The Michigan Daily sat down Friday afternoon with former New York Yankees shortstop and Baseball Hall-of-Famer Derek Jeter — five-time World Series champion, 14-time All-Star, and 2025 University of Michigan commencement speaker — to discuss his return to Ann Arbor, his brief time as a student in 1992 and life after baseball. Jeter is also the co-founder of The Players’ Tribune, founder of the Turn 2 Foundation and former CEO of the Miami Marlins among other entrepreneurial ventures. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
The Michigan Daily: You grew up in Kalamazoo, went to the University of Michigan for a semester in the fall of 1992 and now you’re returning to speak at commencement — what does it feel like to come full circle?
Derek Jeter: To give you just a little background, I signed a letter of intent to come play (at the University), then I was drafted by the Yankees so I went to play professionally. The first offseason, I attended classes here. The next year, I was enrolled, already paid for an apartment with friends and they sent me to play in some instructional league. It was like eight weeks, so I couldn’t take classes, but I lived on campus with no classes and then worked out with the baseball team. So really it was two semesters I was here — one semester of classes — but (I) absolutely loved it. That’s why I always loved to come back here. Someone just asked me, ‘Oh, how does it feel?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I can tell you tomorrow,’ but it’s special. My parents are here, my wife’s here, my sister’s coming, so I’m looking forward to it.
TMD: If someone spotted you at the University in the ’90s, what would they have seen? Where were you eating, studying, hanging out?
DJ: I was in Couzens, so it was a little sort of a trek across campus because I had a lot of friends that were in South Quad. But basically I kept to myself — I was at South Quad, I was in my dorm. I used to wear a Yankee hat all the time, which is kind of funny to think. There’s a lot of New Yorkers here in Ann Arbor. Even back then, there were a lot of New Yorkers at the University of Michigan. I was a homebody for the most part — I still am — but I stayed pretty much in the dorm. I wasn’t very exciting.
TMD: U-M students love to romanticize long hours in the UGLi or game days at the Big House. What were some small moments you still remember from your time on campus?
DJ: Football games. I didn’t miss a football game. I was always at the football games, basketball games. I loved it. … I probably shouldn’t say this, but I love watching college sports more than professional sports. And the reason why (is) every single game is more meaningful for college athletics in my mind. A football game, you lose a game, it could be your entire season. Professionally, you just gotta get to the playoffs. I just like the meaning behind college sports, so I always love going to the sporting events.
TMD: At The Players’ Tribune, you’ve helped give athletes a space to tell their stories in their own words — something student journalists at The Daily are also trying to create: platforms for honest, personal storytelling. Why do you think it’s important for people to share their own stories, and are there particular voices or kinds of stories you think we still don’t hear enough of?
DJ: We started it ten years ago, and I understood that — and anyone (who) tells you that this is not true is lying to you — the relationship between the media and athletes (is) fractured. The reason why is there’s no trust. They just don’t trust who they’re talking to, because a lot of times — not everyone — but a lot of people are searching for headlines, clickbait. You can sit down and have an interview with someone and the next day you read the article and the article bashes you, and they use your quotes to validate it. That’s how we built the company — based on trust. We never went into it with an agenda, just keep this in mind. We got to know people, and then if they trust who they’re speaking to, they’ll open up to you and they’ll tell you all kinds of stories because we understood, or I understood, athletes aren’t two-dimensional. They have other views, other beliefs; a lot of times they just aren’t asked about those things. So we looked at it as if we were a compliment to the media because now the media knows what is interesting to the athletes and they would follow-up and ask questions. I would say, in your position, try to just earn people’s trust and don’t go out to get them and be honest with them. It’s not easy to do, but I think once you burn or you lose that trust, you can’t get it back.
TMD: Thinking about your career — from your time on the field to your current business ventures — what do you think the average young student should focus on educationally or experientially to build toward long-term success and leadership, like you’ve done?
DJ: You have to build relationships, get to know people. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. That’s the biggest thing because I think a lot of times, people are afraid to ask questions when they’re doing something for the first time, but no matter how you look at it, everyone was doing it for the first time at some point. So I always tell people — ask as many questions as you can and get to know as many people as you can. I think that helps you along. I’ve developed or built relationships during my playing career, I still have (developed them) post career in the business world, and because I took the time to get to know those people, then, you never know what the future may hold but it helps your relationships.
TMD: If you could relive one day, what day would you pick?
DJ: One day, any day? That’s a good question. Man, oh, man. It’s a tough one because I don’t want to go back because now I have four kids. Everything that happens now is more important than anything I thought was important before. I don’t know if it’s one day. I think it’s just moments. My kids are seven, six, three and two. So every day is something new, right? It’s chaos at our house, so I don’t know if I could go back to one — that’s a tough one. I have to follow-up with you on that.
TMD: They say hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. In your experience, what would you say is the hardest thing to do in business — or even in life — outside of the game?
DJ: Patience. Because when you’re playing baseball, you get a hit or you don’t; you make a play or you don’t; you win or lose. When it comes to business, it’s all about patience. When you’re projecting three and four years down the road, you want things to happen right away, and I think that was the hardest thing for me to learn. I still don’t have patience, but it’s the hardest thing for me.
TMD: Have you ever given a commencement speech before? How do you prepare for something like that — and how does it compare, in terms of nerves or preparation, to other big speeches you’ve given, like your farewell to Yankee Stadium in 2008?
DJ: No. I don’t know. I think I’ll just wing it. Honestly, Yankee Stadium in 2008, when they told me that we’re closing the stadium down — this is the night before — and they said, ‘We’d like for you to address the crowd afterwards,’ I was like, ‘All right.’ Then we’re playing the last game. I’d never addressed the crowd before at Yankee Stadium and they took me out of the game in the ninth inning with like two outs left in the game. So I get off the field, I’m on the bench and I got to say something, and I didn’t really prepare for it, so I just sort of winged it. It was only a couple of minutes. But this is a longer thing, so I’ll see how it goes. It’s weird, because my biggest fear growing up was speaking in front of people, or reports in school. I would sweat for two weeks before. My parents would have me do it in front of them, like the night before I had to do it at school and (I) dreaded it. I couldn’t stand it. Now I don’t mind.
TMD: Without giving too much away, what message do you hope students take with them after hearing your commencement speech tomorrow?
DJ: It’s basically about how you determine your future, right? It’s you, by the choices you make. It’s not anyone else, and you’ve gotten to this point and now you’re going out to the real world. So every choice, big or small, is what determines the path.
TMD: Do you still watch baseball as a fan these days, outside of any commentating roles? What are your thoughts on some of the recent changes to the game — like the pitch clock or even torpedo bats?
DJ: When I first retired I didn’t watch. I just had to get away from it. Then I was running the team in Miami, so obviously for four and a half years you’re watching games. Now I watch a lot of highlights, but as we get closer to when I do my commentating for Fox, I’ll start watching more. But I’m a fan of the game. It’s just, I have four kids. I go to sleep every night at 8:30. Some of the rules I like. Others are a little strange but every league adapts. Basketball, whether it’s the three point line, or football. I’m for the rules that are speeding up the games because I think this generation, they’re into instant gratification and they don’t wanna sit in a seat and talk to the person on their left and right for three hours. They want to move around and they want things to happen quickly, so I’m in favor of a lot of them.
TMD: What’s your most played song recently?
DJ: Meghan Trainor, “Better When I’m Dancing,” every single morning. My oldest has a performance coming up in school, and every single morning we listen to this on school drop off and pick up. (But) I’m old school R&B. I got a playlist with 70s, 80s, 90s.
TMD: If you had to take a random class at the University right now, no grades — what would it be?
DJ: Maybe Spanish. I know a lot; I can understand a lot of Spanish, and I can speak a little bit because of my playing career, but if I could be fluent in Spanish — especially living in Miami, too — that would be a plus.
Daily Senior News Editor Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu.
