Until a few years ago, every local television station had a camera operator who was committed primarily or exclusively to sports assignments.

Those positions have become obsolete. Sports content now is shot by general-assignments camera operators or by sports anchors and reporters.

Even sports directors carry cameras. On Tuesday, KTUL’s John Moss took a camera to J.L. Johnson for an interview with Oral Roberts baseball coach Ryan Folmar. The past several seasons, KJRH’s Al Jerkens shot high school football video. Fox 23’s Nathan Thompson and KOTV’s John Holcomb have mastered the art of operating a camera and editing video.

The last of Tulsa’s sports-only camera people was KOTV’s Steve Wolfe, who was informed recently that his job had been eliminated.

A single father of two young sons, Wolfe was a few days shy of what would have been his 20th anniversary at Channel 6. At 45, he is unemployed for the first time since his graduation from the University of North Texas.

“It’s pretty jarring,” Wolfe said. “I have to figure out what I want to do and what I’m qualified to do. I don’t think I’ll get back into TV. The only other option would be to shoot news, and I don’t want to do that.