a game?

You go.

- I go have a beverage.

[both laughing] - Preferably one that sort of soothes your nerves.

- Yes, exactly.

But there's a lot of people who, they're up, they're amped after a game 'cause you've put so much energy in it.

I'm a little different.

It's almost like I've been up like this for three hours or four hours for a game.

I usually go back to my hotel room and I decompress.

I just kind of wind down because my body needs that.

I've been at 110 for about four hours.

I need to bring it down.

- Typically, you do one game a week or more?

- Yeah, one game.

Basketball's different.

- Yes.

- Basketball's different.

You may do three.

You may do three games a week, but football one game a week.

- Yeah, that's what I meant, but sometimes they overlap.

You don't do exhibition games and so on.

- No, so, you know, for me, once I would say October/November hits, I'm doing football, I may have a college basketball, and I may have an NBA game all in the same week.

- Wow, that's a lot, yeah.

Brian, your story is very inspiring and your career has been very rewarding.

We honor you for all the good you've done on camera and beyond.

Thank you for being with you on "Side By Side."

It's been a pleasure.

[gentle upbeat music] - [Announcer] Funding for "Side By Side with Nido Qubein" is made possible by... - [Announcer] Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors, locally, thanks to our teammates.

We are Coca-Cola Consolidated, your local bottler.

- [Announcer] The Budd Group has been serving the southeast for over 60 years.

Specializing in janitorial, landscape, and facility solutions, our trusted staff delivers exceptional customer satisfaction.

Comprehensive facility support with the Budd Group.

- [Announcer] Truist, we're here to help people, communities, and businesses thrive in North Carolina and beyond.

The commitment of our teammates makes the difference every day.

Truist, leaders in banking, unwavering in care.