In 1974, Kurkjian enrolled at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. While at Maryland, Kurkjian covered high school sports for his hometown newspaper, the "Montgomery Journal". Immediately after graduating from Maryland with a B.A. in journalism in 1978, Kurkjian took an entry-level position with the "Washington Star". By 1981, he became a staff writer. When the "Star" folded that year, he took a position with the "Baltimore News-American". That paper also went out of business within two months of Kurkjian's arrival. He began covering baseball as the Texas Rangers beat writer for "The Dallas Morning News" where he worked from 1981 to 1985. Kurkjian then covered the Baltimore Orioles for "The Baltimore Sun" beginning in 1986. He was a senior writer for "Sports Illustrated" from 1989 to 1997. In 1997, "Sports Illustrated" reassigned him to covering basketball. He served in this capacity for six months before accepting a job at ESPN as a baseball writer and television journalist in 1998 at 40 years old.