Michelle Smallmon Biography 2026: ESPN Radio Host, Age & Career

Michelle Smallmon is one of the most recognisable voices in American sports radio. As the co-host of ESPN Radio’s flagship weekday morning show Unsportsmanlike with Evan, Canty and Michelle, she reaches millions of listeners across the country every morning alongside former NFL star Chris Canty and radio veteran Evan Cohen.

This Michelle Smallmon biography traces her journey from a news production assistant in St. Louis to a national sports media personality — a story of persistence, versatility and a producer’s mindset, and one that made her a trailblazer for women in sports broadcasting along the way.

Who Is Michelle Smallmon?

Michelle Smallmon is an American sports broadcaster and radio host best known as the co-host of ESPN Radio’s signature morning programme, Unsportsmanlike. Broadcasting live every weekday from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. ET — and simulcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU — the show covers the biggest stories in the NFL, NBA, MLB, college football and more, blending news, interviews, hot takes and listener interaction.

What sets Smallmon apart in the crowded field of sports talk radio is her background. Before she ever sat behind a microphone as a host, she spent years as a producer — the person shaping segments, booking guests and timing content to the second. That producer’s instinct still defines her on-air style: prepared, conversational and refreshingly free of the shouty, hot-take theatrics that dominate much of sports media. She has described herself as naturally reserved, admitting she does not crave the spotlight — yet her authentic, relatable delivery has made her one of the defining voices of the modern ESPN Radio lineup.

Michelle Smallmon Age and Birthday

Michelle Smallmon was born on 13 August 1986, which makes her 40 years old as of 2026 — she turned 40 on 13 August 2026. She is a Leo, one of several high-profile Leos in American sports media.

Her exact date of birth has been widely reported by biography outlets, and the timeline fits: a University of Illinois alumni profile published in November 2024 described her as 38, which lines up precisely with an August 1986 birth year. She has not personally published a birth certificate or confirmed the date in an interview, but no credible source disputes it.

Where Is Michelle Smallmon From?

Michelle Smallmon is from Belleville, Illinois — a city on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, just outside St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in a household where sport was a way of life, shaped by her father’s passion for the game. Family trips to St. Louis Cardinals baseball games were a childhood ritual; in an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat she recalled being taken to Cardinals games as a little kid and even being made to keep score.

That St. Louis sporting culture runs deep in her identity. She grew up cheering for the Cardinals and the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, and those roots explain why so much of her career has orbited her hometown — even as her work now reaches a national audience.

Where Did Michelle Smallmon Go to College?

Michelle Smallmon attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she earned a degree in broadcast journalism in 2008. It was not her original plan: she arrived on campus in 2004 as a pre-med student hoping to become a dermatologist. One freshman chemistry class changed everything.

“I very quickly realised I’m not smart enough or dedicated enough to be a doctor,” she later joked — and chemistry’s loss became sports media’s gain. She pivoted to broadcast journalism and never looked back. During her college years she played on the women’s volleyball team, served as a varsity athlete in high school, and gained hands-on experience with campus media — the combination of sporting discipline and journalistic training that would define her career.

How Michelle Smallmon Got Into Broadcasting

After graduating in 2008, Smallmon started at the very bottom of the media ladder: as a news production assistant at KSDK, the St. Louis television station. The work was unglamorous — behind-the-scenes tasks in a fast-paced newsroom — but it gave her a grounding in live content production and show management that few on-air hosts possess.

Mentors noticed her potential. Sportscasters Frank Cusumano and Rene Knott guided her early steps, and when ESPN Radio arrived in St. Louis, Knott invited her to co-host a weekend show. The programme director was impressed with her on-air instincts and offered her a producer’s job working with local legend Bernie Miklasz. As Smallmon later put it: “The rest is history. I have been in radio since.”

Her Rise at 101 ESPN St. Louis

Smallmon joined 101 ESPN in St. Louis in 2009 as a production assistant and steadily worked her way up — producing and contributing on-air to signature station programmes including The Fast Lane and The Bernie Miklasz Show. Her incisive sports commentary and warm personality made her a natural fit for the microphone.

Her breakthrough came in May 2020, when she teamed up with Randy Karraker to co-host Karraker & Smallmon — becoming the first woman in the station’s history to have her name on a show. The achievement was a landmark for inclusivity in St. Louis sports talk radio, and the morning show ran until September 2022. Along the way she collected local honours including the Riverfront Times’ “Best Sports Personality” (2014) and the St. Louis Media Foundation’s Excellence in Journalism Award for Best Sports Talk Show (2021). A full account of her journey from St. Louis radio production to national sports journalism has been covered in detail by Legit.ng.

She remains one of the most prominent women in national sports radio — VoxScroll has also profiled fellow broadcaster Rosanna Scotto and her decades-long career in New York media: Rosanna Scotto Net Worth 2025: The Inspiring Rise of a Media Powerhouse.

Producer Years at ESPN Radio’s National Network

Before her St. Louis hosting breakthrough, Smallmon had already spent time at the national level. From 2015 to 2019 she worked as a producer at ESPN Radio in Bristol, Connecticut, producing major national shows including Mike & Mike and The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, alongside talent such as Jorge Sedano and Ryen Russillo. She was the voice in the host’s ear — the producer making sure segments landed on time and content stayed sharp.

That behind-the-scenes mastery is what makes her such an effective host today. She understands a radio show from both sides of the glass, and colleagues have noted how seamlessly she moves between segments, interviews and breaking news. Her producer-first path to the microphone has been profiled by Front Office Sports, which named her among its rising stars in sports media.

Unsportsmanlike: Her Current ESPN Radio Show

In 2022, Smallmon made a bold bet on herself. She left her stable, successful local hosting job in St. Louis and moved to New York City to pursue national radio — without a guaranteed hosting job waiting. She worked odd jobs, including shifts at a jewellery store and packing meals, while taking every fill-in and usage contract ESPN Radio offered. Her mantra became “say yes to everything.”

The gamble paid off. As her fill-in contract was expiring, ESPN Radio offered her the co-hosting chair on its new flagship morning show, Unsportsmanlike. She has said she initially thought they were calling to offer her the overnight shift — the jump to the marquee morning slot was that monumental. The show, co-hosted with Evan Cohen and Chris Canty, airs weekdays from 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. ET on ESPN Radio and is simulcast on ESPN2 and ESPNU. You can catch the latest episodes on ESPN’s official PodCenter for the show.

For more on her morning-show partner, read our profile of Evan Cohen, ESPN Radio host and Unsportsmanlike co-host.

What Does Michelle Smallmon Do Beyond the Microphone?

Smallmon’s work extends well beyond the morning show. She has served as an in-game host for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL (now UFL) and contributed video content for St. Louis City SC, the city’s Major League Soccer club. She has hosted podcasts including Soccer 101 and Small Talk, covering sports and pop culture, and she regularly hosts live events — from St. Louis’ signature New Year’s Eve party at Ballpark Village to the USBWA dinner at the Missouri Athletic Club, where she has interviewed top names in college basketball.

Her interview list reads like a sports hall of fame: Tom Brady, LeBron James, Mike Trout and Patrick Mahomes have all sat down with her. She is also active in charity work, including running the New York City Marathon on behalf of the V Foundation for cancer research, and supporting organisations such as the Young Professionals for the St. Louis Zoo and The Little Bit Foundation.

Is Michelle Smallmon Married?

Michelle Smallmon keeps her personal life firmly private. She has not publicly confirmed a husband, partner or any romantic relationship, and no authoritative source reports that she is married. Some secondary biography sites describe her as single, but that is inference from the absence of public information rather than a confirmed fact.

This is a deliberate boundary, not an accident — many sports media personalities separate their professional accomplishments from their private lives, and Smallmon is no exception. Until she chooses to share details herself, her relationship status should be treated as not publicly confirmed.

What Is Michelle Smallmon’s Net Worth?

Here is the honest answer: no authoritative source has reported a verified net worth figure for Michelle Smallmon. Several biography and celebrity-net-worth websites estimate her wealth at between $1 million and $2 million, with some outlets suggesting she earns around $100,000 per year as an ESPN Radio host and producer — but these are unverified estimates, not confirmed facts, and they should not be repeated as though they were.

What is verifiable is that her income comes from her national broadcasting career: co-hosting a flagship ESPN Radio morning show, previous hosting and producing roles in St. Louis and Bristol, in-game hosting, event work and media appearances. VoxScroll does not invent financial figures — and the title of this article makes no promise of one.

What Is Michelle Smallmon’s Height?

Michelle Smallmon has not publicly confirmed her height. Several secondary biography sites report that she stands around 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) tall, but since this comes from unofficial sources and she has never verified it herself, treat it as unconfirmed rather than fact.

Where Does Michelle Smallmon Live Now?

Michelle Smallmon moved from St. Louis to New York City in 2022 when she returned to ESPN Radio’s national network — the city where Unsportsmanlike broadcasts from every weekday morning. The relocation was the defining gamble of her career: she gave up an established local hosting role for a shot at the national stage, and it worked. While she remains deeply connected to St. Louis — her hometown roots, the Cardinals and Blues fandom, and her charity ties there — her professional base is now New York.

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