Michelle Smallmon spends her weekday mornings talking sports with millions of listeners as co-host of ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike. Her path there was anything but a straight line.
She grew up near St. Louis, planned to become a dermatologist, and started in radio as a behind-the-scenes producer. She later moved to New York with no job lined up.
This Michelle Smallmon biography covers her age, education, career timeline, relationship status, and what is actually known about her income. Where details are unconfirmed, the article says so instead of guessing.
Key Takeaways
• Michelle Smallmon co-hosts ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike with Evan Cohen and Chris Canty, weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. ET.
• She is a Belleville, Illinois native with a broadcast journalism degree from the University of Illinois.
• Her exact birth date is not confirmed by any reliable source. Reports point to 1986, which would make her about 40.
• She has not publicly discussed a husband or partner, and no reliable outlet reports one.
• No reputable source has published a verified net worth, and ESPN does not disclose her salary.
Michelle Smallmon Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Name | Michelle Smallmon |
| Profession | Sports radio host and producer |
| Current role | Co-host of Unsportsmanlike on ESPN Radio |
| Co-hosts | Evan Cohen and Chris Canty |
| Show schedule | Weekdays, 6–10 a.m. ET |
| Nationality | American |
| Hometown | Belleville, Illinois |
| Birth year | Reportedly 1986 (exact date unconfirmed) |
| Education | University of Illinois, broadcast journalism |
| Marital status | Not publicly discussed |
| Net worth | No verified figure (see the net worth section below) |
Who Is Michelle Smallmon?
Michelle Smallmon is an American sports radio host, and since 2023 she has been one of the three voices on ESPN Radio’s flagship morning program. The show’s mix is deliberately loose: Evan Cohen is a longtime radio veteran, Chris Canty is a former NFL defensive tackle, and Smallmon comes from the production side of the business.
That production background is what sets her apart. She spent years building and running shows for other people before she ever hosted one full time. In St. Louis, she became the first woman to have her name on a show in the history of 101 ESPN, when Karraker & Smallmon launched in 2020.
Radio hosts tend to be big personalities. Smallmon has described herself as someone who doesn’t crave the spotlight, and she says she still gets surprised when strangers recognize her. That combination of quiet temperament and national visibility is a big part of her appeal.
Michelle Smallmon’s Age and Birthday
ESPN’s official bio does not list her birth date, and none of the major profiles I found (ESPN, Front Office Sports, Barrett Media) give one. The only exact date circulating online is August 13, 1986, and it comes from a low-quality celebrity-facts site with no cited source. Treat it as unconfirmed.
The wider timeline points the same way, though. Her school milestones can be used as a rough age check:
| Milestone | Year | What it implies |
| Senior year at Althoff High School | 2004 | Born around 1985–1986 |
| Freshman chemistry at Illinois | 2004 | Consistent with a fall 2004 college start |
| Broadcast journalism degree | 2008 | Consistent with a standard four-year path |
Working forward from those dates, she would be about 40 as of September 2026. Some sites give figures a couple of years lower, but a 2004 high school graduation makes that unlikely.
Early Life in Belleville and Family Background
Smallmon is from Belleville, Illinois, a city just across the river from St. Louis. That location shaped her: she grew up a Cardinals fan, and she has said baseball is her favorite sport because of how much it ties into daily life in St. Louis.
In a 2021 interview with Town & Style, she said she missed Cardinals games badly during her time at ESPN’s headquarters in Connecticut. She also noted that people in St. Louis tend to ask about her co-workers rather than quiz her on sports, which she reads as a sign of how close local media and fans are.
On family, the most solid detail she has shared publicly involves her grandmother, who was from Cremona, Italy. The family still makes her lasagna every Christmas. Smallmon learned it around age 19, when her grandmother taught her and her cousins and let them finally write it down. Websites that list her parents’ names do so without reliable sourcing, so this article leaves them out.
Michelle Smallmon’s Education
Her education follows the same “not the original plan” pattern as the rest of her career.
Althoff High School
Smallmon attended Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, where she was a soccer standout. Legit.ng reports that she played varsity as a freshman and was a co-captain in her senior year, 2004. Both details come from that single source, so they read as reported rather than confirmed.
University of Illinois: From Pre-Med Plans to Broadcasting
She enrolled at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign intending to become a dermatologist. A freshman chemistry course in 2004 changed her mind quickly. She has said she realized she was neither smart enough nor dedicated enough for medicine.
She switched to broadcast journalism and adopted a simple rule: apply for every internship her adviser heard about. That approach landed her work on Monday Night Football, with Illini Productions, and at KSDK in St. Louis. At KSDK she made a habit of spending afternoons in the sports office, and sports director Frank Cusumano and anchor Rene Knott became her mentors. She graduated in 2008.
One detail is disputed. Legit.ng says she played women’s volleyball at Illinois, but the University of Illinois profile mentions only her high school soccer career, and I couldn’t corroborate a college sport. I’ve omitted it.
Michelle Smallmon’s Career Timeline
Smallmon’s career runs on two tracks that keep crossing: the local station in St. Louis and ESPN’s national network. The table shows the order, and the sections after it fill in the story. The dates come from ESPN’s official bio and Front Office Sports.
| Period | Role | Where |
| 2008–2009 | Early production work | KSDK, St. Louis |
| 2009–2015 | Producer and on-air host | 101 ESPN, St. Louis |
| 2015 onward | Producer | ESPN Radio (national) |
| 2018 | Returns as morning-drive host | 101 ESPN, St. Louis |
| May 2020–Sept 2022 | Co-host, Karraker & Smallmon | 101 ESPN, St. Louis |
| 2022 | Returns to national ESPN Radio as host | ESPN Radio |
| 2023–present | Co-host, Unsportsmanlike | ESPN Radio |
Some websites place her time at 101 ESPN in “2015 to 2019.” That is wrong. ESPN’s own bio puts her first stint there at 2009–2015, and her return in 2018.
From KSDK to 101 ESPN (2009–2015)
Her first professional step was production work at KSDK, the St. Louis TV station where she had interned. She moved into radio in 2009, when ESPN Radio arrived in St. Louis as 101 ESPN.
The station’s first offer was a weekend show, where she co-hosted a three-hour broadcast. The program director heard her and asked whether she would produce for St. Louis sports-media veteran Bernie Miklasz. She said yes, and that decision effectively locked in a radio career. She has said being on air was never the goal, only something she was willing to try when asked.
Over her first four years there she produced and appeared on several of the station’s signature shows, including The Bernie Miklasz Show. She has said she was the only female producer at 101 ESPN for a long stretch, with no obvious person to ask for guidance.
Producing at ESPN Radio (2015 onward)
In 2015 she traded her mixed producer-and-host role in St. Louis for a producer job on the national network. Her work at ESPN’s Bristol, Connecticut, headquarters put her alongside Jorge Sedano, Jen Lada, Danny Kanell, Ryen Russillo and Will Cain.
She has called Russillo & Kanell her favorite job outside her current one, mostly because of the football and basketball tours that took the show into major college sports venues. In the same interview, she credited two female supervisors, Amanda Gifford and Louise Cornetta, as mentors. She also described a small network of women in the industry who actively support one another.
Home Again: Karraker & Smallmon (2018–2022)
In 2018 she came back to St. Louis as a morning-drive host and worked with Bernie Miklasz. She was later paired with Randy Karraker, and the result was Karraker & Smallmon, which ran on 101 ESPN from May 2020 to September 2022. She became the first woman to have her name on a show in the station’s history.
By her own account, this was the best professional stretch she had had. She said the ratings and revenue were strong, and she was in her home market near family and friends.
Battlehawks, St. Louis City SC and Live Events
Her work in St. Louis reached well beyond the radio booth. According to her ESPN bio, she:
• served as the in-game host for the St. Louis Battlehawks, the city’s XFL team;
• did extensive video work with St. Louis City SC, the MLS club;
• hosted St. Louis’s New Year’s Eve party at Ballpark Village;
• interviewed top names in college basketball at the USBWA dinner at the Missouri Athletic Club.
Her local bio also lists the Soccer 101 and Small Talk podcasts among her hosting credits.
The New York Bet: How Michelle Smallmon Landed a National Morning Show
This is the part of her story competitor pages skip. According to a 2025 Front Office Sports profile, she left a secure, high-rated job in her hometown for a risk with no guarantee.
She has said the pandemic changed her outlook. Something felt missing, and she decided that if she wanted to try living in a big city, the time was now. She talked it over with the 101 ESPN program director, Tommy Mattern, who told her to go. He said the station would still use her as a fill-in, and that she could come back if it didn’t work out.
She gave herself a year. Her arrangement with ESPN Radio was a “usage deal” of 30 shows, meaning dates when she would fill in. She also filled in at 101 ESPN and on SiriusXM. To cover rent in New York, she worked at a jewelry store, packed meals, and picked up other small jobs.
As the usage deal neared its end, ESPN Radio boss Justin Craig offered her a role in morning drive. She assumed he meant the overnight SportsCenter All Night slot, the lead-in to the morning show, because the real offer was such a big leap. It was the network’s main morning show instead.
One caution on dates: sources differ on exact months. ESPN’s bio says she returned to the national network in 2022, and ESPN Radio announced the new morning lineup in August 2023. This article uses those two anchors and avoids inventing a more precise timeline.
Unsportsmanlike: The Show, Her Co-Hosts and the Schedule
Unsportsmanlike with Evan, Canty and Michelle airs weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. ET on ESPN Radio. That is 5 to 9 a.m. Central, which is how some Midwest affiliates list it. It’s also available as a daily podcast.
It replaced Keyshawn, JWill and Max. Barrett Media noted that the launch made it the network’s fourth morning show in six years since Mike & Mike ended, which gives a sense of how much pressure a morning slot carries.
The three hosts come from different corners of the business:
• Evan Cohen is a radio veteran of more than 20 years who previously hosted the SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio morning show and rejoined ESPN in 2023.
• Chris Canty is a Super Bowl-winning defensive tackle who played 11 NFL seasons for the Ravens, Giants and Cowboys, and has been with ESPN Radio since 2021.
• Michelle Smallmon is the producer-turned-host who knows how a show is built from the inside.
The show covers trending topics across the NFL, NBA and MLB, and mixes in recurring bits such as “Who Said It” and Canty’s Best Bet. Her production background makes the three-person format work. In Front Office Sports’ telling, she is the more reserved of the group, and that gives the show some balance.
Is Michelle Smallmon Married? Husband and Relationship Status
Short answer: Michelle Smallmon has not publicly discussed a husband, fiancé or partner, and no reliable outlet reports one.
Plenty of low-authority sites state flatly that she is “single” or “not married.” Those claims lack a source. Absence of public information means she hasn’t shared it, and it does not confirm her status either way. Her ESPN bio, her interviews, and the major profiles I reviewed are all about her work, so there is nothing credible to add.
Why does the question keep trending? There are three likely reasons. People feel they know radio hosts because they listen every morning, and they naturally get curious. Female broadcasters also get asked about their personal lives far more than male colleagues do. Smallmon touched on this in her Town & Style interview, where she said the same topic draws very different reactions online depending on whether she or her male co-host brings it up.
A useful test for any relationship claim about a public figure is whether it traces back to the person herself or to credible reporting. Search-page snippets and social-media guesses don’t count. By that test, the honest answer to a “Michelle Smallmon husband” search is that nothing has been confirmed, and nothing has been announced.
Michelle Smallmon’s Net Worth and Salary
Short answer: No reputable source has published a verified net worth for Michelle Smallmon, and ESPN does not disclose what it pays her. Any specific dollar figure is a rough guess.
Reported Net Worth Estimates
Only two estimates turned up in my research. Neither cites a method, and both come from celebrity-facts sites, not from financial outlets like Forbes or Celebrity Net Worth.
| Source | Reported net worth | Date |
| PeopleCabal | $1 million to $2 million | April 2026 |
| celebrityinfohub.com | $1.5 million to $2.5 million | March 2026 |
The two ranges overlap around $1.5 to $2 million, but agreement between two unsourced estimates is not confirmation. Treat any figure as an estimate from public sources, not an audited number. It can also be out of date by the time you read this.
What Is Actually Known About Her Income
Here is what can be said without guessing:
• She is a full-time host on ESPN’s flagship radio morning show, which is a national network role.
• Her earlier career included producer and host work at 101 ESPN, national producer work at ESPN Radio, and paid live-event hosting in St. Louis.
• She has said that during her first year in New York, she worked odd jobs to cover living costs. That shows her income was not always a sure thing, and it fits a career built through steady promotion instead of a single big contract.
• No endorsements, business ventures or real estate holdings have been credibly reported, so there is no honest way to break the estimate into components.
A quick way to judge any net worth claim: ask whether it names its sources, whether it separates salary from assets, and whether it shows a date. Most pages about Smallmon fail all three.
Life Outside the Studio
Most of what she has shared about her personal tastes comes from a 2021 Town & Style interview. It is several years old, so her preferences may have shifted.
• Food and drink: She named seafood pasta and Caprese salad as her restaurant go-tos. Her stress-relief drink is red wine, and her social drink is an Aperol spritz. Her local St. Louis restaurant picks included Louie, Olive + Oak, Pizzeria da Gloria and Balkan Treat Box.
• Style: She likes dressing up, said she was done with sweatpants after the pandemic, and would not be caught in Crocs. She’d like to see heeled slide-on clogs come back.
• Travel: She prefers the beach to the mountains. She said she’d return to Italy anytime, and she named Argentina as the place she most wants to visit.
• Sports: Baseball is her favorite, tied to growing up a Cardinals fan.
Michelle Smallmon’s Social Media and Public Presence
Smallmon posts on X under the handle @msmallmon. Her posts are mostly about her shows and sports, and that low-key approach matches how she describes herself in interviews.
Her posts do get picked up by sports media. In July 2025, The Spun (syndicated on Yahoo Sports) ran a short piece on her vacation photos, which is a typical example of how a post travels beyond its original audience. I found no reliable follower counts, so this article doesn’t quote one.
FAQ’s
Who is Michelle Smallmon?
Michelle Smallmon is an American sports radio host who co-hosts ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike with Evan Cohen and Chris Canty. She started as a producer in St. Louis and later hosted her own morning show there.
How old is Michelle Smallmon?
ESPN does not publish her birth date. Reports point to 1986, and her school timeline (high school class of 2004, college degree in 2008) fits that, which would make her about 40 in 2026. Treat the exact date as unconfirmed.
Is Michelle Smallmon married?
She has not publicly discussed a husband, fiancé or partner, and no reliable outlet reports one. Sites that call her “single” are guessing.
What is Michelle Smallmon’s net worth?
There is no verified figure. Two low-authority sites estimate roughly $1 million to $2.5 million, but neither shows a method, and ESPN does not disclose her salary.
Where did Michelle Smallmon go to college?
She earned a broadcast journalism degree in 2008 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She originally planned to become a dermatologist but changed direction after a freshman chemistry course.
What time does Unsportsmanlike air?
It airs weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. ET on ESPN Radio. Some affiliates list it as 5 to 9 a.m. Central, and it is available as a daily podcast.
What happened to Karraker & Smallmon?
The show ran on 101 ESPN in St. Louis from May 2020 to September 2022. Smallmon then moved to New York and returned to national ESPN Radio, where she now co-hosts Unsportsmanlike.
Is Michelle Smallmon from St. Louis?
She is a Belleville, Illinois native, which sits just across the river from St. Louis. She has built much of her career in the St. Louis market.
Who does Michelle Smallmon co-host with?
She co-hosts with Evan Cohen, a longtime radio host, and Chris Canty, a former NFL defensive tackle. Before this show, she co-hosted with Randy Karraker in St. Louis.
Conclusion
Michelle Smallmon’s story is less about sudden fame and more about steady, deliberate moves. She dropped a medical plan after one chemistry class, worked her way up as a producer, and gave up a top-rated local job for a year of uncertainty in New York. Her path from Belleville to a national morning show is well documented, while her exact age, income and relationship status are not, and this article has kept those unconfirmed. Anyone searching for a Michelle Smallmon biography can rely on her ESPN dates and career milestones, and should be cautious with any site that offers a birth date, a net worth or a husband’s name without a source.
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