September 10, 2025 • 54 mins
Broadcast icon and breast cancer survivor Robin Roberts joins Sarah for an intimate conversation about the strength it takes to show up — especially when the cameras are off. Robin reflects on her groundbreaking career in sports journalism and morning television, the decision to go public with her diagnoses, and how surviving cancer and MDS – Myelodysplastic Syndrome – reshaped her sense of purpose. Robin and Sarah explore what it means to lead with grace, advocate for others, and live a life of visibility both behind the news desk and far beyond it.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Please speak with your healthcare professional before making any treatment decisions.
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're taking
you beyond the news desk. It's Wednesday, September tenth, and
(00:20):
on today's show, we'll be skipping the need to know
and getting right into my raw and uplifting interview with
broadcast icon and breast cancer survivor Robin Roberts. It's the
latest installment of our series Life Beyond Living Beyond Labels,
a powerful podcast campaign brought to you by iHeart Women's Sports. Y'all,
I was so honored to get to talk with Robin Roberts.
(00:40):
She joined me for an intimate conversation about the strength
it takes to show up, especially when the cameras are off.
She reflected on her groundbreaking career in sports journalism and
morning television, the decision to go public with her diagnosis,
and how surviving cancer and MDS miladis plastic syndrome. Reshaped
her sense of purpose. We explored what it means to
lead with grace, advocate for others, and live a life
(01:02):
of visibility, both behind the news desk and far beyond it.
Our Life Beyond series showcases the extraordinary resilience and strength
of successful women, diving deep into their lives, highlighting their
personal journeys, passions, and the ways in which they're living
beyond the labels they've been given by others. My conversation
with Robin is coming up right after this, joining us
(01:33):
now a true legend whose bio is longer than Sue
Bird's list of titles, but I'll try to sum it up.
She co anchors ABC's Good Morning America. As a New
York Times bestselling author, was a groundbreaking analyst on ESPN
for fifteen years, including being the first African American woman
to anchor a SportsCenter. She's a member of the Women's
Basketball Hall of Fame. A Southeastern Louisiana University alum, she
(01:54):
ended her hoop's career there as the school's third all
time leading scorer and rebounder, and they retired her jersey
number twenty one. A breast cancer and Mayello dysplastic syndrome survivor.
She was awarded the Arthur Ashcourage Award at the twenty
thirteen SPIS and the NBA Saga Strong Award in twenty nineteen.
Named to the Out one hundred and twenty twenty three.
She's driven the pace car at the Indy five hundred cameo,
(02:14):
did Pitch Perfect Too, guest starred on Hannah Montana, guest
hosted Jeopardy. She's an honorary Harlem globetrotter, was once a
school bus driver, and she'll receive a star in the
Hollywood Walk of Fame next year. It's the one and
only Robin Roberts. Hi, Robin.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Okay, So we're out a time. Thank you very much.
I really appreciate everybody joining us and having you know,
drive safely everyone. Thank you, Sarah yep.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Like I said, like Suebirds titles, we could never list
them all. So great to see you, and it was
so great to see you at the WNBA All Star Game.
I love that you're able to stay connected to your
sports roots via GMA, and I'm wondering how you've experienced
the growth of women's sports from the GMA seat, whether
it's easier to pitch producers to get female athletes or
(02:56):
do live shows on site, like at the All Star
Game in recent year.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well, it was great to see you too, Sarah. And
I have to say, I'm very, very fortunate that I
have a receptive audience with Good Morning America, the producers,
because our executive producer was there, Simone Swink, she was there,
My chief of staff was there, Ebony Griffin. They love
it when I say, Hey, can we go to the
(03:22):
WNBL Star Game, They're like yeah, because they know my
true passion and enthusiasm and the audience. Our viewers respond
as well, and they even say like, oh my gosh.
I mean they enjoy seeing me in different lanes if
you will. But when I'm in my sports lane, there's
like a twinkle in my eye. And I remember, Sarah,
(03:44):
I was hesitant about leaving sports, had been in ESPN
living happily ever after, was there for like fifteen years
and had done some crossover with Good Morning America and
ABC Sports and got the full time position or opportunity
to be the coacher with Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer
(04:05):
Good Morning America, and I was interviewing Billy Jean King
for something. I said, Billy, you know, after I did
the interview, I want to ask you something. And I
said to her, I've got this opportunity at Good Morning America,
and you know, I'm a little hesitant. You know, I
love my sports and I think in part I thought
she was going to say, you can't leave us, you
must stay where you are. No way are you going
(04:26):
to the other side, so to speak. And she was
just the opposite. She's like, what are you nuts? She said,
it's a bigger pla. You're going to take us with
you. You're not leaving us. You're taking us with you. And
that's that's how I look at it.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
You're feeding into my already very robust narrative that Billy
Jean King is everywhere and a part of everything. She's
the Forrest Gump of women's sports and women's sports stars.
She's always everywhere giving advice and leading people the right way,
which I love. So thirty years at ABC, how do
you keep the excitement and enthusiasm for the gig?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
H You know, they're peaks and valleys, you know, over
the over the decades, But at the end of the day,
I couldn't imagine doing anything else. It brings me immense
joy to like I said, like just to be this
(05:25):
past weekend at the WNBA All Star Game in Indianapolis
and so many people coming up to me and sharing
stories of the connection that we've had over the years,
both people uh, former athletes and coaches and you know,
people on the street. And I filled this connection and
I'm drawn to it, and I no two days are
(05:51):
the same. I guess that's why it's it still seems
fresh there. No two days are really the same. Everything's
always always different. And just being just incredibly appreciative of
still being able to do the things I do when
you've gone through health challenges as I have. So I
had like a six month hiatus during those thirty years. Yeah,
(06:11):
or I was pretty much in bed recovering from a
bow maryll transplant. But I think that also gave me
a better I don't want to say, you know, cancer
or the health issues. I'm not one of those people
that that's the best dog on thing that ever happened
to me. Really, No, But what it did is just
(06:32):
it just enhanced what I wanted to do. It just
heightened my enthusiasm for everything, a greater appreciation.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
You know being sick is, of course not the same
as taking a hiatus by choice. But I've talked to
former USTA and WTA and Just Tennis exec superstar Stacy
Alistair about this, and she ended up taking a six
month hiatus during the peak of her earning and her
worth as an executive because of a personal loss and
(07:03):
sort of how it made her think differently about life
and work and career. And she now says everybody, but
especially women, at a certain point in their life, should
stop the roller coaster, take six months and then decide
do I want to get back on it? And there's
so much fear in that, of course, but I think
without having to leave, and obviously for other scarier reasons,
(07:24):
you got that break. But to your point, then you
come back and say, I still want to be here.
I got away from it and I still want to
be here, which is hard to do when you're on
the roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
It really is. But I also remember when the doctor
told me, he says, you're going to have to have
a bone marrow transplant in order to live. When he
said to me, you're going to be out of work
for six months, I remember I shot out of my chair.
I was like, I was more worried about that then
the bone mail transplant. Isn't that silly? Then? I was
(07:55):
more like, I can't be out of work for six months.
You got to be kidney by. And I look back,
I'm like, Wow, Robin, that's really how I really. That
was really telling to me that I was more worried
or more had put more energy into not being able
to work for six months as opposed to well, one
(08:15):
of the reasons why kids, you're fighting for your life
because you right, you know, so, I really do believe
that if you are able, if you're for whatever reason,
if you're able, not six months that might be a
little much, but just to be able to take a
little I was when we did the All Star Game
(08:35):
and we were showing video of the first one and
I was there, Pat Summit was my color analyst, Whitney
Houston saying the national anthem. I didn't remember that until
I saw the video. How sad is that? Wow? Yes,
Because at that time, nineteen ninety seven, I'm still on
(08:57):
that roller coaster. I'm still like, you know, I just
wanted b BBB go, go, go go, And I'm looking
at the video and I'm like, Wow, that summit was
my color analyst Whitney Houston say the national anthem and
I wasn't. I didn't remember it until I actually saw
the video. Again, shame on me. And so I do
(09:19):
have this because of going through that time off. Now
I just really relish those moments and so if as
especially as women, especially young and you know we're on
that roller coaster. We want to get to to where
we're going. And I know that it's something that served me. Well,
(09:40):
everybody's got something, Sarah, and if you don't understand why
it was placed in your path, what you're supposed to
learn from that something be a cancer, divorce, unemployment, I
don't care what it is, learn from it and and
share that lesson with others. If you don't do that,
that's a tragedy, not the actual event.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Let's talk about some of the things you've been handed,
the somethings that you've had. You were diagnosed with triple
negative breast cancer in two thousand and seven. You underwent surgery,
chemote therapy, radiation. You shared your journey with viewers and
encouraged folks to get screened and get tested. Did you
know immediately when you got that diagnosis that you wanted
to go on that journey publicly.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm sorry, No, come on, Sarah, I mean Roberts.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I wouldn't be surprised if you were like, all right,
I'm taking this on for the world. Oh you know,
I'm going to make teach everyone with this page.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
No, No, it's a fair question because because you know why,
because I think you're looking at it through the lens
of twenty twenty five and not two thousand and seven,
where you didn't really share. Now it's like you share
everything everybody's like, but back then you really you really didn't.
(10:55):
But what helped me be able to share was two
thousand and five was Hurricane Katrina that coming along, and
I had just been named this third anchor with Charlie
Gibson Diane Sawyer, and I've got the imposter syndrome, like,
oh my gosh, how did I get here? Hurricane Katrina
(11:17):
comes along? I'm from that area. I go down to
the Gulf Coast and the morning after and I hadn't
been able to find my mom, and I found her
shortly before we went on the air. And I get
back to the live location and I do a button
up like you know, this is the situation here on
the Mississippi golf coast. And then when my colleague Charlie
Gibson said, hey, did we able to find your mom?
(11:39):
And I just I couldn't control my emotions. I just
I just just the ugly cry for just several reasons.
I mean, it was just such destruction everywhere, and I
was just so grateful that I found my mom, and
I was I thought I was going to get fired.
I remember we went to commercial break and I'm like,
well that was really short being waker on Good Morning
(12:01):
America because they're gonna get rid of me now. And
people really responded, they were really grateful to see somebody
just be in the moment and share what they were feeling.
And so, because that happened two years before, at still
two thousand and seven, I'm diagnosed and I'm like, oh,
I'm a former athlete, I'm a little you know, I
(12:21):
you know, how what are people going to think that
I did something that I smoked or I did this
that which none of that was the case. And my
mother was the one who said, make your mess your message.
You know, you work for a company that's going to
provide you the resources you need to help you fight this.
It's not going to guarantee anything, but it's going to
(12:41):
help you. And there are many people who walk the
similar path who don't have those resources, who don't have
a voice, and so that really spurred me on. So
every time I did share something during my journey, it
was something that I thought could be beneficial to somebody else.
And I I, I can't, I can't say the individual's name,
(13:03):
but somebody, a very prominent athlete, is going through a
bow marrow transplant and reached out to me the other day.
No one has been made public yet, And because I
was so visible about my journey, this athlete was just
peppering me with questions getting ready for their procedure. And
(13:26):
so that was another reminder. That's why I shared so much,
because I wanted. I wanted if somebody else was walking
a similar path. I remember, I didn't have anybody to
call about a bone marrow transplant. I never heard of it.
This was this was now twenty twelve. It was the
very medication that saved my life from breast cancer, put
it in peril with my littis plastic syndrome, a form
(13:49):
of it's a blood disorder, and I I remember there
was like one book and I read that book and
it was scared the dickens out of me. And so
that was also another reason my motivation for wanting to
be so open about my journey.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I want to get to the MDS. But first, I'm
curious if you've noticed over the decades a shift in
that appreciation of genuine emotion while covering news or while
being on the air, Because there used to be, to
your point, this feeling of you've got to be buttoned up,
and even in the sports world or the news world,
it was also never make yourself the story. But what
(14:25):
we're seeing now, with the bifurcation of media and with
people able to choose so many different places to get
stuff from, sometimes it is about not only do I
want the news, but I want it from you. And
sometimes that choice comes from being authentic and genuine and
in moments that call for it breaking down and in
moments that call for it being buttoned up. Have you
adjusted with those shifts or have you always done it
(14:47):
less consciously and more by feel.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
That's a really good question, Sarah very well put. Other
than my whiteboard that I had right out of high school.
It was like putting my little things on what I
wanted to accomplish, and it was said success. I spent
success at the top and I misspelled success. And my
mother was an English teacher and she was like, oh
my god, I spelled s u cess and that's what
(15:13):
I put, like, I want to work in a small market.
This amount of time medium marked da da da. But
that's only time I've been I want. And that's not calculating,
but that I had an agenda or I had a
specific plan. Everything else has really been very organic, and
I think the two compliment one another. You have to
(15:34):
have structure. I mean, I'm a former athlete, you know
how that is, and so I'm used to structure. I want.
I want to have structure, but I found that you
have to be flexible and marrying the two together, and
especially as a woman in sports. I remember the first time,
like I saw a woman's sports anchor. This was after
(15:56):
I had been on for a while and they had
on like a tank top or something. I was like, oh,
I'm gonna be wearing you know, because I had I mean,
I have all buttoned up and have a suit, and
I wouldn't I wouldn't have thought of like showing any
skin where you're not even wearing a dress. But because
we're talking to early nineties and that and to see
(16:17):
how it has evolved. And when I see the Big Three,
when I see l and Shaney and Andrea, oh my gosh,
they're just they're stunning and what they're wearing and what
they're saying, and it doesn't just it doesn't distract distract
or distract from what they're saying at all. And that's
just that's just one of many examples that you that
(16:37):
you see now. I'm so grateful of the talent, the
immense talent that we see across the board. And it
was a little bit different when I was coming along,
and so that's why I played it more by the book.
But when you look at just life in general, when
you think of you know, thank goodness, there was no
(16:58):
social media when I was come How many times have
you heard older people yeap, yes.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Myself included when I was in college. If we had
Instagram and all that, there'd be photos of me floating
around that I would not want people to see.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Oh now you're going to make me again.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I'm talking about foam parties. And getting drunk and things
like that, not a not anything worse than that. But
I think your point is so valid. And even I
felt that coming up this idea of like you were
constantly being accused of having ulterior motives or going after
the athletes, or trying to be salacious or sexualized, and
you almost had to try to be asexual and and
(17:37):
be so robotic to avoid that that you weren't allowed
to be authentic. And what we're seeing now from the
Big three and others is this beautiful, genuine authenticity in
whatever form that is, which I love. I also think
to your point, there are people who don't trust themselves,
and so they do feel like they need to follow
a very rigid idea of here's my five year plan,
and then I will be here and then I will
(17:58):
do this. And if you are in with a self
confidence and a trust in your own gut and your instincts,
you can go with the flow and make choices along
the way that feel right in that moment. Have you
always felt that way, or is there a moment in
your life where you felt a sudden recognition that you
could trust whatever you believed was the right choice in
the moment.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Oh my gosh, it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing about maturing.
I love it. I love it. I trust myself. I
was it always that way?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
No, not. I wouldn't say yes and no because I
was so determined to be a sports journalist, very determined.
And ESPN initially tried to hire me. It was four
years out of school. I was working in Nashville, Tennessee
(18:49):
at the time, had been working at two places in Mississippi.
Was in Nashville, went up for an interview, trusted my
gut and was like, no, I'm not ready. No, I'm
not ready. I want to have staying power, and so
turned them down. Went to Atlanta, Georgia for two years.
(19:11):
Actually it was a three year contract, and ESPN bought
my out my last year of my contract. And that
was when I knew I was ready. I was like,
now I'm ready. And when I tell that story, a
lot of people are like, you turned down ESPN in
the beginning? Are you what? Are you nuts? Did you
know they were going to call back?
Speaker 1 (19:28):
No?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
But I knew that I wasn't ready, and I trusted
myself enough to know that I'm going to put in
the work and it's going to happen. And so so
I did have I did have an inkling of that
kind of inner belief and trust that only continued to
(19:49):
grow and grow as I as I continue to take
these chances and be bold. And there was something that
I was reading recently, and it's about self worth as
opposed to self esteem, that it's more important to know
your to know your work, to know that you're worthy.
(20:10):
That's the word I'm thinking of, know that you're worthy.
And once I really felt that and knew that the
reasons why I was wanting the things that I wanted
and pursuing the things that I was pursuing was was pure.
It wasn't about money, it wasn't about attention, it wasn't
it was just about a pure love of storytelling. Pure.
(20:32):
I wanted to be a professional athlete, Sarah, you know
the ability we all did. We did, but we yeah,
but we but we all found a different way to
do that. And so I think that that I think
also being an athlete, as you were, it really helps
us to have a different perspective.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oh yeah, a million different ways. Yeah, But I think
to your point, there's a very big difference between believing
that you're worthy and believing that you Now they sound
very similar, but if your approach is I'm worthy of
this versus I deserve this, you're coming at it very differently.
And I think to your point about being an athlete,
(21:11):
you can work your hardest, you can try your best,
you can do the most with what you've got and
still not win and believe that you're worthy at the
end and not say I deserved to get that metal
because I tried my best. No, you didn't. You don't
deserve anything, but you're worthy of it if you win it.
And that approach, I think is very different. And I
think you know what you said about saying no to ESPN.
(21:31):
We always remember the yeses, we almost never remember the nose,
but those nose can have just as big a role
in where we end up. And so for you to
say no in that moment and then get the work
you needed to come back and say yes later and
have it work out the way it did, who knows
what might have happened if you had had said yes
that first time.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I have a pretty good idea, well what have happened
if I said you? Because I needed to grow up
and quite frankly, the ESPN needed to grow up. It was.
It was a very it was a very different ESPN
at that time. I'm doing well and great and all,
but it was just different. And John A. Walsh, John A.
(22:12):
Walsh was the managing editor when I when I the
second time around, and I couldn't sign fast enough because
he had a real vision who wanted to be sports journalism.
And but but you're absolutely right about you know those
things that I often say. This, I often say and
(22:33):
I truly believe I'm blessed. I have no doubt about that.
I'm blessed and I am. I am grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful,
But I'm never content and two and both can be true.
You can be blessed, me satisfied and ambitious. Yes, yes.
And I think sometimes it's women we shy away from that.
Oh that's you know, why am I saying I want this?
(22:58):
Where men have had no problem. They're the most unqualified
men that will go for a position, have no business
trying for a position, and they'll go for it, and
the most overqualified woman will go like, oh, I don't know,
I don't know if I'm I think we're getting away
from that. I just think that we see so many young,
dynamic women who are being bold and audacious and really
(23:21):
going for it, and so I love to see that. Well.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I think there's a lot of representation that helps with that.
I don't think it's always if you can see it,
you can be it. There are people who don't see
it and still start it and make it happen. But
I wonder for you. I've always thought about so. Doris
Burke is a legend to me, and Doris changes the
game by being the best. Doris doesn't have a lot
(23:44):
of conversation about where she's been wronged or how she's
been treated differently as a woman. She just goes and
does the work. And then there's folks like me, my
friend Jamel Hill, We're going to get out there and
tell you this is wrong. Quit doing this to us,
give us this chance. Here's the things I've gone through.
Here's why other women can be strong even in those moments.
(24:05):
It's not just you, It's happened to all of us.
And I think both are necessary. Right to be a
model for what you can be in achievement, also to
speak up. You were the first black women to host
Sports Center. You were one of the first women on ESPN.
You have had these roles that maybe you were the
first or one of the first. How often did you
feel compelled to name that versus just do the work
(24:25):
and be great at it and have that be enough.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
It's funny because I was just talking with Salt and
Peppa and they're going into the rock and roll hall
I love my life. Oh yes, yeah, pretty good. Yes, yes, Sarah.
Before sitting down with you, I was talking to Sultan
Pepa when I was and they were pioneers, I mean,
especially in the eighties hip hop, these two women who
(24:48):
were doing it their way. And I asked them, I said,
you know, so many like the Missy Elliotts and many
who came after you said how much you were a trailblazer?
I said, when you were in the thick of it,
did you ever did you ever feel that way? And
they're like, no, you're just doing the work. I kind
of feel the same way. I don't really, Yeah, I
(25:09):
did that. I recognized I was the only one that
looked like myself in the building. Oh yeah, and the
proverbial you're going to be the first, but don't be
the last, you know. I remember hearing that speech from
my mom, you know, and she told all my siblings,
my two other sisters that too, who are very progressive
in their in their fields. But I never took it
(25:29):
on as a burden. I never thought of it as
a responsibility. I just wanted to do the job. And
but I did know that the margin of error for
me was less than my male counterpart, that they could
make a mistake and it would be overlooked and for
me it could be out the door. And again I didn't.
(25:52):
It wasn't like what was me? Whate was me? It's like, okay,
you know what I'm going to be. I'm going to
make sure I'm the best that I can possibly be.
So it helped in that regard. Now, I love it
when there's so many women who have come up to
me and have said, you know, they they watched me
and inspired them to do you know, X, Y and
Z great wonderful bat I do. I'm not I'm not
(26:13):
remember when Shaq was it Shaq? Who didn't know? Was
it Charles Barkley? I ain't no role model or whatever.
I'm proud to be a role model. I'm glad that
I could be a role model. I'm glad that I
could be able and as I had women and you
know people before me that really helped. But I never
really thought of it. When you're in the throes of it,
(26:35):
you're just trying to get to the next step. Yeah,
do the work.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I want you to know that my husband and I
performed Saltan Pepa's Shoop at our wedding so I could
do the whole song, both parts and.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Spindly strong too, because you know, they're suing the record
company because they want the rights back to shoot and
different songs, and so they're they're there. I love how
they're how they're even now twenty years no forty years
later since they broke onto the scene, that they're still
fighting and being strong women.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
We got to take a quick break when we come
back the rest of my conversation with Robin Roberts, so
let's talk about being strong. You mentioned your MDS. In
(27:29):
twenty twelve, you faced a second major health challenge. You've
gone through the breast cancer and now you're diagnosed with
my LT dysplastic syndrome, which is a rare blood disorder.
It affects the bone marrow and it impairs its ability
to produce healthy blood cells. How did you talk yourself
through this diagnosis? Because I'm wondering if there's any part
of you that questioned, is there some higher power handing
(27:50):
me these challenges? Did you try to find a reason
behind being continued to be forced to handle adversity?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Oh? Wow, another good question, Sarah. With breast cancer, it
was pretty cut and dry with me, like I knew
what my message was early detection. I had had a roadmap,
had seen other people who had gone through breast cancer successfully,
and just wanted to continue that message of early detection
(28:19):
because that's what helped in my regard though it was
an aggressive form triple negative. When I was diagnosed with MDS,
my littlest plastic syndrome, I did look up to the heavens.
I was like, well, first of all, what what is
this and what am I supposed to do with it?
I had never heard of it. I didn't even know
what a bow marrow transplant was. And then that became
(28:41):
my message. And so for people now to know what
it is more so than they did when I was
diagnosed in twenty twelve, and to get people on the
bow marrow registry as I have and my sister has.
That let me know that, Oh, this is why it
was placed my path, that I was supposed to be
(29:02):
able to educate people. But I do have to say,
I know you're not given more than you can handle.
But I was like, dear Lord, you can spread it
around a little. I'm good, I know I'm strong. Okay,
I'll be fine if you want to spread it around
a little bit. But I was never like, you know,
why me, why me? None of that? But I did
(29:22):
I did. I have to say the second time I
was diagnosed, I did go to my doctor and so
I just so incredibly blessed to have such great health care.
And I was like, I don't want to do this.
I was like, I, you know, after what I went
through with I'm like, I don't want to do this.
And he said to me, I'll give you your life back.
(29:46):
Because I thought it was going to be one of
those things that I would go through this and I
wouldn't be I'd be a shell of who I am
and just a thought of it was just too painful.
And he assured me that I will give you your
life back. And when he made that promise to me,
I wanted to do the same for others and like
I said, this athlete, this world class athlete who just
I just this weekend had a phone conversation with this person,
(30:09):
and the way I was able to talk to this
person because of sharing my journey and because of what
was given to me. I'm forever grateful that I've been.
It is a privilege to be a messenger, and that's
what I feel like I'm here for. I'm to be
a messenger, and my message is of hope and to
(30:30):
be a walking, breathing, living symbol of this too shall pass.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
After sharing your diagnosis of MDS, your story resulted in
an eighteen hundred percent one eight zero zero percent increase
in bone marrow donor registrations on the day of your
announcement alone. Unbelievable. I mean that, to your point, it's
a gift to be a messenger. And yes, of course
you're allowed to grieve a diagnosis like that and be
(30:58):
sad and feel like you're being handed too much, But
the way you handled it to turn it back around
and help others is really all you can ask for
in that moment, because it also gives you a sense
of power right that you're not beholden solely to this thing.
You are also in control of what you do with it.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
You know what, It's so true. It's the same way
why I shaved my head because my hair was falling out.
I was like, ah, no, no, no, I'll shave it Chemo, No, no, no.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
You can't quit me hair.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
I fire you. So but it's right because when you're
going through I don't care what it is you're going through,
be it a health crisis or whatnot. Whenever you feel
out of control, whenever you feel that things are just
you don't have a control over those things. You can
control those things that can empower that you feel gives
you power you crave. And so that was my way
(31:46):
of going a hat. MDS take that. You know, I'm
gonna help my sister and I and others are going
to get more people on the registrate. And over the years,
we've had so many success stories on Good Morning America.
We've brought so many donors together with the recipients and
it's been one even my nephew, my nephew Jeremiah, who
(32:09):
I didn't realize when I was diagnosed, and he said
his mother Valin told him to join the registream. He
didn't really he was Balin told him, you're going to
do this, and he was a young he was like sixteen,
he was in high school. He gets the call. I
didn't know this. He got a call shortly thereafter, and
(32:31):
he was scared and he he said, no, I can't
do this. I can't do this. My mother put me
on the registry and I didn't. I can't do it.
And he lived with this for so long, and then
a couple of years we did this. This past year,
he got a call again and he didn't hesitate to
be a donor this time. And I didn't know about
(32:53):
his the first time around, and I said when he
was a was going to be a donor. I was like, oh,
you know, being a journalist, this is being great. Can
we can we document your you know, journeys to show
people what it's like to be a donor And he said,
I'll only do it if you let me tell my
full truth. I'm like, what is your full truth? And
he said that I didn't do it the first time,
but I was scared, and he insisted let that be
(33:17):
part of it because it's such a normal reaction for people.
And so I'm just really grateful again to be able
to just get the information out to folks and to
these stigmatize some things. And and my nephew did that
by saying I was scared. I was scared the first time,
but I thought through it this time, and you can
(33:39):
do it too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Courage is contagious like that, and especially if he frees
other people to be afraid first, and to have that
fear and to acknowledge that it's human to be afraid
and then.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Choose courage is contagious. I like that.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It should be a book title, next book for Robin
and you can go there.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
We free.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah. You mentioned your sister Sally earlier. You got a
bone marrow transplant from her. What sort of feelings came
with that gift from her and that ask of her?
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah, because it goes both ways. She's eight years older
than I am, and we fought a little bit like
cats and dogs when we're younger. You know younger siblings
as you do. I thought that my sister, who's closer
in age, Dorothy, was going to be a match. I
knew my brother, who's twelve years older because of his age,
(34:32):
was going to be disqualified, but I thought Dorothy would
be the donor. And when it came back to be
Sally Anne. I was like, oh wow, okay, and I
remember calling her and saying that everything has come through
and you're a match. Do you want to do this
because you have to ask, can't just assume, And when
(34:55):
she responded, it's not only something I want to do,
it's something I really feel like I was born to do.
I felt that I was the reason I was born
was to save my baby, my baby sister's life. So
excuse me. So when you have a sibling who says
that and feels that way, uh wow. It's still to
(35:18):
this day when I think about it, as you can
hear my voice, it gets to me and it's a
it's it's a gift that I could never and not
that she would ever want me to repay, but you
got to repay somebody for saving your life. And that
they had that attitude of oh right, you not like okay, well,
you know, being forced into it, but just really feeling
(35:40):
that that that was the purpose why they were put
on the surf. It's pretty powerful.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
It is, yeah, you have you're making me cry now,
I have a I have a I'm like, you know,
people yawn when they see someone else yon, I pretty
much cry. If anybody cries anywhere near me, it's problem.
You know, after those diagnoses, it's it's hard probably to
feel like it's behind me now. So are you able
to live without fear of what's next of a recurrence
(36:06):
of one of those? And how did you have to
do the work to find that piece? If you found it,
you don't.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Go through And this is what I tell folks who
who reach out and are on the other side, and
they're like, I'm fearful it's going to come back. How
did you get past it? And I tell them, I'm like,
why did we go through all that? We went through,
the hell that we went through to be scared. I'm
not going to give it that power. I'm not going
(36:34):
to give it that attention. I'm mad. I'm mad at
the MDS. I'm not going to I'm not going to
respect it by constantly thinking about it. And once I
say it like that, they're like, oh yeah, all right, yeah,
And that's how I look at it. I'm like, you know,
if you no, I'm not did it happen? And I'm
(36:55):
glad you asked that question because also people don't realize
and we're talking about a little bit more. Now. There
is a there's a depression you go through right after
you've gotten to the other side of fighting. And I
hear this over and over again. Everyone thinks you're so late,
like yay, I beat it. Oooh yeah, but there is
(37:16):
this there is this period of time that is it
going to come back. Oh, no one's checking on me anymore,
because you know, before the first year something, you're always
going back to the doctor. You have these regular checkups
and then they're like bye, bye, well have a nice life,
and you're like, well, well, you know you're not. You're
not looking at me every well, I'm supposed to this
on my own. So there's that fear that comes in.
(37:38):
And I've heard from many people and I experienced a
sense of depression for a period of time. So I
don't want to give the impression like, oh, you're going
to feel like, oh, you kicked its ass and you're
going to be fine, and and you're not. You're never
going to worry about it. It's it's a transition time,
and it's it's understandable that you would feel that way.
But I I I tell people, and I remember when
(38:01):
it was told to me, you're going to wake up
one day and you're not going to think about cancer.
And I thought, that's crazy. I'm going to think about
it every day I wake up for the rest of
my life. And I remember some period of time had
gone by and I was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
I thought I didn't think about it.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, And so that's what I tell folks too. I said,
you are going to get to a point that you
won't even think about it anymore. You don't believe it
in the beginning, but you get there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
And I think there's the depression, like you said, of
the attention and the love and the support and the
filling up in the moments when it's hardest and losing that.
But also there's sometimes survivor's guilt of knowing that not
everybody has the outcomes that you do, and knowing the
resources that you have and everything else. And sometimes people
sort of subconsciously without even realizing it, are just mourning
(38:49):
the idea that for others it doesn't go the same way,
and that you don't really have control over that. Always.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Oh well, I got to bring that up. Oh no,
But I'm glad you did, because it's it's true. It's
true it's like, oh, when when somebody comes up to
me and they said oh, they say to me like,
oh my my my husband or my child, whatever, you know,
they'll the name the person you gave them strength to
(39:16):
get through whatever whatever they were diagnosed. And I'll go, well,
how how so okay, how are they? They oh, they
didn't make it, and I go I just feel you know,
and they're not, and they just look at me. They
say no, no, no, no, but thank you you you
really you really helped. And I try to help them
by saying, you know what, your loved one unfortunately didn't
(39:40):
make it, but their fight was no less valiant than mine.
And I truly believe that. And so that has helped
me because you do go through this like wow, when
people come up and they say that their loved one
who was diagnosed at the same time or whatnot, that
they're but that they were always so uplifting. There's never
(40:01):
there's They never look at me like why did you
make it? In mind not, I'm the one who feels
that way, but they don't. It's it's it's an amazing
gift that they that they give me by sharing that.
But that's what I always tell them like their loved ones.
Fight was every bit as value, every bit is value.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Our former colleague Stuart Scott and his famous s B
speech said, when you die, it doesn't mean you lose
to cancer, and that we need to stop reframing it
as a battle like they lost their fight with cancer.
You didn't. You didn't lose it. You fought it valiantly
and and you won in the time that you had.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Yeah, And I made sure like because oftentimes we'll have
a script written for us and somebody else and it'll
be written, lost their battle to colon cancer, lost their
battle to whatever. I said. I never ever, you know,
never never, I've never never phrased it and refused to
phrase it like that. And someone losing their battle to
(40:54):
any type of cancer not true.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
I quote you all the time you said it earlier.
Make your message. Whenever I heard that, I was like,
that's it. That's it. It's so simple, and it's such
a mature and wise way to handle a struggle, but
it can be hard, especially in the early moments of
fear or illness or anger about something. So what's your
advice for folks who might be going through something right
(41:19):
now who haven't gotten to the point where they can
find their way out of it just being a mess.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
I have this little placard in my dressing room, this
too shall pass dot dot dot now would be good. Okay.
So the reason I bring that up is that it's
going to happen for you. It's going to happen you'll
you'll get to that place. My mom would say to
(41:46):
me when I was in a down place, like I
was just not, you know, feeling whatever. And I would
call her and say, you know, Mom, I'm having a
really really bad day. Things aren't working out. And she
would say, why are you still staying up? Go to bed?
You're having a bad day. Why why you go to
(42:07):
bed and try again tomorrow? Is something about the light
of a new day. So for someone to answer the
question that you just asked, I would say to them.
I wouldn't say go to bed, as my mother said
and her as only a mother can say to a daughter.
But I do say to them, delays are not denials.
(42:30):
I truly believe, and this is my spiritual being, believing
that there's a purpose and a season for everything, and
to trust that. And I think so many times we
put a timetable on how we're supposed to feel, or
when something's supposed to happen, or now is when I'm
supposed to make my mess my message? Or why am
(42:50):
I not feeling? Why am I not getting it? Before?
I was a little bit late in talking with you
today because I was meditating and I was an a
deep meditation, meditative state. And my wonderful assistant, Chantrey, whose
father was really Randolph by the way, she's said, you
know the great baseball player, that's his daughter. She's wonderful
(43:14):
and she gently knocks on the door. It's like, you know,
it's got to say with Spain, you're supposed to do this.
My point being quiet time. I need my quiet time.
I need my meditation. And that's something that I think
that more people need to do because you'll hear that
inner voice and we often do listen to it and
(43:38):
just just just have a little more trust in yourself
and just know that there is a time frame and
as my mother said, there's a season for everything.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Yeah, you had to go through your your wife being sick.
How different did it feel to have to care for
someone else and to watch someone else struggle, especially having
gone through it yourself and been on the other side.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
I hated it. I'm much rather I'm a better patient
than I am a caregiver. And Amber will be the
first one to say she's a better caregiver and she's
a patient she could be because I felt so I
had a better understanding of what it's like to be
on the other side of the feeling so helpless. But
(44:25):
she really taught me the way. She was an incredible
caregiver and so but as a patient, I was better
in that it came from my athletic background. I'm like, Okay,
my doctor, that's my coach, and the nurses they're the
assistant coaches and technicians there and and really approach it
that way. Amber, Sweet Amber, And there's the reason why
(44:48):
I call her sweet Ambers. She rejected every type of chemo.
She went into anaphylactic shock, I mean, all these things
and I'm freaking out, and she just went into survivorship.
I can share that she's now on the side of
survivorship and so it's been great and as her medication
(45:09):
is now limited. But anyway, I cried more, Sarah. I
cried more when Amber was going through and it was diagnosed
that I cried for myself and it just it really
gave me a better understanding of what it's like to
be that person caring for another going through an ailment
like that. And I'm glad that she kind of gave
(45:31):
me a roadmap on how to be a caregiver, and
I did my best to give her a roadmap on
how to be a patient.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
You've been together for more than two decades, but married
for just two years. You've got a big anniversary and
you're going to Rwanda. How do you decide that that's
the big trip? I'm going to Africa in September. I'm
so excited. But how did you?
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Where are you?
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Goda? I'm going to Cape Town in Botswana.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Oh have you been before? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (45:56):
But just Tanzania.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
We will be celebrating our twenty anniversary of our first
state in Africa. Amber loves to travel, she loves She's
been wanting to go to Africa for the long time.
And we were there briefly, and it's when I was
I was there, I brought a there Amazon assignment, going
to do something, and then there was a naturally, there
(46:21):
was some something that I had to leave her there
with the crew because something happened on halfway around the
world and she's like, you're leaving me here in South
Africa by myself. I'm like, sorry, dear. That was early
on in our relationship and she was much signed on
for but twenty years later she's still here. But it
was Giants of Africa. Giants of Africa. In fact, I
have their basketball.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
Behind you on the desk.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Yeah, Jerry, yes, yeah, A great guy. And so what
it is. It's a festival. So we're going for the festival.
And I was just this is typical me. I was
just going to go and then and then come back.
And was like, first of all, I'm going with you, okay.
Second of all because it's our anniversary. And second of
all said we're gonna go see the gorillas and I
(47:08):
so we're gonna go trekking for the gorillas. And I
wasn't going to do that. I was just I gotta
go do. I'm gonna go do the festival and I'll
come back because I have to wait back at work.
And she's like, no, you're not. I love that. But
see this is what I this is what I really
appreciate about her. She is just she's in northern California,
she's originally from there. She's just earthy crunch not earthy crunchy,
(47:31):
but just very in tune with.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
I consider those positives. So I'm allowing the earthy crunchy.
The older I get, the more earthy and crunchy I become.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
But it's wonderful. Tell me about your husband. What's he like.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
He's very tall, he's a realtor. I met him because
he was doing a satirical sports website in Chicago, so
kind of like the Onion for Chicago sports. So there
was a fit right there.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
I love that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Yeah, we're taking my mom to Africa. She's never been,
and my dad's never been particularly interested, so we always
like blocks it by making plans for other trips. And
we said, that's it. We're planning it. We're putting on dad.
If you don't want to come, that's fine, but we're
taking mom. So it's going to be it's going to
be awesome.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
I'm excited. I'm glad that you got do that, Sarah.
I did that, and with my parents, we it was
It's magical, very special and magical. Yeah, any place you
want to go that you haven't been yet.
Speaker 1 (48:27):
My next two top places are Machu Picchu and the Galapagos.
All my choices are places that humans are ruining, and
I want to get there before we keep you know,
affecting the wildlife and the nature. And yeah, the speed
round is how we're closing. So you've interviewed just about everyone.
Who were you most nervous to sit down with?
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Oh? Any politician? I still do this day. I always
have been, because it's just I don't I'm not a
political person. Just to see right now, I start stumbling
just the thought of talking with the politician and they're
so careful, and they're so and it's you know, it's
(49:11):
very rare that you would talk with someone who's in
politics who can just just answer the question, you know,
you know, that's all I ask. And sometimes it's like
they they know the answer even before you ask the question,
because they're just going to answer what they want. So
I get very, I get I just get very. I'm
(49:32):
just rather not.
Speaker 1 (49:34):
Who would you most like to interview that you haven't yet?
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Oh? Who would I like to? Well? I used to
say Nelson Mandela. He's no longer with us, but I
always wanted I always wanted to to sit down with him.
I just I just admired that man so much here.
He could have been somebody who was about retaliation and
he was about reconciliation. But currently, currently it's really tough
(50:00):
because because you get everybody.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
No I'm not.
Speaker 2 (50:03):
I'm not saying that, but there's not anybody that that
I look at, like a Nelson Mandela, that I would
want to want to speak to.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
Right, what's your most relatable flaw.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
My most relatable flaw? My most relatable flaw? Oh my goodness, oh,
oh my gosh. I'm never gonna ask that, and I
trust me, It's not like I don't have flaws. I'm
just trying to feel like, you know, they always feel
unique to me. Uh, I got you know, my most
(50:40):
relatable flaw needless worry and I and that is a flaw.
This it just drives me crazy. And sometimes I will
worry needlessly about something that never comes to pass, and
then I get angry because it's like all this wasted
(51:01):
energy you suffered.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Yeah, yeah, that's very relatable. What's your biggest luxury?
Speaker 2 (51:08):
My biggest luxury, My biggest luxury, there's very very There's
several ways I could answer that. My biggest luxury is
knowing I'm living the life I'm supposed to live and
I know I'm not trying to be like, you know,
funny or you know, trying to but that is a luxury.
(51:30):
I know. I know why I'm here, and I love
what I do and I'm I'm flawed and I love
every second of it, and I think that is a
that's a true luxury to fill. I like me. I
feel like that.
Speaker 1 (51:47):
Look you're Sally Field. They like me, they really like me,
but you're talking about yourself.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
That that, that, to me, is a luxury.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
What's your guilty pleasure? TV binge Ooh, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
A big TV binger, amber Is. It drives me freaking crazy. Sometimes.
I did the White Lotus. I love to be late
to the game. Yeah, a white Lotus. I want to
see the Resident.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
Okay, yeah, me too. It got canceled already, which is
a bummer, so it won't be back.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
I did the first two seasons of The Bear. Yes,
I love that Yellow Jackets. Yeah, but yeah, I'm not
a Yeah.
Speaker 1 (52:25):
Those are good ones. I like to be late to
the game too because I don't have that much time,
so I need everybody to tell me how great it is.
And then I'm like, Okay, I'll watch it. One last
question for you. If you look at Robin Roberts beyond
the news desk, you'll find fill in the blank.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
You will find I don't think people really you know,
they see me as being ernest and a thriver and
you know, spiritual. I did my morning message, and I
appreciate all that. I've love to crack people up. I
love to surprise people with my humor. I think people
(53:04):
would be would be very surprised that I'm not as
earnest as I come across to be. I'm not a
practical joker, and my dad taught me the difference. I'm not.
I don't like to be silly. I like to be funny.
There's a difference between being silly and being funny. And
that time with you has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
Thank you. It was so great to talk to you.
I always learned so much. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (53:30):
You're really cool. Sarah Spain, thank you seriously. When I
saw you at the w NBA All Star Game, you know,
in the pregame little area which was like a club, wasn't.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
It a yeah?
Speaker 2 (53:45):
But seeing folks, but I have I have the utmost
respect for you, and I think you said it well
how you mentioned yourself and Jamel there. We need strong
women like you that tell it like it is and
you're fighting the good fight for all of us. I
appreciate you, I really do. I hope you know that.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
Means a lot. It really does. I'm gonna clip that
off and that's me my morning meditation Robin Roberts. A Cool,
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(54:27):
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
(54:47):
from Avery Loftis and I'm your Host Sarah Spain
This show is independently created by iHeartMedia. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Is the exclusive advertising partner. It is intended for informational
and educational purposes only, and it's not intended as medical advice.
Please speak with your healthcare professional before making any treatment decisions.
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're taking
you beyond the news desk. It's Wednesday, September tenth, and
(00:20):
on today's show, we'll be skipping the need to know
and getting right into my raw and uplifting interview with
broadcast icon and breast cancer survivor Robin Roberts. It's the
latest installment of our series Life Beyond Living Beyond Labels,
a powerful podcast campaign brought to you by iHeart Women's Sports. Y'all,
I was so honored to get to talk with Robin Roberts.
(00:40):
She joined me for an intimate conversation about the strength
it takes to show up, especially when the cameras are off.
She reflected on her groundbreaking career in sports journalism and
morning television, the decision to go public with her diagnosis,
and how surviving cancer and MDS miladis plastic syndrome. Reshaped
her sense of purpose. We explored what it means to
lead with grace, advocate for others, and live a life
(01:02):
of visibility, both behind the news desk and far beyond it.
Our Life Beyond series showcases the extraordinary resilience and strength
of successful women, diving deep into their lives, highlighting their
personal journeys, passions, and the ways in which they're living
beyond the labels they've been given by others. My conversation
with Robin is coming up right after this, joining us
(01:33):
now a true legend whose bio is longer than Sue
Bird's list of titles, but I'll try to sum it up.
She co anchors ABC's Good Morning America. As a New
York Times bestselling author, was a groundbreaking analyst on ESPN
for fifteen years, including being the first African American woman
to anchor a SportsCenter. She's a member of the Women's
Basketball Hall of Fame. A Southeastern Louisiana University alum, she
(01:54):
ended her hoop's career there as the school's third all
time leading scorer and rebounder, and they retired her jersey
number twenty one. A breast cancer and Mayello dysplastic syndrome survivor.
She was awarded the Arthur Ashcourage Award at the twenty
thirteen SPIS and the NBA Saga Strong Award in twenty nineteen.
Named to the Out one hundred and twenty twenty three.
She's driven the pace car at the Indy five hundred cameo,
(02:14):
did Pitch Perfect Too, guest starred on Hannah Montana, guest
hosted Jeopardy. She's an honorary Harlem globetrotter, was once a
school bus driver, and she'll receive a star in the
Hollywood Walk of Fame next year. It's the one and
only Robin Roberts. Hi, Robin.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Okay, So we're out a time. Thank you very much.
I really appreciate everybody joining us and having you know,
drive safely everyone. Thank you, Sarah yep.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Like I said, like Suebirds titles, we could never list
them all. So great to see you, and it was
so great to see you at the WNBA All Star Game.
I love that you're able to stay connected to your
sports roots via GMA, and I'm wondering how you've experienced
the growth of women's sports from the GMA seat, whether
it's easier to pitch producers to get female athletes or
(02:56):
do live shows on site, like at the All Star
Game in recent year.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Well, it was great to see you too, Sarah. And
I have to say, I'm very, very fortunate that I
have a receptive audience with Good Morning America, the producers,
because our executive producer was there, Simone Swink, she was there,
My chief of staff was there, Ebony Griffin. They love
it when I say, Hey, can we go to the
(03:22):
WNBL Star Game, They're like yeah, because they know my
true passion and enthusiasm and the audience. Our viewers respond
as well, and they even say like, oh my gosh.
I mean they enjoy seeing me in different lanes if
you will. But when I'm in my sports lane, there's
like a twinkle in my eye. And I remember, Sarah,
(03:44):
I was hesitant about leaving sports, had been in ESPN
living happily ever after, was there for like fifteen years
and had done some crossover with Good Morning America and
ABC Sports and got the full time position or opportunity
to be the coacher with Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer
(04:05):
Good Morning America, and I was interviewing Billy Jean King
for something. I said, Billy, you know, after I did
the interview, I want to ask you something. And I
said to her, I've got this opportunity at Good Morning America,
and you know, I'm a little hesitant. You know, I
love my sports and I think in part I thought
she was going to say, you can't leave us, you
must stay where you are. No way are you going
(04:26):
to the other side, so to speak. And she was
just the opposite. She's like, what are you nuts? She said,
it's a bigger pla. You're going to take us with
you. You're not leaving us. You're taking us with you. And
that's that's how I look at it.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
You're feeding into my already very robust narrative that Billy
Jean King is everywhere and a part of everything. She's
the Forrest Gump of women's sports and women's sports stars.
She's always everywhere giving advice and leading people the right way,
which I love. So thirty years at ABC, how do
you keep the excitement and enthusiasm for the gig?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
H You know, they're peaks and valleys, you know, over
the over the decades, But at the end of the day,
I couldn't imagine doing anything else. It brings me immense
joy to like I said, like just to be this
(05:25):
past weekend at the WNBA All Star Game in Indianapolis
and so many people coming up to me and sharing
stories of the connection that we've had over the years,
both people uh, former athletes and coaches and you know,
people on the street. And I filled this connection and
I'm drawn to it, and I no two days are
(05:51):
the same. I guess that's why it's it still seems
fresh there. No two days are really the same. Everything's
always always different. And just being just incredibly appreciative of
still being able to do the things I do when
you've gone through health challenges as I have. So I
had like a six month hiatus during those thirty years. Yeah,
(06:11):
or I was pretty much in bed recovering from a
bow maryll transplant. But I think that also gave me
a better I don't want to say, you know, cancer
or the health issues. I'm not one of those people
that that's the best dog on thing that ever happened
to me. Really, No, But what it did is just
(06:32):
it just enhanced what I wanted to do. It just
heightened my enthusiasm for everything, a greater appreciation.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
You know being sick is, of course not the same
as taking a hiatus by choice. But I've talked to
former USTA and WTA and Just Tennis exec superstar Stacy
Alistair about this, and she ended up taking a six
month hiatus during the peak of her earning and her
worth as an executive because of a personal loss and
(07:03):
sort of how it made her think differently about life
and work and career. And she now says everybody, but
especially women, at a certain point in their life, should
stop the roller coaster, take six months and then decide
do I want to get back on it? And there's
so much fear in that, of course, but I think
without having to leave, and obviously for other scarier reasons,
(07:24):
you got that break. But to your point, then you
come back and say, I still want to be here.
I got away from it and I still want to
be here, which is hard to do when you're on
the roller coaster.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
It really is. But I also remember when the doctor
told me, he says, you're going to have to have
a bone marrow transplant in order to live. When he
said to me, you're going to be out of work
for six months, I remember I shot out of my chair.
I was like, I was more worried about that then
the bone mail transplant. Isn't that silly? Then? I was
(07:55):
more like, I can't be out of work for six months.
You got to be kidney by. And I look back,
I'm like, Wow, Robin, that's really how I really. That
was really telling to me that I was more worried
or more had put more energy into not being able
to work for six months as opposed to well, one
(08:15):
of the reasons why kids, you're fighting for your life
because you right, you know, so, I really do believe
that if you are able, if you're for whatever reason,
if you're able, not six months that might be a
little much, but just to be able to take a
little I was when we did the All Star Game
(08:35):
and we were showing video of the first one and
I was there, Pat Summit was my color analyst, Whitney
Houston saying the national anthem. I didn't remember that until
I saw the video. How sad is that? Wow? Yes,
Because at that time, nineteen ninety seven, I'm still on
(08:57):
that roller coaster. I'm still like, you know, I just
wanted b BBB go, go, go go, And I'm looking
at the video and I'm like, Wow, that summit was
my color analyst Whitney Houston say the national anthem and
I wasn't. I didn't remember it until I actually saw
the video. Again, shame on me. And so I do
(09:19):
have this because of going through that time off. Now
I just really relish those moments and so if as
especially as women, especially young and you know we're on
that roller coaster. We want to get to to where
we're going. And I know that it's something that served me. Well,
(09:40):
everybody's got something, Sarah, and if you don't understand why
it was placed in your path, what you're supposed to
learn from that something be a cancer, divorce, unemployment, I
don't care what it is, learn from it and and
share that lesson with others. If you don't do that,
that's a tragedy, not the actual event.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Let's talk about some of the things you've been handed,
the somethings that you've had. You were diagnosed with triple
negative breast cancer in two thousand and seven. You underwent surgery,
chemote therapy, radiation. You shared your journey with viewers and
encouraged folks to get screened and get tested. Did you
know immediately when you got that diagnosis that you wanted
to go on that journey publicly.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
I'm sorry, No, come on, Sarah, I mean Roberts.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
I wouldn't be surprised if you were like, all right,
I'm taking this on for the world. Oh you know,
I'm going to make teach everyone with this page.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
No, No, it's a fair question because because you know why,
because I think you're looking at it through the lens
of twenty twenty five and not two thousand and seven,
where you didn't really share. Now it's like you share
everything everybody's like, but back then you really you really didn't.
(10:55):
But what helped me be able to share was two
thousand and five was Hurricane Katrina that coming along, and
I had just been named this third anchor with Charlie
Gibson Diane Sawyer, and I've got the imposter syndrome, like,
oh my gosh, how did I get here? Hurricane Katrina
(11:17):
comes along? I'm from that area. I go down to
the Gulf Coast and the morning after and I hadn't
been able to find my mom, and I found her
shortly before we went on the air. And I get
back to the live location and I do a button
up like you know, this is the situation here on
the Mississippi golf coast. And then when my colleague Charlie
Gibson said, hey, did we able to find your mom?
(11:39):
And I just I couldn't control my emotions. I just
I just just the ugly cry for just several reasons.
I mean, it was just such destruction everywhere, and I
was just so grateful that I found my mom, and
I was I thought I was going to get fired.
I remember we went to commercial break and I'm like,
well that was really short being waker on Good Morning
(12:01):
America because they're gonna get rid of me now. And
people really responded, they were really grateful to see somebody
just be in the moment and share what they were feeling.
And so, because that happened two years before, at still
two thousand and seven, I'm diagnosed and I'm like, oh,
I'm a former athlete, I'm a little you know, I
(12:21):
you know, how what are people going to think that
I did something that I smoked or I did this
that which none of that was the case. And my
mother was the one who said, make your mess your message.
You know, you work for a company that's going to
provide you the resources you need to help you fight this.
It's not going to guarantee anything, but it's going to
(12:41):
help you. And there are many people who walk the
similar path who don't have those resources, who don't have
a voice, and so that really spurred me on. So
every time I did share something during my journey, it
was something that I thought could be beneficial to somebody else.
And I I, I can't, I can't say the individual's name,
(13:03):
but somebody, a very prominent athlete, is going through a
bow marrow transplant and reached out to me the other day.
No one has been made public yet, And because I
was so visible about my journey, this athlete was just
peppering me with questions getting ready for their procedure. And
(13:26):
so that was another reminder. That's why I shared so much,
because I wanted. I wanted if somebody else was walking
a similar path. I remember, I didn't have anybody to
call about a bone marrow transplant. I never heard of it.
This was this was now twenty twelve. It was the
very medication that saved my life from breast cancer, put
it in peril with my littis plastic syndrome, a form
(13:49):
of it's a blood disorder, and I I remember there
was like one book and I read that book and
it was scared the dickens out of me. And so
that was also another reason my motivation for wanting to
be so open about my journey.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
I want to get to the MDS. But first, I'm
curious if you've noticed over the decades a shift in
that appreciation of genuine emotion while covering news or while
being on the air, Because there used to be, to
your point, this feeling of you've got to be buttoned up,
and even in the sports world or the news world,
it was also never make yourself the story. But what
(14:25):
we're seeing now, with the bifurcation of media and with
people able to choose so many different places to get
stuff from, sometimes it is about not only do I
want the news, but I want it from you. And
sometimes that choice comes from being authentic and genuine and
in moments that call for it breaking down and in
moments that call for it being buttoned up. Have you
adjusted with those shifts or have you always done it
(14:47):
less consciously and more by feel.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
That's a really good question, Sarah very well put. Other
than my whiteboard that I had right out of high school.
It was like putting my little things on what I
wanted to accomplish, and it was said success. I spent
success at the top and I misspelled success. And my
mother was an English teacher and she was like, oh
my god, I spelled s u cess and that's what
(15:13):
I put, like, I want to work in a small market.
This amount of time medium marked da da da. But
that's only time I've been I want. And that's not calculating,
but that I had an agenda or I had a
specific plan. Everything else has really been very organic, and
I think the two compliment one another. You have to
(15:34):
have structure. I mean, I'm a former athlete, you know
how that is, and so I'm used to structure. I want.
I want to have structure, but I found that you
have to be flexible and marrying the two together, and
especially as a woman in sports. I remember the first time,
like I saw a woman's sports anchor. This was after
(15:56):
I had been on for a while and they had
on like a tank top or something. I was like, oh,
I'm gonna be wearing you know, because I had I mean,
I have all buttoned up and have a suit, and
I wouldn't I wouldn't have thought of like showing any
skin where you're not even wearing a dress. But because
we're talking to early nineties and that and to see
(16:17):
how it has evolved. And when I see the Big Three,
when I see l and Shaney and Andrea, oh my gosh,
they're just they're stunning and what they're wearing and what
they're saying, and it doesn't just it doesn't distract distract
or distract from what they're saying at all. And that's
just that's just one of many examples that you that
(16:37):
you see now. I'm so grateful of the talent, the
immense talent that we see across the board. And it
was a little bit different when I was coming along,
and so that's why I played it more by the book.
But when you look at just life in general, when
you think of you know, thank goodness, there was no
(16:58):
social media when I was come How many times have
you heard older people yeap, yes.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Myself included when I was in college. If we had
Instagram and all that, there'd be photos of me floating
around that I would not want people to see.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Oh now you're going to make me again.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
I'm talking about foam parties. And getting drunk and things
like that, not a not anything worse than that. But
I think your point is so valid. And even I
felt that coming up this idea of like you were
constantly being accused of having ulterior motives or going after
the athletes, or trying to be salacious or sexualized, and
you almost had to try to be asexual and and
(17:37):
be so robotic to avoid that that you weren't allowed
to be authentic. And what we're seeing now from the
Big three and others is this beautiful, genuine authenticity in
whatever form that is, which I love. I also think
to your point, there are people who don't trust themselves,
and so they do feel like they need to follow
a very rigid idea of here's my five year plan,
and then I will be here and then I will
(17:58):
do this. And if you are in with a self
confidence and a trust in your own gut and your instincts,
you can go with the flow and make choices along
the way that feel right in that moment. Have you
always felt that way, or is there a moment in
your life where you felt a sudden recognition that you
could trust whatever you believed was the right choice in
the moment.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
Oh my gosh, it's just a wonderful, wonderful thing about maturing.
I love it. I love it. I trust myself. I
was it always that way?
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (18:28):
No, not. I wouldn't say yes and no because I
was so determined to be a sports journalist, very determined.
And ESPN initially tried to hire me. It was four
years out of school. I was working in Nashville, Tennessee
(18:49):
at the time, had been working at two places in Mississippi.
Was in Nashville, went up for an interview, trusted my
gut and was like, no, I'm not ready. No, I'm
not ready. I want to have staying power, and so
turned them down. Went to Atlanta, Georgia for two years.
(19:11):
Actually it was a three year contract, and ESPN bought
my out my last year of my contract. And that
was when I knew I was ready. I was like,
now I'm ready. And when I tell that story, a
lot of people are like, you turned down ESPN in
the beginning? Are you what? Are you nuts? Did you
know they were going to call back?
Speaker 1 (19:28):
No?
Speaker 2 (19:29):
But I knew that I wasn't ready, and I trusted
myself enough to know that I'm going to put in
the work and it's going to happen. And so so
I did have I did have an inkling of that
kind of inner belief and trust that only continued to
(19:49):
grow and grow as I as I continue to take
these chances and be bold. And there was something that
I was reading recently, and it's about self worth as
opposed to self esteem, that it's more important to know
your to know your work, to know that you're worthy.
(20:10):
That's the word I'm thinking of, know that you're worthy.
And once I really felt that and knew that the
reasons why I was wanting the things that I wanted
and pursuing the things that I was pursuing was was pure.
It wasn't about money, it wasn't about attention, it wasn't
it was just about a pure love of storytelling. Pure.
(20:32):
I wanted to be a professional athlete, Sarah, you know
the ability we all did. We did, but we yeah,
but we but we all found a different way to
do that. And so I think that that I think
also being an athlete, as you were, it really helps
us to have a different perspective.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Oh yeah, a million different ways. Yeah, But I think
to your point, there's a very big difference between believing
that you're worthy and believing that you Now they sound
very similar, but if your approach is I'm worthy of
this versus I deserve this, you're coming at it very differently.
And I think to your point about being an athlete,
(21:11):
you can work your hardest, you can try your best,
you can do the most with what you've got and
still not win and believe that you're worthy at the
end and not say I deserved to get that metal
because I tried my best. No, you didn't. You don't
deserve anything, but you're worthy of it if you win it.
And that approach, I think is very different. And I
think you know what you said about saying no to ESPN.
(21:31):
We always remember the yeses, we almost never remember the nose,
but those nose can have just as big a role
in where we end up. And so for you to
say no in that moment and then get the work
you needed to come back and say yes later and
have it work out the way it did, who knows
what might have happened if you had had said yes
that first time.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
I have a pretty good idea, well what have happened
if I said you? Because I needed to grow up
and quite frankly, the ESPN needed to grow up. It was.
It was a very it was a very different ESPN
at that time. I'm doing well and great and all,
but it was just different. And John A. Walsh, John A.
(22:12):
Walsh was the managing editor when I when I the
second time around, and I couldn't sign fast enough because
he had a real vision who wanted to be sports journalism.
And but but you're absolutely right about you know those
things that I often say. This, I often say and
(22:33):
I truly believe I'm blessed. I have no doubt about that.
I'm blessed and I am. I am grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful,
But I'm never content and two and both can be true.
You can be blessed, me satisfied and ambitious. Yes, yes.
And I think sometimes it's women we shy away from that.
Oh that's you know, why am I saying I want this?
(22:58):
Where men have had no problem. They're the most unqualified
men that will go for a position, have no business
trying for a position, and they'll go for it, and
the most overqualified woman will go like, oh, I don't know,
I don't know if I'm I think we're getting away
from that. I just think that we see so many young,
dynamic women who are being bold and audacious and really
(23:21):
going for it, and so I love to see that. Well.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
I think there's a lot of representation that helps with that.
I don't think it's always if you can see it,
you can be it. There are people who don't see
it and still start it and make it happen. But
I wonder for you. I've always thought about so. Doris
Burke is a legend to me, and Doris changes the
game by being the best. Doris doesn't have a lot
(23:44):
of conversation about where she's been wronged or how she's
been treated differently as a woman. She just goes and
does the work. And then there's folks like me, my
friend Jamel Hill, We're going to get out there and
tell you this is wrong. Quit doing this to us,
give us this chance. Here's the things I've gone through.
Here's why other women can be strong even in those moments.
(24:05):
It's not just you, It's happened to all of us.
And I think both are necessary. Right to be a
model for what you can be in achievement, also to
speak up. You were the first black women to host
Sports Center. You were one of the first women on ESPN.
You have had these roles that maybe you were the
first or one of the first. How often did you
feel compelled to name that versus just do the work
(24:25):
and be great at it and have that be enough.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
It's funny because I was just talking with Salt and
Peppa and they're going into the rock and roll hall
I love my life. Oh yes, yeah, pretty good. Yes, yes, Sarah.
Before sitting down with you, I was talking to Sultan
Pepa when I was and they were pioneers, I mean,
especially in the eighties hip hop, these two women who
(24:48):
were doing it their way. And I asked them, I said,
you know, so many like the Missy Elliotts and many
who came after you said how much you were a trailblazer?
I said, when you were in the thick of it,
did you ever did you ever feel that way? And
they're like, no, you're just doing the work. I kind
of feel the same way. I don't really, Yeah, I
(25:09):
did that. I recognized I was the only one that
looked like myself in the building. Oh yeah, and the
proverbial you're going to be the first, but don't be
the last, you know. I remember hearing that speech from
my mom, you know, and she told all my siblings,
my two other sisters that too, who are very progressive
in their in their fields. But I never took it
(25:29):
on as a burden. I never thought of it as
a responsibility. I just wanted to do the job. And
but I did know that the margin of error for
me was less than my male counterpart, that they could
make a mistake and it would be overlooked and for
me it could be out the door. And again I didn't.
(25:52):
It wasn't like what was me? Whate was me? It's like, okay,
you know what I'm going to be. I'm going to
make sure I'm the best that I can possibly be.
So it helped in that regard. Now, I love it
when there's so many women who have come up to
me and have said, you know, they they watched me
and inspired them to do you know, X, Y and
Z great wonderful bat I do. I'm not I'm not
(26:13):
remember when Shaq was it Shaq? Who didn't know? Was
it Charles Barkley? I ain't no role model or whatever.
I'm proud to be a role model. I'm glad that
I could be a role model. I'm glad that I
could be able and as I had women and you
know people before me that really helped. But I never
really thought of it. When you're in the throes of it,
(26:35):
you're just trying to get to the next step. Yeah,
do the work.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
I want you to know that my husband and I
performed Saltan Pepa's Shoop at our wedding so I could
do the whole song, both parts and.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
Spindly strong too, because you know, they're suing the record
company because they want the rights back to shoot and
different songs, and so they're they're there. I love how
they're how they're even now twenty years no forty years
later since they broke onto the scene, that they're still
fighting and being strong women.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
We got to take a quick break when we come
back the rest of my conversation with Robin Roberts, so
let's talk about being strong. You mentioned your MDS. In
(27:29):
twenty twelve, you faced a second major health challenge. You've
gone through the breast cancer and now you're diagnosed with
my LT dysplastic syndrome, which is a rare blood disorder.
It affects the bone marrow and it impairs its ability
to produce healthy blood cells. How did you talk yourself
through this diagnosis? Because I'm wondering if there's any part
of you that questioned, is there some higher power handing
(27:50):
me these challenges? Did you try to find a reason
behind being continued to be forced to handle adversity?
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Oh? Wow, another good question, Sarah. With breast cancer, it
was pretty cut and dry with me, like I knew
what my message was early detection. I had had a roadmap,
had seen other people who had gone through breast cancer successfully,
and just wanted to continue that message of early detection
(28:19):
because that's what helped in my regard though it was
an aggressive form triple negative. When I was diagnosed with MDS,
my littlest plastic syndrome, I did look up to the heavens.
I was like, well, first of all, what what is
this and what am I supposed to do with it?
I had never heard of it. I didn't even know
what a bow marrow transplant was. And then that became
(28:41):
my message. And so for people now to know what
it is more so than they did when I was
diagnosed in twenty twelve, and to get people on the
bow marrow registry as I have and my sister has.
That let me know that, Oh, this is why it
was placed my path, that I was supposed to be
(29:02):
able to educate people. But I do have to say,
I know you're not given more than you can handle.
But I was like, dear Lord, you can spread it
around a little. I'm good, I know I'm strong. Okay,
I'll be fine if you want to spread it around
a little bit. But I was never like, you know,
why me, why me? None of that? But I did
(29:22):
I did. I have to say the second time I
was diagnosed, I did go to my doctor and so
I just so incredibly blessed to have such great health care.
And I was like, I don't want to do this.
I was like, I, you know, after what I went
through with I'm like, I don't want to do this.
And he said to me, I'll give you your life back.
(29:46):
Because I thought it was going to be one of
those things that I would go through this and I
wouldn't be I'd be a shell of who I am
and just a thought of it was just too painful.
And he assured me that I will give you your
life back. And when he made that promise to me,
I wanted to do the same for others and like
I said, this athlete, this world class athlete who just
I just this weekend had a phone conversation with this person,
(30:09):
and the way I was able to talk to this
person because of sharing my journey and because of what
was given to me. I'm forever grateful that I've been.
It is a privilege to be a messenger, and that's
what I feel like I'm here for. I'm to be
a messenger, and my message is of hope and to
(30:30):
be a walking, breathing, living symbol of this too shall pass.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
After sharing your diagnosis of MDS, your story resulted in
an eighteen hundred percent one eight zero zero percent increase
in bone marrow donor registrations on the day of your
announcement alone. Unbelievable. I mean that, to your point, it's
a gift to be a messenger. And yes, of course
you're allowed to grieve a diagnosis like that and be
(30:58):
sad and feel like you're being handed too much, But
the way you handled it to turn it back around
and help others is really all you can ask for
in that moment, because it also gives you a sense
of power right that you're not beholden solely to this thing.
You are also in control of what you do with it.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
You know what, It's so true. It's the same way
why I shaved my head because my hair was falling out.
I was like, ah, no, no, no, I'll shave it Chemo, No, no, no.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
You can't quit me hair.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
I fire you. So but it's right because when you're
going through I don't care what it is you're going through,
be it a health crisis or whatnot. Whenever you feel
out of control, whenever you feel that things are just
you don't have a control over those things. You can
control those things that can empower that you feel gives
you power you crave. And so that was my way
(31:46):
of going a hat. MDS take that. You know, I'm
gonna help my sister and I and others are going
to get more people on the registrate. And over the years,
we've had so many success stories on Good Morning America.
We've brought so many donors together with the recipients and
it's been one even my nephew, my nephew Jeremiah, who
(32:09):
I didn't realize when I was diagnosed, and he said
his mother Valin told him to join the registream. He
didn't really he was Balin told him, you're going to
do this, and he was a young he was like sixteen,
he was in high school. He gets the call. I
didn't know this. He got a call shortly thereafter, and
(32:31):
he was scared and he he said, no, I can't
do this. I can't do this. My mother put me
on the registry and I didn't. I can't do it.
And he lived with this for so long, and then
a couple of years we did this. This past year,
he got a call again and he didn't hesitate to
be a donor this time. And I didn't know about
(32:53):
his the first time around, and I said when he
was a was going to be a donor. I was like, oh,
you know, being a journalist, this is being great. Can
we can we document your you know, journeys to show
people what it's like to be a donor And he said,
I'll only do it if you let me tell my
full truth. I'm like, what is your full truth? And
he said that I didn't do it the first time,
but I was scared, and he insisted let that be
(33:17):
part of it because it's such a normal reaction for people.
And so I'm just really grateful again to be able
to just get the information out to folks and to
these stigmatize some things. And and my nephew did that
by saying I was scared. I was scared the first time,
but I thought through it this time, and you can
(33:39):
do it too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Courage is contagious like that, and especially if he frees
other people to be afraid first, and to have that
fear and to acknowledge that it's human to be afraid
and then.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Choose courage is contagious. I like that.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
It should be a book title, next book for Robin
and you can go there.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
We free.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah. You mentioned your sister Sally earlier. You got a
bone marrow transplant from her. What sort of feelings came
with that gift from her and that ask of her?
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yeah, because it goes both ways. She's eight years older
than I am, and we fought a little bit like
cats and dogs when we're younger. You know younger siblings
as you do. I thought that my sister, who's closer
in age, Dorothy, was going to be a match. I
knew my brother, who's twelve years older because of his age,
(34:32):
was going to be disqualified, but I thought Dorothy would
be the donor. And when it came back to be
Sally Anne. I was like, oh wow, okay, and I
remember calling her and saying that everything has come through
and you're a match. Do you want to do this
because you have to ask, can't just assume, And when
(34:55):
she responded, it's not only something I want to do,
it's something I really feel like I was born to do.
I felt that I was the reason I was born
was to save my baby, my baby sister's life. So
excuse me. So when you have a sibling who says
that and feels that way, uh wow. It's still to
(35:18):
this day when I think about it, as you can
hear my voice, it gets to me and it's a
it's it's a gift that I could never and not
that she would ever want me to repay, but you
got to repay somebody for saving your life. And that
they had that attitude of oh right, you not like okay, well,
you know, being forced into it, but just really feeling
(35:40):
that that that was the purpose why they were put
on the surf. It's pretty powerful.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
It is, yeah, you have you're making me cry now,
I have a I have a I'm like, you know,
people yawn when they see someone else yon, I pretty
much cry. If anybody cries anywhere near me, it's problem.
You know, after those diagnoses, it's it's hard probably to
feel like it's behind me now. So are you able
to live without fear of what's next of a recurrence
(36:06):
of one of those? And how did you have to
do the work to find that piece? If you found it,
you don't.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Go through And this is what I tell folks who
who reach out and are on the other side, and
they're like, I'm fearful it's going to come back. How
did you get past it? And I tell them, I'm like,
why did we go through all that? We went through,
the hell that we went through to be scared. I'm
not going to give it that power. I'm not going
(36:34):
to give it that attention. I'm mad. I'm mad at
the MDS. I'm not going to I'm not going to
respect it by constantly thinking about it. And once I
say it like that, they're like, oh yeah, all right, yeah,
And that's how I look at it. I'm like, you know,
if you no, I'm not did it happen? And I'm
(36:55):
glad you asked that question because also people don't realize
and we're talking about a little bit more. Now. There
is a there's a depression you go through right after
you've gotten to the other side of fighting. And I
hear this over and over again. Everyone thinks you're so late,
like yay, I beat it. Oooh yeah, but there is
(37:16):
this there is this period of time that is it
going to come back. Oh, no one's checking on me anymore,
because you know, before the first year something, you're always
going back to the doctor. You have these regular checkups
and then they're like bye, bye, well have a nice life,
and you're like, well, well, you know you're not. You're
not looking at me every well, I'm supposed to this
on my own. So there's that fear that comes in.
(37:38):
And I've heard from many people and I experienced a
sense of depression for a period of time. So I
don't want to give the impression like, oh, you're going
to feel like, oh, you kicked its ass and you're
going to be fine, and and you're not. You're never
going to worry about it. It's it's a transition time,
and it's it's understandable that you would feel that way.
But I I I tell people, and I remember when
(38:01):
it was told to me, you're going to wake up
one day and you're not going to think about cancer.
And I thought, that's crazy. I'm going to think about
it every day I wake up for the rest of
my life. And I remember some period of time had
gone by and I was like, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
I thought I didn't think about it.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Yeah, And so that's what I tell folks too. I said,
you are going to get to a point that you
won't even think about it anymore. You don't believe it
in the beginning, but you get there. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
And I think there's the depression, like you said, of
the attention and the love and the support and the
filling up in the moments when it's hardest and losing that.
But also there's sometimes survivor's guilt of knowing that not
everybody has the outcomes that you do, and knowing the
resources that you have and everything else. And sometimes people
sort of subconsciously without even realizing it, are just mourning
(38:49):
the idea that for others it doesn't go the same way,
and that you don't really have control over that. Always.
Speaker 2 (38:54):
Oh well, I got to bring that up. Oh no,
But I'm glad you did, because it's it's true. It's
true it's like, oh, when when somebody comes up to
me and they said oh, they say to me like,
oh my my my husband or my child, whatever, you know,
they'll the name the person you gave them strength to
(39:16):
get through whatever whatever they were diagnosed. And I'll go, well,
how how so okay, how are they? They oh, they
didn't make it, and I go I just feel you know,
and they're not, and they just look at me. They
say no, no, no, no, but thank you you you
really you really helped. And I try to help them
by saying, you know what, your loved one unfortunately didn't
(39:40):
make it, but their fight was no less valiant than mine.
And I truly believe that. And so that has helped
me because you do go through this like wow, when
people come up and they say that their loved one
who was diagnosed at the same time or whatnot, that
they're but that they were always so uplifting. There's never
(40:01):
there's They never look at me like why did you
make it? In mind not, I'm the one who feels
that way, but they don't. It's it's it's an amazing
gift that they that they give me by sharing that.
But that's what I always tell them like their loved ones.
Fight was every bit as value, every bit is value.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
Our former colleague Stuart Scott and his famous s B
speech said, when you die, it doesn't mean you lose
to cancer, and that we need to stop reframing it
as a battle like they lost their fight with cancer.
You didn't. You didn't lose it. You fought it valiantly
and and you won in the time that you had.
Speaker 2 (40:33):
Yeah, And I made sure like because oftentimes we'll have
a script written for us and somebody else and it'll
be written, lost their battle to colon cancer, lost their
battle to whatever. I said. I never ever, you know,
never never, I've never never phrased it and refused to
phrase it like that. And someone losing their battle to
(40:54):
any type of cancer not true.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
I quote you all the time you said it earlier.
Make your message. Whenever I heard that, I was like,
that's it. That's it. It's so simple, and it's such
a mature and wise way to handle a struggle, but
it can be hard, especially in the early moments of
fear or illness or anger about something. So what's your
advice for folks who might be going through something right
(41:19):
now who haven't gotten to the point where they can
find their way out of it just being a mess.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
I have this little placard in my dressing room, this
too shall pass dot dot dot now would be good. Okay.
So the reason I bring that up is that it's
going to happen for you. It's going to happen you'll
you'll get to that place. My mom would say to
(41:46):
me when I was in a down place, like I
was just not, you know, feeling whatever. And I would
call her and say, you know, Mom, I'm having a
really really bad day. Things aren't working out. And she
would say, why are you still staying up? Go to bed?
You're having a bad day. Why why you go to
(42:07):
bed and try again tomorrow? Is something about the light
of a new day. So for someone to answer the
question that you just asked, I would say to them.
I wouldn't say go to bed, as my mother said
and her as only a mother can say to a daughter.
But I do say to them, delays are not denials.
(42:30):
I truly believe, and this is my spiritual being, believing
that there's a purpose and a season for everything, and
to trust that. And I think so many times we
put a timetable on how we're supposed to feel, or
when something's supposed to happen, or now is when I'm
supposed to make my mess my message? Or why am
(42:50):
I not feeling? Why am I not getting it? Before?
I was a little bit late in talking with you
today because I was meditating and I was an a
deep meditation, meditative state. And my wonderful assistant, Chantrey, whose
father was really Randolph by the way, she's said, you
know the great baseball player, that's his daughter. She's wonderful
(43:14):
and she gently knocks on the door. It's like, you know,
it's got to say with Spain, you're supposed to do this.
My point being quiet time. I need my quiet time.
I need my meditation. And that's something that I think
that more people need to do because you'll hear that
inner voice and we often do listen to it and
(43:38):
just just just have a little more trust in yourself
and just know that there is a time frame and
as my mother said, there's a season for everything.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Yeah, you had to go through your your wife being sick.
How different did it feel to have to care for
someone else and to watch someone else struggle, especially having
gone through it yourself and been on the other side.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
I hated it. I'm much rather I'm a better patient
than I am a caregiver. And Amber will be the
first one to say she's a better caregiver and she's
a patient she could be because I felt so I
had a better understanding of what it's like to be
on the other side of the feeling so helpless. But
(44:25):
she really taught me the way. She was an incredible
caregiver and so but as a patient, I was better
in that it came from my athletic background. I'm like, Okay,
my doctor, that's my coach, and the nurses they're the
assistant coaches and technicians there and and really approach it
that way. Amber, Sweet Amber, And there's the reason why
(44:48):
I call her sweet Ambers. She rejected every type of chemo.
She went into anaphylactic shock, I mean, all these things
and I'm freaking out, and she just went into survivorship.
I can share that she's now on the side of
survivorship and so it's been great and as her medication
(45:09):
is now limited. But anyway, I cried more, Sarah. I
cried more when Amber was going through and it was diagnosed
that I cried for myself and it just it really
gave me a better understanding of what it's like to
be that person caring for another going through an ailment
like that. And I'm glad that she kind of gave
(45:31):
me a roadmap on how to be a caregiver, and
I did my best to give her a roadmap on
how to be a patient.
Speaker 1 (45:38):
You've been together for more than two decades, but married
for just two years. You've got a big anniversary and
you're going to Rwanda. How do you decide that that's
the big trip? I'm going to Africa in September. I'm
so excited. But how did you?
Speaker 2 (45:50):
Where are you?
Speaker 1 (45:51):
Goda? I'm going to Cape Town in Botswana.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Oh have you been before? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (45:56):
But just Tanzania.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
We will be celebrating our twenty anniversary of our first
state in Africa. Amber loves to travel, she loves She's
been wanting to go to Africa for the long time.
And we were there briefly, and it's when I was
I was there, I brought a there Amazon assignment, going
to do something, and then there was a naturally, there
(46:21):
was some something that I had to leave her there
with the crew because something happened on halfway around the
world and she's like, you're leaving me here in South
Africa by myself. I'm like, sorry, dear. That was early
on in our relationship and she was much signed on
for but twenty years later she's still here. But it
was Giants of Africa. Giants of Africa. In fact, I
have their basketball.
Speaker 1 (46:45):
Behind you on the desk.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Yeah, Jerry, yes, yeah, A great guy. And so what
it is. It's a festival. So we're going for the festival.
And I was just this is typical me. I was
just going to go and then and then come back.
And was like, first of all, I'm going with you, okay.
Second of all because it's our anniversary. And second of
all said we're gonna go see the gorillas and I
(47:08):
so we're gonna go trekking for the gorillas. And I
wasn't going to do that. I was just I gotta
go do. I'm gonna go do the festival and I'll
come back because I have to wait back at work.
And she's like, no, you're not. I love that. But
see this is what I this is what I really
appreciate about her. She is just she's in northern California,
she's originally from there. She's just earthy crunch not earthy crunchy,
(47:31):
but just very in tune with.
Speaker 1 (47:32):
I consider those positives. So I'm allowing the earthy crunchy.
The older I get, the more earthy and crunchy I become.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
But it's wonderful. Tell me about your husband. What's he like.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
He's very tall, he's a realtor. I met him because
he was doing a satirical sports website in Chicago, so
kind of like the Onion for Chicago sports. So there
was a fit right there.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
I love that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Yeah, we're taking my mom to Africa. She's never been,
and my dad's never been particularly interested, so we always
like blocks it by making plans for other trips. And
we said, that's it. We're planning it. We're putting on dad.
If you don't want to come, that's fine, but we're
taking mom. So it's going to be it's going to
be awesome.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
I'm excited. I'm glad that you got do that, Sarah.
I did that, and with my parents, we it was
It's magical, very special and magical. Yeah, any place you
want to go that you haven't been yet.
Speaker 1 (48:27):
My next two top places are Machu Picchu and the Galapagos.
All my choices are places that humans are ruining, and
I want to get there before we keep you know,
affecting the wildlife and the nature. And yeah, the speed
round is how we're closing. So you've interviewed just about everyone.
Who were you most nervous to sit down with?
Speaker 2 (48:48):
Oh? Any politician? I still do this day. I always
have been, because it's just I don't I'm not a
political person. Just to see right now, I start stumbling
just the thought of talking with the politician and they're
so careful, and they're so and it's you know, it's
(49:11):
very rare that you would talk with someone who's in
politics who can just just answer the question, you know,
you know, that's all I ask. And sometimes it's like
they they know the answer even before you ask the question,
because they're just going to answer what they want. So
I get very, I get I just get very. I'm
(49:32):
just rather not.
Speaker 1 (49:34):
Who would you most like to interview that you haven't yet?
Speaker 2 (49:37):
Oh? Who would I like to? Well? I used to
say Nelson Mandela. He's no longer with us, but I
always wanted I always wanted to to sit down with him.
I just I just admired that man so much here.
He could have been somebody who was about retaliation and
he was about reconciliation. But currently, currently it's really tough
(50:00):
because because you get everybody.
Speaker 1 (50:02):
No I'm not.
Speaker 2 (50:03):
I'm not saying that, but there's not anybody that that
I look at, like a Nelson Mandela, that I would
want to want to speak to.
Speaker 1 (50:12):
Right, what's your most relatable flaw.
Speaker 2 (50:18):
My most relatable flaw? My most relatable flaw? Oh my goodness, oh,
oh my gosh. I'm never gonna ask that, and I
trust me, It's not like I don't have flaws. I'm
just trying to feel like, you know, they always feel
unique to me. Uh, I got you know, my most
(50:40):
relatable flaw needless worry and I and that is a flaw.
This it just drives me crazy. And sometimes I will
worry needlessly about something that never comes to pass, and
then I get angry because it's like all this wasted
(51:01):
energy you suffered.
Speaker 1 (51:04):
Yeah, yeah, that's very relatable. What's your biggest luxury?
Speaker 2 (51:08):
My biggest luxury, My biggest luxury, there's very very There's
several ways I could answer that. My biggest luxury is
knowing I'm living the life I'm supposed to live and
I know I'm not trying to be like, you know,
funny or you know, trying to but that is a luxury.
(51:30):
I know. I know why I'm here, and I love
what I do and I'm I'm flawed and I love
every second of it, and I think that is a
that's a true luxury to fill. I like me. I
feel like that.
Speaker 1 (51:47):
Look you're Sally Field. They like me, they really like me,
but you're talking about yourself.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
That that, that, to me, is a luxury.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
What's your guilty pleasure? TV binge Ooh, I'm not.
Speaker 2 (52:00):
A big TV binger, amber Is. It drives me freaking crazy. Sometimes.
I did the White Lotus. I love to be late
to the game. Yeah, a white Lotus. I want to
see the Resident.
Speaker 1 (52:12):
Okay, yeah, me too. It got canceled already, which is
a bummer, so it won't be back.
Speaker 2 (52:17):
I did the first two seasons of The Bear. Yes,
I love that Yellow Jackets. Yeah, but yeah, I'm not
a Yeah.
Speaker 1 (52:25):
Those are good ones. I like to be late to
the game too because I don't have that much time,
so I need everybody to tell me how great it is.
And then I'm like, Okay, I'll watch it. One last
question for you. If you look at Robin Roberts beyond
the news desk, you'll find fill in the blank.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
You will find I don't think people really you know,
they see me as being ernest and a thriver and
you know, spiritual. I did my morning message, and I
appreciate all that. I've love to crack people up. I
love to surprise people with my humor. I think people
(53:04):
would be would be very surprised that I'm not as
earnest as I come across to be. I'm not a
practical joker, and my dad taught me the difference. I'm not.
I don't like to be silly. I like to be funny.
There's a difference between being silly and being funny. And
that time with you has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (53:26):
Thank you. It was so great to talk to you.
I always learned so much. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (53:30):
You're really cool. Sarah Spain, thank you seriously. When I
saw you at the w NBA All Star Game, you know,
in the pregame little area which was like a club, wasn't.
Speaker 1 (53:41):
It a yeah?
Speaker 2 (53:45):
But seeing folks, but I have I have the utmost
respect for you, and I think you said it well
how you mentioned yourself and Jamel there. We need strong
women like you that tell it like it is and
you're fighting the good fight for all of us. I
appreciate you, I really do. I hope you know that.
Speaker 1 (54:05):
Means a lot. It really does. I'm gonna clip that
off and that's me my morning meditation Robin Roberts. A Cool,
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(54:27):
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones. Production assistance
(54:47):
from Avery Loftis and I'm your Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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