Rip City Project
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‘Mr. Portland’ Jake McGrady is doing it for Rip City culture, Blazers fans

By Dayton Brown

Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)
Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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CORVALLIS, OR: Oregon State University Beavers campus in Corvallis, Oregon. (Photo by Oregon State University/Collegiate Images/Getty Images) /

McGrady’s Beginning

“They called me ‘Intern McGrady.'”

I’m not sure I’ve heard a better sentence in my life.

Everyone starts from somewhere. At first, many have no idea what to do with their lives or careers. Jake McGrady is no different. He and humble beginnings go hand-in-hand.

If you follow McGrady on either of his Twitter accounts (@TheJakeMcGrady and @Mr_Portland), then you know he has dedicated most of his life to three things: the Blazers, the city of Portland and everything Oregon State Beavers.

McGrady is an OSU alumnus, graduating from the Corvallis university in 2016. He started his career at KBVR, the student-run radio station. He was the host of the “Beaver Sports Show” and interned on Alex Crawford’s radio show. (Crawford went on to become a producer at the radio station KFXX 1080 “The Fan.”)

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“That’s when I really started developing my passion,” McGrady tells me. “I started thinking, ‘I really have a knack for this.’ I like radio, I like to talk and get feedback from people. I really like putting out content.”

McGrady, like a lot of Pacific Northwesterners, hasn’t stopped pursuing his passions: In his case, it’s radio, TV and the Trail Blazers. And he really hit the ground running during his sophomore year at OSU.

“I kind of wanted to differentiate myself,” he says. “Sort of brand myself. But I didn’t want to be a ‘Rip City something-something.’ And I wanted to create something separate from Jake McGrady.”

Mr. Portland and the Blazers

“I really didn’t want to just bombard my followers with annoying Blazer stuff.”

Using his love of memes and Blazers basketball, his charismatic nature and his awareness of the increasing necessity of social media, McGrady birthed Mr. Portland.

The account and persona have been going strong for the past five years on Twitter and Instagram. With more than 11,500 followers combined between Instagram and Twitter, Mr. Portland is a Rip City meme hub.

I first stumbled upon the account a couple of years ago when McGrady was still trying to make a name for himself. The relation of current happenings with Blazers basketball was unique at the time. The Blazers had established Damian Lillard as the star of the team, with Robin Lopez’s antics feeding into the material for McGrady to use for Mr. Portland.

Witty humor from Mr. P helps ease the pain after a Blazers loss and pumps the mood to 11 after each Blazers win.

It did not take long for Mr. Portland to gain some steam.

Growth and impact of Mr. P

“Mr. Portland really didn’t take off until about a year into (its creation).”

McGrady is extremely giddy when discussing his complex as the Meme King of Rip City. Every in-season meme was mixed with every in-season NBA or Blazers-specific happening.

The relevance combined with a humorous twist caught the attention of the most loyal fan base in the NBA. Many notable people, Lillard and CJ McCollum perhaps the most notable of all, have appreciated the content from the Mr. Portland account.

https://instagram.com/p/BhMiVznF6TO/

Blazers fans were able to connect easily with Mr. Portland. McGrady continues to use the account as an outlet for podcast content. And he often asks for opinions on the hottest topics and reads replies from the Mr. P account on the podcast.

The consistent recording for 2nd String Sports and production of tweets yielded a large and loyal following. McGrady found a new medium to connect with the neverending fandom of the Portland Trail Blazers.

A lot of people look up to him too.

“The first time I got recognized in public,” McGrady recalls, “was by this little girl, actually. She started telling me about how much she loved the Mr. Portland account, and how she would take screenshots and send to her friends. It was very surreal for me at the moment.”

But one story in particular strikes him the most.

“I got a message from a supporter of the show late one night telling me his dad thought he had seen me in public,” McGrady says. “Turns out, it was me. And him and his dad both listen to the show and love it. He ended up starting his own podcast, just like we did a few years before. He was inspired by us and our grind, wanted some advice for his show as well, and it was just so amazing to see.”