September 14, 2022 • 33 mins
Host Caroline Hendershot kicks off a new season of The New YorkHER podcast featuring a conversation with CBS Lead NFL Reporter Tracy Wolfson. Hendershot shares how she and Wolfson met and started their mentorship through a CBS immersion experience (0:46). They both reflect on their experiences at their alma mater Michigan and breaking into the business (6:31). Wolfson also explains her journey and obstacles from a journalism student to the lead CBS reporter (8:01). Then, they discuss the self-perseverance necessary to succeed (12:32) and they also discuss the path of women in sports (13:45). Wolfson shares a story about a big lesson she learned early in her career while reporting at the US Open (18:33). Wolfson then talks about her CBS broadcast team featuring Tony Romo and Jim Nantz, and they also recall Romo’s amusing pre-show tradition of singing (25:09). Lastly, Hendershot asks Wolfson about her opinion on this year’s Jets, from a reporter’s perspective, and as a fan herself – Wolfson believes they’re on the rise (28:18).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome into season three of New York Her. I'm your host,
Caroline hender Shot. I am so excited to kick off
this new season with my personal favorite, this new guest,
Tracy Wilson. Tracy, for those who don't know her, is
the best of the best. She is a sideline reporter
for CBS, but she also is a four time Emmy nominee.
(00:26):
She's been working on the sideline and with CBS for
over eighteen years. She hosts an all female sports talk
show called We Need to Talk and March Madness. She
does it all. She's a jack of all trades. But Tracy,
welcome and I'm so excited to have you on. Thanks
for having me. I'm so excited for you, and I'm
so excited to be here. Thank you. Okay, So, for
those who don't know, Tracy and I actually met five
(00:49):
years ago because we both share The best part is
we're both Michigan a lumps. So we met five years
ago and Tracy started a weekend immersion trip where you
select a student from Michigan and you take them through
a whole weekend experience with CBS and a game day
(01:09):
and what all of that entails. We went to meetings.
We start on the sideline. I was up in the
booth with Jim Nanson Tony Romo, your partners, for part
of the broadcast, and I got to go through that
with her, and it was the most amazing experience of
my life. And that's how Tracy and I met. And
I knew right away that you're going to be a star,
(01:30):
and I said it to you when you left that weekend.
I'm like, keep at it, keep going. You're going to
be a star in this business. And let me know
what I could do to help you along the way.
And you didn't really need my help. You did it
all out of the phone, and I am so proud
of you, and I just I use you as an
example to everyone who's done that shadow ships since thank you.
(01:50):
That's so sweet of you. It's a full circle moment
for us both. So we're both like very giddy right now,
if you can hear it in our voices. So just
bear with us through all the excitement. But I want
to dive into your career and just the insane path
that you took and just have maintained. You've been at
the top of your craft for a long time now
(02:11):
and sustained success, I think is probably the hardest thing
to achieve in this industry, and you've done it with
such grace. So I want to kind of go backwards
and see how that all came to fruition. So you
grew up in New York, and you you called yourself
you didn't know where your sports fandom came from. But
(02:31):
do you think growing up in the New York New
Jersey area kind of helped evoke that out of you.
I think, to be honest, I just was. I loved
playing sports. That's really where it started. I was, as
we say, a little tomboy growing up. My dad was
a Jets fan and a Mets fan at the time,
(02:52):
and I had a first cousin who was really into sports,
so every time I would go over to his house,
we'd watch the football games. But I kind of just
took it on myself, and I think I would find
myself in my room. I don't know why my parents
allowed me to have a TV set, but you know,
my parents didn't have the best marriage and their divorce
(03:12):
right now, and so I found myself kind of hiding
a little bit in my room, and what I would
do was watch sports that was kind of my outlet,
and so I would watch everything and remember like ESPN
Sports Center, all that stuff wasn't you know there at
the time. So I would watch every game, every you know,
Met game at the time. And it's a story for
(03:32):
another day that I've turned into a Yankee fan, but
I that fan and Nick games and Jets games. And
then I would watch George Michael's Sports Machine, which was
an old school sports center type highlight um highlight show
that was on at like eleven o'clock at night. My
parents never I would keep my TV on and I'd
(03:53):
watch from eleven to eleven thirty and get all my
sports information and and that was it. And then between
my love for sport, you know outside playing tennis and
basketball and softball, um, I just I just became obsessed
with it. And one day I would watch the NBA
Inside Stuff, which they really continued that show until just
about a year ago. But on the show is will
(04:15):
Obey and mad Rashad, and most you know of your
generation would know that from the last Dance. They showed
a bunch of clips of those two and especially a
mad Rashad during the Michael Jordan days. But I watched
that show, and I remember watching will Obey and saying,
you know what, that's what I want to do for
the rest of my life. I want to talk sports,
and she really inspired me to do so. And it's funny.
(04:37):
I've actually never had the chance to meet her nor
say you, um for giving me that dream. That's so funny.
It's it's I feel like it's always when you least
expect it. You kind of realize all of these people
that have come into your path that have influenced you,
and you don't ever expect it, and then you look
(04:57):
back all these years later, and that's like your biggest
role model in a sense these days, no doubt. And
it's funny because my role model now and one of
my biggest mentors is Leslie VISs A. Certainly paved the
way for so many of us, and Um, she I
talked to all the time, you know, we talked about it.
I say thank you. I'm able to see her and
(05:19):
give her a hug and appreciate what she's been able
to do for me. But there are other women out
there that we've all just grown up watching that you
nearly really never get the chance to say thank you too, right, Okay,
So you said your dad grew up or raised you
growing up a Jets fan. Do you have an earliest
memory of rooting for the Jets? It was really our
(05:41):
Gaston know was and you know Click Go like those
we're the two that I you know, grew up watching. Um,
you know, we would just sit on the couch and
and Cherman And of course we're still sitting together these days.
I will still get a text every of our Jets
or what change or what about the high or I
don't like this and I have to keep reminding him.
(06:03):
It's a really low process, like just understand, we'll get
that there one day. We really will promise you. But
you got it. And I think I actually think we're
in a really good spot right now. But you know,
those old school Jet fans, especially as you know, we
want it bad, we want it now right So, um,
there were there were many memories and nothing specific, just
(06:25):
really the time that my dad and I spent together, Um,
you know, watching those games and forming that bond together.
We're gonna get back to the current team at the
end of this podcast. But so you grew up, you
found this passion for sports broadcasting, and then you went
to Michigan. Why did you choose Michigan. Yeah, so I
chose Michigan solely because of the academics and the sports.
(06:48):
It was a great combination, to be honest. My family
really wanted me to go to a state school in
New York, and that's really what they could afford at
the time, but it didn't have big time sports for
me to be around. Knowing that I wanted to get
into this business, and so I said to my parents,
I said, if I get into Michigan, I will pay
my way to and from whenever I would have to
fly and get home. I'd work all four years. But
(07:11):
I really want to go there. I wanted to be
exposed to all of the athletics, but I also wanted
to have that top notch education, and so that's really
what took me there. I got in, and I did
pay my way, and I did um work every years there,
and you know, it was it was such an opportunity
to be surrounded by sports. And in the end it
(07:32):
really worked out because, as you know, you know, the
communication journalism program when I got there was there, and
basically by my sophomore junior year, it had folded. So
I wasn't able to take any classes in terms of
trying to prepare myself for an unair roll, and so
having the big Time Sports and ABC and CBS coming
(07:53):
to games there gave me a chance to really get
involved and get my feet wet, and then also get
some internships through the communications department there. Did you find
it hard trying to kind of pave your own path
because Michigan doesn't have a journalism program, so it's not
your typical explicit, step by step directions and how to
(08:15):
get this next on their job. So did you find
that a little bit difficult because you're not only had
to do with that at Michigan, but then again when
you graduated, because there was no next step after CBS. Well, wait,
it was figuring out a way to get in front
of the camera to achieve my dream, but at the
same time get experience and work. And I always felt like,
(08:38):
even if I never got in front of the camera,
I knew I wanted to be in sports, so I
didn't feel like I was, you know, taking the next step.
But it was difficult. I mean, there's a lot of
times where you just kind of have to, you know,
push through or accept a job you might not want
or move on when you're not ready, or just kind
of take the next opportunity and make the most of it.
(08:59):
And that's what I had to do. I mean, getting
an opportunity to work for CBS right out of college
was incredible. What I have liked to get on the
air right away, sure, but I didn't have a tape
to show for it. So if I didn't have a tape,
I knew I wasn't getting on the air. And then
I went to CBS. I was a researcher there. I
worked there for about a year, and you know, as
as a researcher, you kind of start moving up the ladder.
(09:19):
You go to a B A and then you go
to an A D and you know, like working graphics,
and then you go to be a producer director. I
didn't really want to be on that path, but I
was stuck there and an interview with um my boss
at the time, was saying, okay, you could take the
next step and you could be a B A. Let
you know. So I sat down the interview with him
and he said to me, you know, I know you
(09:40):
know sports, and I know you love sports, but not
like the guys do and when he said that to me,
my life jaw dropped and I'm like, you really say that.
You know, my first apperience of being a woman in
this business. But it was the best thing that ever
happened to me, Just like you said, kind of like things.
You know, you're kind of forced in different directions because
of situations that happened. So I left because I was
(10:02):
the promotion and at the time I left right away,
I got an offer from a friend of mine who
was leaving the company to work as an agent for
a year, and I was like, Okay, you know, this
is not what I want to do, but it's in
the sports field, it's representing broadcasters, it's a nine to five,
five days a week job in New York City, where
I was living. I'll take it. It it It was
(10:23):
great experience. I saw a different side of the business.
And then I was there and I got someone my
age a job going from I think it was Buffalo
to Philadelphia and they were already in the number one
market and I'm like, wait a second, I haven't even
got in front of the camera yet. So that kind
of forced me. I was like, where do I go
from here? And I got a job producing for a
(10:45):
local TV station in News twelve Long Island, and I
got that job because of my cover letter. They didn't
have a job for me. That hired me because they
liked my cover letter. They're like, we'll find a spot
for you. I produced, so I learned how to edit.
I learned, you know, visual really, how to put things together,
how to make a feature, all that stuff I had
missed out in college. I learned to do there. And
(11:07):
then I went out with a reporter and every time
he did a story, I did a story and I
put together a fake tape. Nothing ever aired, but I
just put it all together. So I had something and
I knew how to do it because I've been watching
so many people for so long. I just knew I
needed that shot, and that first had me to my
first job. Okay, I want to go back to the
(11:29):
thing your boss said to you of you know, sports,
but not like the guys. Has that kind of stuck
with you forever because it feels like that was imprinted
into your mind? Oh yeah, I mean I used it
every everywhere I go to talk about, you know, my
path or obstacles you have to overcome um certainly because
people always ask me in this business. You know what
(11:51):
kind of obstacles as a woman have you had to overcome?
And I've been very fortunate, but this one specifically stuck
out to me, and it was kind of like, you
need to prove yourself extra more because you're a female
in this business. With that being said, it was a
kick and a and a bike for me, though, because
had that not have happened and I had gotten a job,
(12:11):
I might be a producer right now or a director.
I might have stayed on that path of that ladder
because it was easy and I was already in it.
So in the end, it was the best thing that
ever happened to me. Right, Yeah, it was maybe disheartening
in the moment, but again, everything happens for a reason.
(12:33):
So when you made that tape and you knew you
just needed a shot, was that a hard waiting game
to play? Because I feel like from my personal experience,
that's you're almost your mind becomes your own worst enemy.
You know you can do it, but you just need
a shot, but it feels like the shot may never come,
(12:53):
and so you start kind of almost doubting yourself. Did
you ever go through something like that? I did? I
threw everything again into the wall and waited until something
stuck and got a bunch of got an opportunity. I
was interviewing for CBS down in Miami. Never felt, you know,
it fell through. I was interviewing out in San Diego.
I was with my husband at the time and or
(13:14):
my he was my boyfriend at the time, and he
didn't want to pick up, and I didn't really want
to pick up. But that, by the way, is a
side story. But having the support of that person that
you're with, because that could also derail where you want
to go, uh, extremely important. But you know, I kept
at it, and I found a really small station, a
(13:34):
mom and pop shop that wasn't going to cover college
or professional sports. But I got to really get my
feet with and just hone my crap and I did
high school and I did semi pro semi professional leagues,
and I did some colleges writer in College of New
Jersey and Princeton, like smaller ones, and that's where I
(13:56):
got my feet with. Though I did basically five minutes
of It's a Day by myself. I edited everything, I
put it together. The only thing I didn't need to
do was actually build the graphics and shoot, but I
added the graphics in, I did everything, and I had
my own sportscast, So what better experience than that? And
(14:16):
it really the perfect way to really, you know, get
my feet wet and then start building my my real
to take it to the next level. Was it everything
you had imagined going into that or was it maybe overwhelming?
Or do you were you wishing there were more time
for sports during your broadcast? Like what was your initial
reaction to that? So first things, I had no idea
(14:41):
what to have. This was a time where there weren't
as many women on the air, so I had no
one to ask, no one to say is this normal,
no one to say what should I ask for, no
one to say, you know, what shouldn't look like? You know?
Is this the same path you went on? Nothing, never
had anyone to talk to, so I had no clue
whether this was normal or not normal, or was it
(15:04):
overwhelming or not overwhelming. I was just going in it blind,
just doing it right. So, um, and five minutes of
sports today might not sound like a lot to you,
but in a local broadcast nowadays, it's a minute and
a hat. It's like nothing, you know, So to five minutes.
A local broadcaster who does sports locally on TV would
(15:24):
be like, oh my god, we're given five. So it
was my own show. Basically, it was to me and
I created the whole thing. So it allowed me to
really dive into different tasks that normally as a reporter.
I don't know if I'm at a bigger station if
I would have been able to do the other interesting
side of it, as I was in Trenton, New Jersey,
(15:46):
which is the cat Jersey and it was only myself,
a news reporter and an anchor. That was it. First off,
nothing ever was live. We taked Monday through. We built
broadcast for the weekend, so never relies. Everything was taped,
which is bizarre. And the second thing is if there
(16:06):
was anthrax in the post office, I had to go
cover news. If there was a fire down in Trenton,
I had to go cover it because they needed all
hands on deck. When the World Trade Center happened, I
covered blood banks while I was there, so you had
I did election nights. You had to always be ready
(16:27):
to news if you know, if there was the opportunity,
you know, came to be and they needed your help.
So that was kind of another side of it. But
it allowed me to kind of you know, see different
sides of the business and also realized I definitely did
not want to do news. Can tell you right, right,
But do you think almost with doing news and all
(16:49):
of those moving parts constantly and having to be prepared,
it almost prepared you for your career now with sideline reporting. Yeah,
I do think so. I think you had to you know,
think on your feet a lot um but the fact
that it was all taped and you could do as
many you know, you wanted, UM did not. So that
(17:10):
was a big adjustment because my first job after Trenton
was actually MSG Network where I was a host, and
then ESPN where was a sideline reporter for arena football
in college football and never been live. So my first
live game was in doing Kentucky Louisville like a big
(17:32):
rivalry with a Heisman hopeful this quarterback Dave We're gone.
It was a really big game and I've never been
live in my life in terms of being on the
sideline flow. Like, yeah, I did tons of postgame reports,
you know after a high school game, or you know
postgame interviews or pregame hits for you know, these semi
(17:55):
professional leagues. But that was it. So that big shock
for me going from Trenton to ESPN, and after I
had about six seven games, it was a small package
after that experience. And during that experience, it would be like,
you don't have to scream in the microphone that the
(18:15):
phone is, Oh, I need a direction. I needed help.
I needed tell me and teach me. But I didn't
get that. I wasn't getting that there. I didn't get
that and I had to kind of learn on my own,
and so I did, but it u it definitely took
me a while to get comfortable. Did you have other
(18:35):
than the screaming into the microphone? Did you have a
moment where you like really fumbled and you were like,
oh man, this is that was not good? Um, you
know remember in college if I did. But I did
have a really bad moment. I don't know if I
ever told you about it when I had started working
for So I went from ESPN one year to be
(18:57):
fired by CBS right after do that as the number
of order and opening happened, you know, and because I
had the connections at CBS, it came down to me
and one other person and I actually heard the story
now how like one of the bosses wanted me, one
of the bosses wanted the other, and as long as
I was with take a certain you know, pay rate,
(19:21):
they would That's basically how it works. And my agent
negotiated that certain pay rate and and I got the job.
But one of the first so I was really really green,
really wrong, like you know, so young and inexperience and
still learning. And one of the first few years I
got the job to work at the US Open, which
(19:43):
was would be my dream. I grew up a tennis player,
grew up going to the US Open with my mom,
and I have the opportunity to do that, and to
interview on Arthurs Stadium is incredible. So I got that
opportunity because Mary Joe Fernandez was on maternity fraternity maternity leave,
and she they gave me that option. So I got
to do that. And I was interviewing a player by
(20:06):
the name of Layton Hewitt who should have won in
three sets, and another play, Eller Dent, took him to five.
And it was a big deal. And so I'm listening,
as you know, you're listening in your airpiece to the announcers.
Mary Carilla was one of the announcers with McEnroe, and
I hear her talk about exposing his weakness for the
rest of the tournament, like how this, you know, going
(20:26):
into five sets against you know in a in a
max you should have won easily, would expose his weakness. Well, here,
I am getting ready for the postgame interview, sitting at
a corner, and you know this, it's like you're trying
to come up with the best possible question, right, and
you don't do like that, just toss up like how
did you feel? You know, you want to kind of
you know, elicit a really good response. So here I
(20:47):
am coming up with the question. I walk out into
Arthur Stadium, my microphone is to the whole crowd as
well as to TV, and ask him my first question
is are you concerned at this may have exposed your
weaknesses later on in the tournament. He looked at me
like with these glaring devil eyes like fire shooting out
(21:09):
of them and the whole place food at stadium boodini
for my question. Okay, So here I am like really young,
really knew at this. I'm just like, oh my god.
And of course I realized right away, what is the
question they wanted me to ask, is congratulations, you came
(21:29):
back from two sets to Love, you know, down two
sets to Love to win it in five? How did
you do it? I mean that's they wanted me to ask,
So of course I asked. And then I move on
and the U S t A looked at me every
walking off, they were like what were you thinking? It
was like a moment. So I get in and I
go into the green room and I talked to my
(21:50):
producer and he's like, look, it wasn't a bad question,
just bad timing. And remember you're not Barbara Walters. Now
Barbara out, there's no because of the generation, like one
of the best interviewers, you get the best responses because
she's asked. He's like, incredible intricate questions. Well physically like that,
(22:13):
I don't do that that I'm in place for that.
And I had honest Caroline like I didn't know if
I'd come back from that. It was really I was
so upset. I was so uncomfortable. I didn't know what
to do. And the way I got over it was
Mary Carrillo and a bunch of women have a group
(22:33):
and they called Carl's Night Productions and they meet a
lot of times, like after events and whatever, and they
had invited me and I had said to one of
my other the director, who is a female, who is
part of that group, says to me, calm Colm, Colm,
and I'm like, no, I can't go. I can't go.
This is miserable. I want to go home. She had
just calm, you'll feel so much better. I went. Mary.
(22:55):
Carla says to me, don't ever listen to anything I
say again, Tracy. Everyone picked me up, and you know what,
I moved on, and it's my story. But I moved on.
I could have folded, and I could have left and
said I'm done, but I had gotten too far. And
it's the moment that I had that I remember where
I and now I pride myself on the questions that
(23:17):
I asked yes. And you know, I think everyone, whether
this has yet to happen in everyone's career or it
has happened, everyone has a moment where they're like, oof,
I could have done this better, or I should have
done X, Y and Z. But it's all about how
you take it in stride and you move on from it.
And now you're obviously perfectly fine because you are the
(23:41):
lead sideline reporter on a great team with Jim Nance
and Tony Romo, and you guys make magic happen every
time you guys are on screen. So it all works
out in the end, but it does. But Caroline, I'll
say one thing. It doesn't mean you're not going to
mess up again. It doesn't mean you're not gonna extort
failures or mess up someone's name or say the wrong thing.
(24:04):
It's gonna happen. You're live, like you're you're live, trying
to come up with things and like ten to fifteen,
twenty seconds and that's all you're given. And sometimes it's
just not all clear. And sometimes just just like you
would say something and use the wrong term, sometimes it
just happens. The key is just getting over it and
(24:26):
letting it go. And first of all, and this is
a whole other topic, is you know, don't you know,
go on social media, don't follow yourself, don't search yourself,
don't read that stuff. It's all how you're gonna handle
it and how you move on. And I can tell
you when I make a mistake, it eats at me
for days, but I know that when I get to
(24:46):
the next game, it's all just it's in the past,
it's done it, there's nothing I could do with it.
I'm just gonna move on, right And like we are
all human, everybody makes mistakes. It happens, and it's all
about just moving on. So that that's always a good
lesson to learn, and I think you learned it early
on in your career. And like you said, maybe mistakes
(25:06):
never stop happening, but it's always how you grow from them.
So it's always good to learn that. But now you're
on the team with Jim nance Tony Romo, you guys
crush it. What is your favorite part about working with
those two because when I got to come and see
them for a weekend, they are a duo like no other.
They are just a riot in person and just their
chemistry really comes across the screen. Yeah, I think it's
(25:29):
g that they bring um. And when Phil and Jim
were together, I had such a great relationship with Phil.
It was different relationship though, because we would spend you know,
hours at night watching film together and I would learn
from him and we do that like Tony and Jim
and my relationship with our producer and our directors. You know,
we really have a lot of we have a lot
(25:50):
of fun together and there's energy there and I think
that shows on the broadcast. And um, I still learned
something every day from Tony and I asked him to explain,
and he comes up and he's so good at explaining
what's out there and what those plays are and what
it means. But it is that energy, it's the camaraderie,
it's the teamwork. It's how you know, they both utilize
(26:12):
me and embrace my role and it's a team effort.
And so I think that's where it comes from. But
it also stems from our producer and our director, who
are second to I mean, they are so good at
being inclusive, so good at making sure that we have
our Friday night dinners. Were all kind of laid back
a little but get to talk about the game, but
(26:33):
also get to know each other. So we do have
that camaraderie once we get onto the air. Do you
have a favorite memory of working with the two of
them on this team of NFL on game day? I
think my memory really just Tony in that first year,
specifically where I'd be on the sideline all of a
(26:53):
sudden I'd hear him singing in like at the top
of his lungs before a game, and he could Pladdy Gaga.
It could be Michael Jackson like you too, I mean,
you name it. It could be a slow song, fast song, rap,
he's screaming. And he would always say that it was
to get his voice, like going, get my voice going.
(27:17):
I did it as a quarterback. I'm going to do
it in the booth and we're like, I don't know
if that's such a good idea. It was always entertaining
because you didn't know what song he was gonna sing next.
It was certainly entertaining for me on the sidelines hearing
what he would play next. And Uh, that was just Tony.
That's just who he is. Like he he likes to
have a lot of fun and and he certainly brings it,
(27:39):
you know, to the air. I can vouch for you
because I remember when I was on the weekend immersion
trip with you, and I went into the booth to
watch how it operates from up there with Jim and Tony.
I walked it and he was singing at the top
of his lungs, and I was like, oh my gosh,
should I not be in here? Is he like having
a private moment exactly that it's kind of way from that.
(28:03):
So you witness something that no one else is really
going to witness anymore. Because I think realized it affected
his voice, Yes, because then you're straining it. Yeah, it's okay.
He he learned that lesson, just as we all keep
learning those lessons. But I want to end on the Jets,
and because you grew up a Jets fan, and what
(28:26):
you think of the new team that will not new,
but the second year team under head coach Robert Sala
and kind of what they've been building these last couple
of years, because I think Jet fans are really excited.
But you also have the experience and getting to watch
all of the teams up close and personal and the
vision of being on a sideline reporter. So what are
(28:47):
your thoughts on this new team? Well, let me first
night so hard for me because being a Jets fan
of chants to cover the Jets um and I talked
to you about this before we started the show. Is
we let's go because I want a home game, you know,
I want to guidelines at MetLife and you know, so
I'm all, I'm always rooting for my Jets. Of course,
(29:09):
I can't do it out loud, especially when I'm covering
the other A f C E S teams. But I
will say from watching and the other hard part is
you don't really get to know the team when you're
covering every other team in the league, or you know,
you really focus on those teams. So for so long
I covered so many New England teams with Tom Brady,
and now we're really on the you know, with the
Bills and Josh Allen, we got Kansas City. We really
(29:32):
as a number one crew follow the hot teams as
it goes. But I truly believe that we're going to
see more and more of the Jets and more and
more of the A f C East. Now, the allegiances
between you know, a f C, NFC, Fox, CBS, I
think they're gonna basically start going away, and we're seeing that.
So I'm getting a lot more NFC games, Foxes, getting
(29:53):
a lot more a f C games. But still a
f C rivalries and matchups are still gonna, you know,
be on our air, and it's just whether we get them,
you know, or there, or the one o'clocks or whatever
it happens. But from far and from talking to other
players and coaches in the league. I think everyone really
feels that the Jets are on the rise, and I
(30:14):
think they are coming off a really good draft. And
as I told you earlier, also with my father, I
would say, you've gotta temper your expectations here, you gotta
clear it all out and start again. And so I
think that's where they're at. And I think Zack Wilson
is a really you know, good quarterback that they can
build around. Now, certainly we have to see, but I
(30:35):
was talking with Aaron Rodgers last year and he is
a huge Zack Wilson fan, and so it was Tony Romo.
So the two of them, I really respect their opinion.
And certainly we haven't had that opportunity to be around
him enough. But I think what they're starting to build
around him is big. And when you have Robert Salad
the success that he had, um, I think you start
(30:57):
building that defense. Look, they're young, they're young, but this
is an opportunity in the a f C East right now,
that's it's open. It's open for the you know, and
we all know where Josh Allen and the Bills are
right now, you know, leading away, and of course which
hire going down to Miami with two but you don't
have Tom Rady in New England anymore, right, and mac
(31:18):
Jon certainly, you know, showed himself. But I think that
this is an opportunity for the Jets to take the
next step. I'm really excited to see what they do
this year. I really hope I get a chance to
be there, but I think the future is bright. If
you get a chance to be here, I'll make you
a deal. I'll save you a seat right next to me.
I'll make it nice and more money, some snacks so
(31:38):
that we can chat the entire game. How about this?
How about that maybe you're on Monday night or Thursday
night when I'm not working, maybe I get to common
just be a fan. Do you never get? And yes,
you can bring you can bring all the boys because
of course you're a mom of three boys, which I
don't know how you do it. You're sports world really
(32:01):
never ends. It's it's go go go through football season,
then basketball season, and then you're still go, go go,
while you're getting all of your boys ready and squared
away for summer and all of their sports seasons coming
to an end. It's just you really do it all Tracy,
It's very impressive to watch, and I'm even more honored
to know you and get to call you a mentor
(32:21):
and a friend. Well, thank you. I feel very very
fortunate that I could be a mom and I can
do what I want to do and be a and
and live out my dream as a reporter. And you know, Caroline,
I am so so proud of you, and if I
could do anything else to help you, you know, I
am here and I can't wait to see you. You're
the best. We will see you on the sideline this fall.
(32:43):
Can't wait, and have a great rest of your summer.
Good luck this season. Thank you. That's all for episode
one with Tracy Wolfson. As you can tell, Tracy is
not only a star on the sideline with what she
does with reporting, but also a fantastic human being, a
great mentor and friend of mine. We are so lucky
to have her on our first episode and for all
(33:06):
of our future episodes. Make sure you can listen on
I Heart Radio, Apple or wherever else you listen to
your podcasts. Make sure you like and subscribe for all
future episodes of New York Her, and we will see
you next time.
Welcome into season three of New York Her. I'm your host,
Caroline hender Shot. I am so excited to kick off
this new season with my personal favorite, this new guest,
Tracy Wilson. Tracy, for those who don't know her, is
the best of the best. She is a sideline reporter
for CBS, but she also is a four time Emmy nominee.
(00:26):
She's been working on the sideline and with CBS for
over eighteen years. She hosts an all female sports talk
show called We Need to Talk and March Madness. She
does it all. She's a jack of all trades. But Tracy,
welcome and I'm so excited to have you on. Thanks
for having me. I'm so excited for you, and I'm
so excited to be here. Thank you. Okay, So, for
those who don't know, Tracy and I actually met five
(00:49):
years ago because we both share The best part is
we're both Michigan a lumps. So we met five years
ago and Tracy started a weekend immersion trip where you
select a student from Michigan and you take them through
a whole weekend experience with CBS and a game day
(01:09):
and what all of that entails. We went to meetings.
We start on the sideline. I was up in the
booth with Jim Nanson Tony Romo, your partners, for part
of the broadcast, and I got to go through that
with her, and it was the most amazing experience of
my life. And that's how Tracy and I met. And
I knew right away that you're going to be a star,
(01:30):
and I said it to you when you left that weekend.
I'm like, keep at it, keep going. You're going to
be a star in this business. And let me know
what I could do to help you along the way.
And you didn't really need my help. You did it
all out of the phone, and I am so proud
of you, and I just I use you as an
example to everyone who's done that shadow ships since thank you.
(01:50):
That's so sweet of you. It's a full circle moment
for us both. So we're both like very giddy right now,
if you can hear it in our voices. So just
bear with us through all the excitement. But I want
to dive into your career and just the insane path
that you took and just have maintained. You've been at
the top of your craft for a long time now
(02:11):
and sustained success, I think is probably the hardest thing
to achieve in this industry, and you've done it with
such grace. So I want to kind of go backwards
and see how that all came to fruition. So you
grew up in New York, and you you called yourself
you didn't know where your sports fandom came from. But
(02:31):
do you think growing up in the New York New
Jersey area kind of helped evoke that out of you.
I think, to be honest, I just was. I loved
playing sports. That's really where it started. I was, as
we say, a little tomboy growing up. My dad was
a Jets fan and a Mets fan at the time,
(02:52):
and I had a first cousin who was really into sports,
so every time I would go over to his house,
we'd watch the football games. But I kind of just
took it on myself, and I think I would find
myself in my room. I don't know why my parents
allowed me to have a TV set, but you know,
my parents didn't have the best marriage and their divorce
(03:12):
right now, and so I found myself kind of hiding
a little bit in my room, and what I would
do was watch sports that was kind of my outlet,
and so I would watch everything and remember like ESPN
Sports Center, all that stuff wasn't you know there at
the time. So I would watch every game, every you know,
Met game at the time. And it's a story for
(03:32):
another day that I've turned into a Yankee fan, but
I that fan and Nick games and Jets games. And
then I would watch George Michael's Sports Machine, which was
an old school sports center type highlight um highlight show
that was on at like eleven o'clock at night. My
parents never I would keep my TV on and I'd
(03:53):
watch from eleven to eleven thirty and get all my
sports information and and that was it. And then between
my love for sport, you know outside playing tennis and
basketball and softball, um, I just I just became obsessed
with it. And one day I would watch the NBA
Inside Stuff, which they really continued that show until just
about a year ago. But on the show is will
(04:15):
Obey and mad Rashad, and most you know of your
generation would know that from the last Dance. They showed
a bunch of clips of those two and especially a
mad Rashad during the Michael Jordan days. But I watched
that show, and I remember watching will Obey and saying,
you know what, that's what I want to do for
the rest of my life. I want to talk sports,
and she really inspired me to do so. And it's funny.
(04:37):
I've actually never had the chance to meet her nor
say you, um for giving me that dream. That's so funny.
It's it's I feel like it's always when you least
expect it. You kind of realize all of these people
that have come into your path that have influenced you,
and you don't ever expect it, and then you look
(04:57):
back all these years later, and that's like your biggest
role model in a sense these days, no doubt. And
it's funny because my role model now and one of
my biggest mentors is Leslie VISs A. Certainly paved the
way for so many of us, and Um, she I
talked to all the time, you know, we talked about it.
I say thank you. I'm able to see her and
(05:19):
give her a hug and appreciate what she's been able
to do for me. But there are other women out
there that we've all just grown up watching that you
nearly really never get the chance to say thank you too, right, Okay,
So you said your dad grew up or raised you
growing up a Jets fan. Do you have an earliest
memory of rooting for the Jets? It was really our
(05:41):
Gaston know was and you know Click Go like those
we're the two that I you know, grew up watching. Um,
you know, we would just sit on the couch and
and Cherman And of course we're still sitting together these days.
I will still get a text every of our Jets
or what change or what about the high or I
don't like this and I have to keep reminding him.
(06:03):
It's a really low process, like just understand, we'll get
that there one day. We really will promise you. But
you got it. And I think I actually think we're
in a really good spot right now. But you know,
those old school Jet fans, especially as you know, we
want it bad, we want it now right So, um,
there were there were many memories and nothing specific, just
(06:25):
really the time that my dad and I spent together, Um,
you know, watching those games and forming that bond together.
We're gonna get back to the current team at the
end of this podcast. But so you grew up, you
found this passion for sports broadcasting, and then you went
to Michigan. Why did you choose Michigan. Yeah, so I
chose Michigan solely because of the academics and the sports.
(06:48):
It was a great combination, to be honest. My family
really wanted me to go to a state school in
New York, and that's really what they could afford at
the time, but it didn't have big time sports for
me to be around. Knowing that I wanted to get
into this business, and so I said to my parents,
I said, if I get into Michigan, I will pay
my way to and from whenever I would have to
fly and get home. I'd work all four years. But
(07:11):
I really want to go there. I wanted to be
exposed to all of the athletics, but I also wanted
to have that top notch education, and so that's really
what took me there. I got in, and I did
pay my way, and I did um work every years there,
and you know, it was it was such an opportunity
to be surrounded by sports. And in the end it
(07:32):
really worked out because, as you know, you know, the
communication journalism program when I got there was there, and
basically by my sophomore junior year, it had folded. So
I wasn't able to take any classes in terms of
trying to prepare myself for an unair roll, and so
having the big Time Sports and ABC and CBS coming
(07:53):
to games there gave me a chance to really get
involved and get my feet wet, and then also get
some internships through the communications department there. Did you find
it hard trying to kind of pave your own path
because Michigan doesn't have a journalism program, so it's not
your typical explicit, step by step directions and how to
(08:15):
get this next on their job. So did you find
that a little bit difficult because you're not only had
to do with that at Michigan, but then again when
you graduated, because there was no next step after CBS. Well, wait,
it was figuring out a way to get in front
of the camera to achieve my dream, but at the
same time get experience and work. And I always felt like,
(08:38):
even if I never got in front of the camera,
I knew I wanted to be in sports, so I
didn't feel like I was, you know, taking the next step.
But it was difficult. I mean, there's a lot of
times where you just kind of have to, you know,
push through or accept a job you might not want
or move on when you're not ready, or just kind
of take the next opportunity and make the most of it.
(08:59):
And that's what I had to do. I mean, getting
an opportunity to work for CBS right out of college
was incredible. What I have liked to get on the
air right away, sure, but I didn't have a tape
to show for it. So if I didn't have a tape,
I knew I wasn't getting on the air. And then
I went to CBS. I was a researcher there. I
worked there for about a year, and you know, as
as a researcher, you kind of start moving up the ladder.
(09:19):
You go to a B A and then you go
to an A D and you know, like working graphics,
and then you go to be a producer director. I
didn't really want to be on that path, but I
was stuck there and an interview with um my boss
at the time, was saying, okay, you could take the
next step and you could be a B A. Let
you know. So I sat down the interview with him
and he said to me, you know, I know you
(09:40):
know sports, and I know you love sports, but not
like the guys do and when he said that to me,
my life jaw dropped and I'm like, you really say that.
You know, my first apperience of being a woman in
this business. But it was the best thing that ever
happened to me, Just like you said, kind of like things.
You know, you're kind of forced in different directions because
of situations that happened. So I left because I was
(10:02):
the promotion and at the time I left right away,
I got an offer from a friend of mine who
was leaving the company to work as an agent for
a year, and I was like, Okay, you know, this
is not what I want to do, but it's in
the sports field, it's representing broadcasters, it's a nine to five,
five days a week job in New York City, where
I was living. I'll take it. It it It was
(10:23):
great experience. I saw a different side of the business.
And then I was there and I got someone my
age a job going from I think it was Buffalo
to Philadelphia and they were already in the number one
market and I'm like, wait a second, I haven't even
got in front of the camera yet. So that kind
of forced me. I was like, where do I go
from here? And I got a job producing for a
(10:45):
local TV station in News twelve Long Island, and I
got that job because of my cover letter. They didn't
have a job for me. That hired me because they
liked my cover letter. They're like, we'll find a spot
for you. I produced, so I learned how to edit.
I learned, you know, visual really, how to put things together,
how to make a feature, all that stuff I had
missed out in college. I learned to do there. And
(11:07):
then I went out with a reporter and every time
he did a story, I did a story and I
put together a fake tape. Nothing ever aired, but I
just put it all together. So I had something and
I knew how to do it because I've been watching
so many people for so long. I just knew I
needed that shot, and that first had me to my
first job. Okay, I want to go back to the
(11:29):
thing your boss said to you of you know, sports,
but not like the guys. Has that kind of stuck
with you forever because it feels like that was imprinted
into your mind? Oh yeah, I mean I used it
every everywhere I go to talk about, you know, my
path or obstacles you have to overcome um certainly because
people always ask me in this business. You know what
(11:51):
kind of obstacles as a woman have you had to overcome?
And I've been very fortunate, but this one specifically stuck
out to me, and it was kind of like, you
need to prove yourself extra more because you're a female
in this business. With that being said, it was a
kick and a and a bike for me, though, because
had that not have happened and I had gotten a job,
(12:11):
I might be a producer right now or a director.
I might have stayed on that path of that ladder
because it was easy and I was already in it.
So in the end, it was the best thing that
ever happened to me. Right, Yeah, it was maybe disheartening
in the moment, but again, everything happens for a reason.
(12:33):
So when you made that tape and you knew you
just needed a shot, was that a hard waiting game
to play? Because I feel like from my personal experience,
that's you're almost your mind becomes your own worst enemy.
You know you can do it, but you just need
a shot, but it feels like the shot may never come,
(12:53):
and so you start kind of almost doubting yourself. Did
you ever go through something like that? I did? I
threw everything again into the wall and waited until something
stuck and got a bunch of got an opportunity. I
was interviewing for CBS down in Miami. Never felt, you know,
it fell through. I was interviewing out in San Diego.
I was with my husband at the time and or
(13:14):
my he was my boyfriend at the time, and he
didn't want to pick up, and I didn't really want
to pick up. But that, by the way, is a
side story. But having the support of that person that
you're with, because that could also derail where you want
to go, uh, extremely important. But you know, I kept
at it, and I found a really small station, a
(13:34):
mom and pop shop that wasn't going to cover college
or professional sports. But I got to really get my
feet with and just hone my crap and I did
high school and I did semi pro semi professional leagues,
and I did some colleges writer in College of New
Jersey and Princeton, like smaller ones, and that's where I
(13:56):
got my feet with. Though I did basically five minutes
of It's a Day by myself. I edited everything, I
put it together. The only thing I didn't need to
do was actually build the graphics and shoot, but I
added the graphics in, I did everything, and I had
my own sportscast, So what better experience than that? And
(14:16):
it really the perfect way to really, you know, get
my feet wet and then start building my my real
to take it to the next level. Was it everything
you had imagined going into that or was it maybe overwhelming?
Or do you were you wishing there were more time
for sports during your broadcast? Like what was your initial
reaction to that? So first things, I had no idea
(14:41):
what to have. This was a time where there weren't
as many women on the air, so I had no
one to ask, no one to say is this normal,
no one to say what should I ask for, no
one to say, you know, what shouldn't look like? You know?
Is this the same path you went on? Nothing, never
had anyone to talk to, so I had no clue
whether this was normal or not normal, or was it
(15:04):
overwhelming or not overwhelming. I was just going in it blind,
just doing it right. So, um, and five minutes of
sports today might not sound like a lot to you,
but in a local broadcast nowadays, it's a minute and
a hat. It's like nothing, you know, So to five minutes.
A local broadcaster who does sports locally on TV would
(15:24):
be like, oh my god, we're given five. So it
was my own show. Basically, it was to me and
I created the whole thing. So it allowed me to
really dive into different tasks that normally as a reporter.
I don't know if I'm at a bigger station if
I would have been able to do the other interesting
side of it, as I was in Trenton, New Jersey,
(15:46):
which is the cat Jersey and it was only myself,
a news reporter and an anchor. That was it. First off,
nothing ever was live. We taked Monday through. We built
broadcast for the weekend, so never relies. Everything was taped,
which is bizarre. And the second thing is if there
(16:06):
was anthrax in the post office, I had to go
cover news. If there was a fire down in Trenton,
I had to go cover it because they needed all
hands on deck. When the World Trade Center happened, I
covered blood banks while I was there, so you had
I did election nights. You had to always be ready
(16:27):
to news if you know, if there was the opportunity,
you know, came to be and they needed your help.
So that was kind of another side of it. But
it allowed me to kind of you know, see different
sides of the business and also realized I definitely did
not want to do news. Can tell you right, right,
But do you think almost with doing news and all
(16:49):
of those moving parts constantly and having to be prepared,
it almost prepared you for your career now with sideline reporting. Yeah,
I do think so. I think you had to you know,
think on your feet a lot um but the fact
that it was all taped and you could do as
many you know, you wanted, UM did not. So that
(17:10):
was a big adjustment because my first job after Trenton
was actually MSG Network where I was a host, and
then ESPN where was a sideline reporter for arena football
in college football and never been live. So my first
live game was in doing Kentucky Louisville like a big
(17:32):
rivalry with a Heisman hopeful this quarterback Dave We're gone.
It was a really big game and I've never been
live in my life in terms of being on the
sideline flow. Like, yeah, I did tons of postgame reports,
you know after a high school game, or you know
postgame interviews or pregame hits for you know, these semi
(17:55):
professional leagues. But that was it. So that big shock
for me going from Trenton to ESPN, and after I
had about six seven games, it was a small package
after that experience. And during that experience, it would be like,
you don't have to scream in the microphone that the
(18:15):
phone is, Oh, I need a direction. I needed help.
I needed tell me and teach me. But I didn't
get that. I wasn't getting that there. I didn't get
that and I had to kind of learn on my own,
and so I did, but it u it definitely took
me a while to get comfortable. Did you have other
(18:35):
than the screaming into the microphone? Did you have a
moment where you like really fumbled and you were like,
oh man, this is that was not good? Um, you
know remember in college if I did. But I did
have a really bad moment. I don't know if I
ever told you about it when I had started working
for So I went from ESPN one year to be
(18:57):
fired by CBS right after do that as the number
of order and opening happened, you know, and because I
had the connections at CBS, it came down to me
and one other person and I actually heard the story
now how like one of the bosses wanted me, one
of the bosses wanted the other, and as long as
I was with take a certain you know, pay rate,
(19:21):
they would That's basically how it works. And my agent
negotiated that certain pay rate and and I got the job.
But one of the first so I was really really green,
really wrong, like you know, so young and inexperience and
still learning. And one of the first few years I
got the job to work at the US Open, which
(19:43):
was would be my dream. I grew up a tennis player,
grew up going to the US Open with my mom,
and I have the opportunity to do that, and to
interview on Arthurs Stadium is incredible. So I got that
opportunity because Mary Joe Fernandez was on maternity fraternity maternity leave,
and she they gave me that option. So I got
to do that. And I was interviewing a player by
(20:06):
the name of Layton Hewitt who should have won in
three sets, and another play, Eller Dent, took him to five.
And it was a big deal. And so I'm listening,
as you know, you're listening in your airpiece to the announcers.
Mary Carilla was one of the announcers with McEnroe, and
I hear her talk about exposing his weakness for the
rest of the tournament, like how this, you know, going
(20:26):
into five sets against you know in a in a
max you should have won easily, would expose his weakness. Well, here,
I am getting ready for the postgame interview, sitting at
a corner, and you know this, it's like you're trying
to come up with the best possible question, right, and
you don't do like that, just toss up like how
did you feel? You know, you want to kind of
you know, elicit a really good response. So here I
(20:47):
am coming up with the question. I walk out into
Arthur Stadium, my microphone is to the whole crowd as
well as to TV, and ask him my first question
is are you concerned at this may have exposed your
weaknesses later on in the tournament. He looked at me
like with these glaring devil eyes like fire shooting out
(21:09):
of them and the whole place food at stadium boodini
for my question. Okay, So here I am like really young,
really knew at this. I'm just like, oh my god.
And of course I realized right away, what is the
question they wanted me to ask, is congratulations, you came
(21:29):
back from two sets to Love, you know, down two
sets to Love to win it in five? How did
you do it? I mean that's they wanted me to ask,
So of course I asked. And then I move on
and the U S t A looked at me every
walking off, they were like what were you thinking? It
was like a moment. So I get in and I
go into the green room and I talked to my
(21:50):
producer and he's like, look, it wasn't a bad question,
just bad timing. And remember you're not Barbara Walters. Now
Barbara out, there's no because of the generation, like one
of the best interviewers, you get the best responses because
she's asked. He's like, incredible intricate questions. Well physically like that,
(22:13):
I don't do that that I'm in place for that.
And I had honest Caroline like I didn't know if
I'd come back from that. It was really I was
so upset. I was so uncomfortable. I didn't know what
to do. And the way I got over it was
Mary Carrillo and a bunch of women have a group
(22:33):
and they called Carl's Night Productions and they meet a
lot of times, like after events and whatever, and they
had invited me and I had said to one of
my other the director, who is a female, who is
part of that group, says to me, calm Colm, Colm,
and I'm like, no, I can't go. I can't go.
This is miserable. I want to go home. She had
just calm, you'll feel so much better. I went. Mary.
(22:55):
Carla says to me, don't ever listen to anything I
say again, Tracy. Everyone picked me up, and you know what,
I moved on, and it's my story. But I moved on.
I could have folded, and I could have left and
said I'm done, but I had gotten too far. And
it's the moment that I had that I remember where
I and now I pride myself on the questions that
(23:17):
I asked yes. And you know, I think everyone, whether
this has yet to happen in everyone's career or it
has happened, everyone has a moment where they're like, oof,
I could have done this better, or I should have
done X, Y and Z. But it's all about how
you take it in stride and you move on from it.
And now you're obviously perfectly fine because you are the
(23:41):
lead sideline reporter on a great team with Jim Nance
and Tony Romo, and you guys make magic happen every
time you guys are on screen. So it all works
out in the end, but it does. But Caroline, I'll
say one thing. It doesn't mean you're not going to
mess up again. It doesn't mean you're not gonna extort
failures or mess up someone's name or say the wrong thing.
(24:04):
It's gonna happen. You're live, like you're you're live, trying
to come up with things and like ten to fifteen,
twenty seconds and that's all you're given. And sometimes it's
just not all clear. And sometimes just just like you
would say something and use the wrong term, sometimes it
just happens. The key is just getting over it and
(24:26):
letting it go. And first of all, and this is
a whole other topic, is you know, don't you know,
go on social media, don't follow yourself, don't search yourself,
don't read that stuff. It's all how you're gonna handle
it and how you move on. And I can tell
you when I make a mistake, it eats at me
for days, but I know that when I get to
(24:46):
the next game, it's all just it's in the past,
it's done it, there's nothing I could do with it.
I'm just gonna move on, right And like we are
all human, everybody makes mistakes. It happens, and it's all
about just moving on. So that that's always a good
lesson to learn, and I think you learned it early
on in your career. And like you said, maybe mistakes
(25:06):
never stop happening, but it's always how you grow from them.
So it's always good to learn that. But now you're
on the team with Jim nance Tony Romo, you guys
crush it. What is your favorite part about working with
those two because when I got to come and see
them for a weekend, they are a duo like no other.
They are just a riot in person and just their
chemistry really comes across the screen. Yeah, I think it's
(25:29):
g that they bring um. And when Phil and Jim
were together, I had such a great relationship with Phil.
It was different relationship though, because we would spend you know,
hours at night watching film together and I would learn
from him and we do that like Tony and Jim
and my relationship with our producer and our directors. You know,
we really have a lot of we have a lot
(25:50):
of fun together and there's energy there and I think
that shows on the broadcast. And um, I still learned
something every day from Tony and I asked him to explain,
and he comes up and he's so good at explaining
what's out there and what those plays are and what
it means. But it is that energy, it's the camaraderie,
it's the teamwork. It's how you know, they both utilize
(26:12):
me and embrace my role and it's a team effort.
And so I think that's where it comes from. But
it also stems from our producer and our director, who
are second to I mean, they are so good at
being inclusive, so good at making sure that we have
our Friday night dinners. Were all kind of laid back
a little but get to talk about the game, but
(26:33):
also get to know each other. So we do have
that camaraderie once we get onto the air. Do you
have a favorite memory of working with the two of
them on this team of NFL on game day? I
think my memory really just Tony in that first year,
specifically where I'd be on the sideline all of a
(26:53):
sudden I'd hear him singing in like at the top
of his lungs before a game, and he could Pladdy Gaga.
It could be Michael Jackson like you too, I mean,
you name it. It could be a slow song, fast song, rap,
he's screaming. And he would always say that it was
to get his voice, like going, get my voice going.
(27:17):
I did it as a quarterback. I'm going to do
it in the booth and we're like, I don't know
if that's such a good idea. It was always entertaining
because you didn't know what song he was gonna sing next.
It was certainly entertaining for me on the sidelines hearing
what he would play next. And Uh, that was just Tony.
That's just who he is. Like he he likes to
have a lot of fun and and he certainly brings it,
(27:39):
you know, to the air. I can vouch for you
because I remember when I was on the weekend immersion
trip with you, and I went into the booth to
watch how it operates from up there with Jim and Tony.
I walked it and he was singing at the top
of his lungs, and I was like, oh my gosh,
should I not be in here? Is he like having
a private moment exactly that it's kind of way from that.
(28:03):
So you witness something that no one else is really
going to witness anymore. Because I think realized it affected
his voice, Yes, because then you're straining it. Yeah, it's okay.
He he learned that lesson, just as we all keep
learning those lessons. But I want to end on the Jets,
and because you grew up a Jets fan, and what
(28:26):
you think of the new team that will not new,
but the second year team under head coach Robert Sala
and kind of what they've been building these last couple
of years, because I think Jet fans are really excited.
But you also have the experience and getting to watch
all of the teams up close and personal and the
vision of being on a sideline reporter. So what are
(28:47):
your thoughts on this new team? Well, let me first
night so hard for me because being a Jets fan
of chants to cover the Jets um and I talked
to you about this before we started the show. Is
we let's go because I want a home game, you know,
I want to guidelines at MetLife and you know, so
I'm all, I'm always rooting for my Jets. Of course,
(29:09):
I can't do it out loud, especially when I'm covering
the other A f C E S teams. But I
will say from watching and the other hard part is
you don't really get to know the team when you're
covering every other team in the league, or you know,
you really focus on those teams. So for so long
I covered so many New England teams with Tom Brady,
and now we're really on the you know, with the
Bills and Josh Allen, we got Kansas City. We really
(29:32):
as a number one crew follow the hot teams as
it goes. But I truly believe that we're going to
see more and more of the Jets and more and
more of the A f C East. Now, the allegiances
between you know, a f C, NFC, Fox, CBS, I
think they're gonna basically start going away, and we're seeing that.
So I'm getting a lot more NFC games, Foxes, getting
(29:53):
a lot more a f C games. But still a
f C rivalries and matchups are still gonna, you know,
be on our air, and it's just whether we get them,
you know, or there, or the one o'clocks or whatever
it happens. But from far and from talking to other
players and coaches in the league. I think everyone really
feels that the Jets are on the rise, and I
(30:14):
think they are coming off a really good draft. And
as I told you earlier, also with my father, I
would say, you've gotta temper your expectations here, you gotta
clear it all out and start again. And so I
think that's where they're at. And I think Zack Wilson
is a really you know, good quarterback that they can
build around. Now, certainly we have to see, but I
(30:35):
was talking with Aaron Rodgers last year and he is
a huge Zack Wilson fan, and so it was Tony Romo.
So the two of them, I really respect their opinion.
And certainly we haven't had that opportunity to be around
him enough. But I think what they're starting to build
around him is big. And when you have Robert Salad
the success that he had, um, I think you start
(30:57):
building that defense. Look, they're young, they're young, but this
is an opportunity in the a f C East right now,
that's it's open. It's open for the you know, and
we all know where Josh Allen and the Bills are
right now, you know, leading away, and of course which
hire going down to Miami with two but you don't
have Tom Rady in New England anymore, right, and mac
(31:18):
Jon certainly, you know, showed himself. But I think that
this is an opportunity for the Jets to take the
next step. I'm really excited to see what they do
this year. I really hope I get a chance to
be there, but I think the future is bright. If
you get a chance to be here, I'll make you
a deal. I'll save you a seat right next to me.
I'll make it nice and more money, some snacks so
(31:38):
that we can chat the entire game. How about this?
How about that maybe you're on Monday night or Thursday
night when I'm not working, maybe I get to common
just be a fan. Do you never get? And yes,
you can bring you can bring all the boys because
of course you're a mom of three boys, which I
don't know how you do it. You're sports world really
(32:01):
never ends. It's it's go go go through football season,
then basketball season, and then you're still go, go go,
while you're getting all of your boys ready and squared
away for summer and all of their sports seasons coming
to an end. It's just you really do it all Tracy,
It's very impressive to watch, and I'm even more honored
to know you and get to call you a mentor
(32:21):
and a friend. Well, thank you. I feel very very
fortunate that I could be a mom and I can
do what I want to do and be a and
and live out my dream as a reporter. And you know, Caroline,
I am so so proud of you, and if I
could do anything else to help you, you know, I
am here and I can't wait to see you. You're
the best. We will see you on the sideline this fall.
(32:43):
Can't wait, and have a great rest of your summer.
Good luck this season. Thank you. That's all for episode
one with Tracy Wolfson. As you can tell, Tracy is
not only a star on the sideline with what she
does with reporting, but also a fantastic human being, a
great mentor and friend of mine. We are so lucky
to have her on our first episode and for all
(33:06):
of our future episodes. Make sure you can listen on
I Heart Radio, Apple or wherever else you listen to
your podcasts. Make sure you like and subscribe for all
future episodes of New York Her, and we will see
you next time.
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