Jay Roberson

Jay Roberson

James Earnest "Jay" Roberson, Jr (born c. 1972 in Birmingham) is the assistant athletic director at Samford University and represents Birmingham City Council District 7 in the Birmingham City Council.

Roberson graduated from Homewood High School in 1990, quarterbacking the Patriots to the 5A State Championship game against Mobile County's Blount High School, although Homewood lost. He accepted a scholarship to Middle Tennessee State University, but transferred to Alabama A&M in 1992. He quarterbacked the Bulldogs for three years and was twice named to the All-SIAC team. He graduated in 1995 with a bachelor of arts and science in communications.

In 1996 Roberson returned to Homewood as a football and basketball assistant coach. He also pursued work in communications, producing and hosting a collage football magazine show and working as a color analyst for Fox Sports Network and Collegiate Sports Southeast. He has also participated in NBC 13's "Monday Morning Sports Buzz" and hosted Pat Sullivan's Coach's show for Samford University.

In 1999 Roberson was hired as an event director for the Bruno Event Team and Alabama Sports Foundation, helping organize SWAC Championship Games, Magic City Classics, SEC Baseball Tournaments, and Southeastern Conference gymnastics championships. He left in 2002 to form his own sports management and marketing firm, Top Ten Management. The same year he was named an assistant commissioner of the Southwest Athletic Conference, overseeing television, sponsorships and marketing. He helped negotiate a contract with ESPN to broadcast the SWAC football and basketball championship games nationally. He left to become associate director of athletics for Samford University and helped bring that school's first nationally-televised football game to ESPN in 2005.

In the 2009 Birmingham City Council election, Roberson defeated six other candidates to assume the District 7 seat left vacant by the death of Miriam Witherspoon. The council seated him as Witherspoon's successor on October 13, shortly after the runoff.

Roberson has been active in community development projects, as well, helping found M-Set, Inc. and participating in the Birmingham Agenda Group for the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is on the executive board of the PapaJohns.com Bowl, and he boards of the Central Alabama Youth Foundation, the Learning For Life Board for the Boy Scouts of American and the Civil Square Foundation Board. He and his wife, Niva have three children. They attend 6th Avenue Baptist Church.

References

• "Birmingham City Council District 7" (June 11, 2009) Birmingham Times
• "Birmingham City Council District 7: Jay Roberson" (August 21, 2009) Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. and Anne Ruisi (October 7) "Birmingham City Council President Carole Smitherman defeats challenger Sheila Tyson." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (October 8) "Birmingham City Councilman-elect Jay Roberson may take District 7 seat." Birmingham News

External links

• Jay Roberson campaign on Facebook.com