He has met three presidents. He’s told the stories of many of the sports legends of his and even his father’s generations, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Florence Griffith Joyner, to name a few. He interviewed Jayson Tatum at Chaminade College Preparatory School when the Boston Celtics small forward was just 14 years old. But today with three Emmys, STL Bucket List’s “Best TV Anchor” award, and a lifetime of stories under his belt, KSDK News Anchor Rene Knott says his current gig is his favorite.
Rene co-anchors “Today in St. Louis” with Michelle Li on KSDK Channel 5. And whether he’s telling the inspiring story of a St. Louis man who was shot, paralyzing him from the waist down, but who now has forgiven his attacker and is training to become a paralympic athlete; reporting on the death of legendary Cardinal manager Whitey Herzog; or even visiting the North Korean Border to report on the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but on the side tells the story of the oppression of the people of South Korea, Rene says he just loves to tell the human stories that he hopes will encourage others.
“You can name practically any sporting event, and I’ve been there,” Rene says. “But I’ve never had more fun than doing the job I’ve been doing for the last several years—getting to know St. Louis and the people and their stories. It inspires me, and I want those stories to do to others what they’ve done to me. You could walk down any street in America and knock on the door and ask, ‘What’s your story?’ and be inspired in some way. I had a neighbor whose mother was Harry Caray’s secretary.”
Born to Ralph and Judy Knott, in Hollywood, California, on May 2, 1964, Rene played football and earned his degree from Southern Oregon State College, where he met his wife of 37 years, Marla Knott, before landing his first job at KDRV-TV in Medford, Oregon.
Rene says he started out dreaming of writing sports for the Los Angeles Times. But after working internships at local television stations, he realized he enjoyed the idea of telling stories visually. After college, he went on to television stations in Mobile, Alabama, and Washington D.C., before moving to St. Louis, which he says is where he hopes to stay.
“Sometimes your personal happiness can be found in the simplest of things and small places, but you have to breath it in,” he says. “I hadn’t done that until I got to St. Louis.”
Rene started at “5 On Your Side” in 2004 as the show’s sports director. He moved to the morning show in 2016.
Rene and Marla have two children, Easton Knott, 33, a Washington University graduate and Georgetown Preparatory School counselor; and Eryn (Knott) Day, 28, a MIZZOU graduate and now a kindergarten teacher in Colorado.
Rene states his father, a UPS worker, was his greatest role model. “He never told me do this or that. I just watched him get up early every morning, work hard and stay late,” Rene says. “He taught me the value of looking forward, not looking back. He went from South Central LA to Englewood to management at UPS. In the end he drove two Mercedes.”
It's true he hasn’t forgotten from where he came, but for Rene, looking forward is more important now.
“I think finding a personal happiness is so important. Men are geared toward being conquerors and providers, making sure our families receive more than we were given. We tend to look at our inventory of material items more so than our inventory of emotional items. But we need to stop and embrace where we are in life rather than what we want to accomplish,” Rene says. “We need to slow down and embrace the moments more so than the things.”
As he turned 60 years old last month, Rene says he reflected on the expectations of his own generation and realized perhaps the younger men of today are getting it right. “We didn’t necessarily follow our hearts in our generation. We went to college, got a job, provided for our families. We were geared toward the 40-to-60-hour work week,” he says. “I think young people today are more geared toward personal happiness, careers that fit their personal passions. I envy it. We grew up with a fear of losing our jobs, one vacation a year and wait for retirement. Kids today believe in experiences in life. They believe they’ll find another job. I would tell them to experience life more and find their true passions that allow them to escape from the nine-to-five or to become their nine-to-five.”
"Young people should find their true passions that allow them to escape from the nine-to-five or to become their nine-to-five.”
“Sometimes your personal happiness can be found in the simplest of things and small places, but you have to breath it in. I hadn’t done that until I got to St. Louis.”
