COURTESY OF AJVITTONE.NET
UHa alumnus A.J. Vittone (right) is featured in a new commerical for Beats Headphones that will be broadcast during the Super Bowl.

By Karissa Marcano
Staff Writer

A good amount of media attention recently focused around Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman’s comments towards opponents and teammates.

Sherman was recently under fire for taunting opponents and teammates during and after games, for which he received a fine from the NFL and significant media attention.

The attention on Sherman also brought alumnus A.J. Vittone some of his own attention as well.

Vittone graduated from Hartford in 1994 with a B.A. in Communication and was a co-founder of STN channel 2 news.

After Vittone graduated Hartford he went on to pursue his career and is now a broadcast television industry veteran with twenty years of on-air experience.

His experience along with Sherman’s comments landed him in a commercial for Beats by Dre headphones.

The commercial is a part of the well-known “Hear What You Want” campaign that stars pro athletes wearing Beats by Dre in attempt to ignore undesirable situations they happen to be included in such as negative fan reactions.

Vittone plays one of the sports reporter asking Sherman questions in a post-game interview. His line had to do with Sherman’s trash talking being a distraction to his teammates.

Sherman responds by saying it does not distract, it motivates.

The commercial was first aired during the NFC championship game between the Seahawks and the 49ers on Sunday, Jan 19.

It is expected to air during the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 2.

Vittone found the role rather easy, having spent the past twenty years on television as a sports reporter and broadcaster.

Vittone explained that it was not acting and he has been grilling and battering pro athletes with questions for years, so he felt just right during the shoot.

Vittone has interviewed some of the most popular names in sports entertainment, some of which include Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Jeff Gordon, Sylvester Stallone, Derek Jeter, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and many more.

Eventually he was able to earn the nickname “Sportscaster to the stars.”

During the course of his career he has covered many national events such as the MLB World Series, the NBA Playoffs, the NCAA March Madness Men’s Basketball Tournament, NASCAR Winston Cup Racing, World Championship Boxing and more.

To find out more about AJ Vittone or to check out his latest updates, visit his website at www.ajvittone.net.