LISTEN | The New YorkHER Podcast: Ep. 16 NFL Team Reporter Series (Part II)

Host Olivia Landis continues a team reporter series on the New YorkHER podcast with a host of reporters from clubs around the NFL. Ravens team reporter Cassie Calvert, Jaguars team reporter Ashlyn Sullivan, Lions team reporter Tori Petry, Falcons team reporter Kelsey Conway and Eagles team reporter Amy Campbell join Landis to discuss a variety of topics about their experiences of being female reporters in the NFL.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome into the New Yorker Podcasts presented by Visa. I'm
your host, Olivia Landis, and for the entire month of March,
which is Women's History Month. I talked previously on previous
episodes about how I am going to be bringing amazing
women each episode this month to talk about careers and
journeys and just life experiences in general. And for the
for those of you who have already been listening, we

(00:24):
did something a little bit special a couple of weeks ago.
It was the Team Reporter series. We already got episode
one down and now I would love to bring in
a few more later, a few more ladies for episode
number two of the Team Reporters series. Ladies, thank you
so much for joining me, all of the wonderful female
reporters around the league. You can't wait to hear what
everyone has to say. Thank you guys so much for

(00:45):
joining me today. All right, quickly, uh, for everybody listening,
and I know there are also going to be people
watching as well, but I'd love for everybody to just
do a quick intro and then we'll get started into
the conversation. So Cassie, let's start with you. Hi, Everybody,
I'm Cassie Calvert and I'm with the Baltimore Ravens. This

(01:08):
will be my fourth season with the Ravens. So really
happy to be here. Amazing. Ashley, Hi everyone, my name's
Ashlyn Sullivan. I'm here with the Jacksonville Jaguars in a
radio booth. I was telling everyone this is a full
year coming back into the stadium. So very excited to
be back. And I'm going on my fifth season, which
is crazy. It feels like I've been here ten days

(01:28):
or ten years at times. I'm also I'm also in
my fifth season. I didn't know we came in at
the same time. That's so funny. All right, Tory Olivia,
first of all, thank you so much for having us.
I think we're all really excited to be here. I'm Tori.
I am the team reporter for the Detroit Lions. I've
done seven seasons with the Lions, so it's been a
really fun ride. And I love this group of women

(01:51):
that we have and I'm so excited to talk to
everybody today. Seven seasons, girl, That's that's where it's at.
That's what's up. Seven seasons strong, Kelsey On leave it
to the vet Tory to have the best most put
together intro of us all. But I'm Kelsey. I'm with
the Falcons. This is my sixth season, and like Tori said,
I'm super excited to be joining the rest of the group.

(02:14):
So Olivia, thanks for putting this together and having us
all on. Yeah, of course, and last but not least,
are wonderful Amy, give us a little intro. I'm Amy.
I am with the Eagles. I'm heading into my fourth
year with the team, and I'm really excited for this conversation.
I think it's so special that we all have these
relationships and that all these different teams are represented, and

(02:36):
I just love our little sisterhood that we have going on.
So really excited for the conversation. I know I love
this sisterhood, and we talked about it last time too
in episode one, and I'm sure I mean we talked
about in the group chat you guys saw on social
media and everything. What I love most about this, that's
a perfect way to put it to this sisterhood, is
that we are able to be in this together and

(02:58):
relate to one another through our experience is by being
women in these amazing positions. These amazing positions to be
able to be team reporters within the league. But it
brings up a conversation point that we all talk about
all the time. We're women in a male dominated industry,
and being that it is the NFL and football and

(03:18):
there are so many males in this industry, we've been
able to make some room for ourselves and we've been
able to grab some seats at the table and really
shake some things up at times. Right, So I'd love
to dive into this conversation about some of the challenges
at times and what it's like to be a woman
in a male dominated industry, because oftentimes I think there

(03:38):
are and we did this last episode broke down a
lot of stereotypes, or we broke down a lot of
things people may be thinking that we do or maybe
thinking are part of our jobs, but not quite. So
I'd love to start this conversation now, what are some
of the challenges that each of you have faced being
a female in a male dominated industry? And I don't

(03:59):
know who likes to go for this. This is going
to be an open discussion round tables. Whoever wants to
go first and talk about their experiences, Let's roll with that.
Anyone want to volunteer. I'll volunteer, Olivia. I mean, you know,
I've heard it said, like, you know, as women, we
don't know what it's like to be a man in
the sports industry, but we can attest to what it's

(04:20):
like to be a woman, and you know, it definitely
comes with its challenges. And in my experience, and I
think in in a lot of other women's experience in sports,
is that the coaches and athletes are sometimes the most
open to it because they've been around it pretty much
their entire athletic careers, and so they tend to not
look at us any differently than you know, anyone else would.

(04:42):
I think that where it becomes challenging is being able
to win the trust of of the fans and to
be able to show that, hey, we belong at this
seat at the table, that that we have earned. And
you know, I love that that you said, like, you know,
we've we've been able to get that seat at the table.
And I love that expression because I want, I want
are women to know that like, just because these women

(05:02):
have a seat at the table doesn't mean that there's
not a seat for you. And I think that that's
something that has been really cool about the sisterhood that
has come from this group of team reporters. Is just
being encouraging that there's always another seat at the table. Yeah, absolutely.
And I think some something interesting that you mentioned. You said, um,
you know, you being the seat at the table, like
you said, bringing that seat up and being able to

(05:23):
be here. But also you said, kind of proving yourself
to fans almost or or those who are let's just say,
people on the outside, people who aren't necessarily within the
industry right Oftentimes as a woman, you know, sometimes you
have to prove yourself a little bit more in this position,
and as unfortunate as it is, that's just kind of
the name of the game. So has anyone else had

(05:46):
that type of experience where you felt a pressure almost
that I have to work harder, I have to know more,
I have to make less mistakes in order to earn
respect almost from the outside. Yeah. I think one of
one of the ways that I would describe it is
that for a woman in this business, in the sports industry,
you're not you're not given the benefit of the doubt

(06:08):
when it comes to possibly making a mistake, pronouncing a
name wrong, uh, having a bad take. I think plenty
of people, men and women make mistakes. They pronounced names wrong,
they maybe read something incorrectly, or have a take that
doesn't pan out. A man is often given an excuse of, oh,

(06:28):
had an off day, but we know he knows better.
A woman does not necessarily have the benefit of the
doubt instantly. Mostly, I would say, from a fan perspective,
you're going to be called dumb or your looks are
going to be under the microscope at all times. Uh.
Men can get away with a lot more of how
they look on camera. Women are constantly, first of all,

(06:50):
criticized about their looks or complimented for their looks, which
should not necessarily be the first thing that people talk
about when we are giving smart commentary, UM about the
game that we all cover, and UM, I have found
myself I mean doing my homework, uh, preparing just as much,
if not more than possibly a man doing my job,

(07:13):
because I know if I make a mistake, I'm going
to instantly be considered dumb. I'm not going to be
given the benefit of the doubt, or I'm going to
be called like ugly or fat or what what have
I done with my hair or something like that. So
I think that is one of the challenges is as
a female, you're not necessarily given the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, yeah,
I love that point, Amy. I think something that we've
all talked about together a lot is the challenges of Okay,

(07:36):
I have to come and know my stuff, but as
a female in this role, you're also thinking, Okay, is
my hair perfect? Do I have any flyaways? Like how's
my makeup? And a guy can just kind of roll
off the field from the game into whatever role and
or from practice or whatever it may be, and they
don't really have to think about that. But for us,
there's all these levels of is my appearance being critiqued?
And on addition to what I'm saying, you know, but

(07:58):
you have all these levels that kind of a man
doesn't have to think about big time. I think it's
kind of hard for me, especially is I when I
got into this industry, I like, was always such a
tomboy growing up, and I didn't know how to do
my makeup and my hair, And especially during training camp
when it is so hot here in Jacksonville and you're
worried about the curls in your hair and you're trying
to worry about what you're talking about. It's just so

(08:21):
much going on. But I will say for me, at least,
I've had such a positive experience being a woman here
in Jackson that I almost feel like there's more pressure
coming in Olivia. I'm sure you can relate to this.
I came into this role straight out of college at
two years old, and if anything, I felt more pressure
being extremely young than being a woman. And I felt

(08:41):
like I was more towards that wanting to know my
stuff because I was the youngest person in the room always,
rather than it being a gender thing. Hmm. Yeah. When
I first started with the Falcons, I remember um I
took the job and when they were going through the
process of hiring me, the job obviously included being around

(09:02):
the team, so I would have to be in the
locker room doing postgame interviews, open locker room on Wednesdays,
Thursday's Friday. It's like, as you guys all know, and
before me, the Falcons had never had a female team
employee allowed in the locker room. And not to say
that they didn't let it, it just wasn't ever a thing.
There wasn't someone in the role that needed to be there,

(09:24):
so they had to go through a level of clearance
to do that, and you think, now, okay, that was
six years ago. Now you would think people are crazy
if they if they did that. So it's just while
there's still obviously challenges and everybody's job, it's really it's
really cool to see how much more normal it has become.

(09:45):
I think that I'd rather probably focus on that aspect
of it versus, you know, what are the specific challenges,
because I think obviously there's things that females have to
deal with, but everybody in any job has challenges they
have to deal with. But encouraging to see the progress
that the NFL has made in terms of women included

(10:06):
activity and just making it more normal. Yeah, I would
definitely agree with Kelsey on that one. I mean, being
in the league for seven, seven seasons in this position,
you know, I've seen it grow immensely over the course
of that time. I mean when we first kind of
started the sisterhood, there was maybe five or six of
us girls who became friends because we were kind of
working similar jobs. And now the sisterhood has grown to

(10:27):
being you know, girls strong, and I love seeing that.
And now we're seeing an actual push from the NFL
as well with female officials, female coaches. You know, when
I first came into the league, that wasn't a thing.
I remember when you know, the first woman was hired,
it was huge news. And now there are multiple teams
that have it, and you know, women won the Super

(10:49):
Bowl this year, so that's really cool to see, and
I think all of us appreciate how much it has
changed over the course of our time here. And it's
even like a logistical thing too, because like now when
you are on the road, there's a locker room for
female staff, and like when I first started, that didn't
used to be a requirement, but now like when we travel,
like we have a designated space, which I just think
when you see those physical spaces, it kind of reaffirms

(11:12):
that we've really taken this step forward because we are
literally up making a space for these women. You know,
that's just really cool to me. I remember being in
a custodian not a custodian it was the mascots locker
room two seasons ago. I won't say where, was only
traveling point with myself and one athletic trainer. So there's
only two female on the road for for us. So yeah,

(11:35):
it was. It was interesting. They the mascot had to
come out, so we should go in. Since then, it's
gotten much better. You know, you share the point. I
like that point. Um, go ahead, go ahead, Tory. I
know these extra points you guys are making. Yeah, it
was so much fun, you know, last week hearing some
of the stories from the other team reporters who shared
behind the scenes stories of being a woman in this industry,

(11:57):
and you know, kind of to that point about the
mascot law grow. My first road trip with the team,
I was on the team plane. It was a red
eye home from the West Coast, and I didn't even
know all of the players yet. You know, it's training camp.
There are ninety players on the roster. I had just
gotten there that week, so I was still kind of
kind of learning. And I was up on the plane
in the middle of the night and one of the

(12:18):
players stopped me and asked me for a sandwich because
he thought it was a flight attendant, because it was
just they just weren't used to having a woman on
the team plane, so it was just an assumption. And
I know he didn't need anything. I know he didn't
need anything by it, but it's just one of those
things like that would never happen now, it was just
something that you know, happened seven years ago. Well, I
think also that's an interesting point about I'm sure we

(12:41):
all have great stories about the many places that we
have had to change our outfit because there wasn't necessarily
a spot for for us. But the fact that there's
more of us, the fact that we have been invited
into these conversations, means now it's on the radar of
people who are making these decisions that this something important.
So when the Eagles first hired me, this was because

(13:04):
they look around and said, we don't have a woman
on camera. We have a lot of men on camera,
and this is important to our our organization to have
different representations, diverse perspectives, and diverse looks on camera. Which,
of course that was like right in my wheelhouse of
like this. Like when I went for that job, I
was thrilled because that was exactly what I wanted to represent.

(13:27):
But now that I'm there, the things that I have
flagged to them as things that I need extra time
for ara a makeup, I'm gonna need probably an hour
or two, an hour and a half when it's all
men in the room. They're not thinking, oh, we need
to give you this much time for this, But now
I'm flagging this is important. And so these spaces are
starting to pop up where oh, yeah, you do need

(13:48):
a different place to change great. And so the fact
that there are more of us, we're bringing these leads
up that the other perspective just didn't see as something
important because it didn't affect them at the time. So
it is really cool to start to see those things.
But also these stories of mascot locker rooms are hilarious
and forever I changed in the in the bathroom of

(14:08):
the Greyhound plus one time. That was probably the most
unpleasant challenge. I'm sure we've all got lots of stories
about that stuff. Yeah, and we can. And actually, at
the very end, I'd love to get to some of
the uh I did this with the ladies in the
last um the last episode, the episode one of the
Team Reporter series, we talked about untold stories in the NFL,
and I'm telling you, some of these stories are so funny.

(14:29):
But while we're still on the topic, I actually loved
the change in pace because while yes, it's important to
talk about some of the struggles of being a woman
in a male dominant industry. It's also important to talk
about the progress that we've seen over the years. And
you guys already kind of touched on it. Tori, you've
been this is your seventh season. I'm not sure are you?

(14:49):
Are you the most are you the longest vet in
in our entire group? I'm not, I'm not. UM. I
think there are a couple of girls who were there,
uh the year or two before. For me, I know,
Missy Matthews has been around for a long time. So
is Deep Sadu from the Texans. Missy's from the Pittsburgh Steelers,
so I think any Wells from the Titans as well

(15:10):
has been around for a while. But there were a
lot of girls who entered the year that I did, um,
and so you know, like I said, a lot has changed.
But talking about the perks, this sisterhood is probably the
biggest perk in my opinion, to uh this this role,
because I feel like we've really been able to create
an environment where we genuinely encourage and support each other

(15:32):
and it's not competitive, and it's not uh you know
a situation where you think that since this girl has
this opportunity that I don't have this opportunity. It's genuinely
supporting each other, wanting good things for each other, and
being able to help with advice when it's needed. And
I've really loved being able to see that developed because
it wasn't the case my first year in the league. Yeahs, perhaps,

(15:57):
and sorry to but perhaps consider this a challenge of
being a woman in this business that is turning now
into UM. The gift of this sisterhood is that when
you are isolated and there's not a lot of people
in your role doing what you're doing, especially if it's
a new role, you don't necessarily know what would be
considered industry standard or professionally appropriate, and so to be

(16:19):
able to have conversations with other women, it's almost like
you're holding up the mirror. How is it for you?
How do you approach this? How do you think about this? UM? What?
How should I approach a conversation about my salary? You
need to have a discussion with other people to realize, oh,
this is how it should be, or here's another way
of thinking about it. And when you're in isolation, you're

(16:41):
not able to bounce those ideas or hold up that
mirror that having a sisterhood can provide. And so the
fact that I feel like we have these conversations between
all of the women and all these different teams where
I kind of know like how things are at other
teams for other people. That's such valuable information for me
as a professional in my role, knowing what is becoming

(17:02):
industry standard, which we are creating the industry standard. By
the way, because we are mostly new roles, most of
us are the first one to be in our role
at our team, and so it's so valuable to be
able to bounce those ideas and share thoughts and come
up with ideas for new segments, new content, different types
of things that we can do. There's so much that
it provides to be able to have people to bounce

(17:23):
things off of. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I think,
um so me, I'm in my fifth season, like I
already said, fifth season with the New York Jets, and
I think maybe the first year and a half or
two years, um, you know, I when I first came
into the league, I didn't know a lot. I was like,
I was like actually, and I came straight out of college.
I was young, I was twenty two years old, moved

(17:45):
across the country from Colorado to New York and New
Jersey to come start this new job, and a lot
of it is just kind of learning as you go.
And I don't even think I knew about all the
other women team report orders until about a year a
year and a half in UM, and then I learned
about the group chat. We always talk about this group chat,

(18:06):
this amazing group chat that we have with all the
female team reporters around the league. And like you said, Amy,
it's just so valuable to have people, um, who you
can bounce ideas off of and bounce advice off of
at the end of the day. So I'd like to know,
since we're already talking about this subject, what are some
of the ways you guys have seen things improve for

(18:28):
you as a woman throughout your years being a team reporter,
Because I mean, I know you guys mentioned some Amy,
you mentioned, oh well, now there there are places we
can change on the road or now, um, they have
a designated area for women. What are other ways you
guys have seen positive change throughout your years and you

(18:50):
want to go first, anyone have a story. I have
a story. It was UM. It was right after the
Washington football team article came out. And I think what
I've seen progress over the past couple of years is
my male coworkers and bosses having those uncomfortable at times
conversations with me and almost practicing it and getting it
out there. Remember it was the morning after that article

(19:11):
came out and my boss called me out of the
blue and he's like, Ash, and I want to talk
about this. Has any of this happened to you. If
it does, please come sit with me, Please call me.
I want to be here as a resource. It was
maybe like an eight minute conversation, but it meant so
much to me that they opened the door and said, hey,
we got your back. If something like this happens, we

(19:32):
want to support you. And I still remember that to
this day and it meant the world to me. So
I think I see the improvement in that is that
more male colleagues are aware that things like this do
happen and have happened in the past, and they want
to put a stop to it. Yeah, that actually happened. Um,
it's funny that you say that that actually happened for
me as well. After UM, a lot of the allegations

(19:54):
came out and the big story about the Washington football
team came out. I also had people within the Jets
organization from you know, the very top, even reaching out
to me making sure I was good, making sure I
was comfortable, Like, if you experience this, please let us know,
like or or we want you to know that this
is zero tolerance for these type of things, So please

(20:15):
reach out to us and let us know, and we're
here for you. And sometimes that's really all it takes,
you know, sometimes it's all somebody needs. I'm not gonna
say women, because it's not just women, just individuals in
general who are going through certain things. Sometimes that's all
it takes is someone to come out and say, hey,
are you okay, Like we're here for you if you
need it, or we're here to support you if something

(20:37):
ever happens. UM, has anyone else had that type of
experience after even recently or years passed, Has anyone else
had experience UM with that support and seeing more and
more as you go on, I think it's important to UM.
You mentioned the Washington football team thing. Right after that,
a friend and I that used to work with the
Cowboys posted like a zoom call with about like forty

(21:00):
other women in different roles around different leagues and sports,
and you know, invited college students and like women who
are trying to get into the industry to join that
as well. And I think it's important for people who
are coming up to know, like to hear conversations like
this and like the one we're having right now just
about that like it is a welcome space for women.
And I think that when things like that come out,

(21:21):
it can be so discouraging to like younger girls. It's like,
is this really a field that I want to pursue?
And so I think that like the things that you're
doing with this podcast and stuff like that, it's just
really important to shine a light on the fact that,
like it can be a really great experience. You can
find women like this that support you, and I think
it's it should be encouraging. I hope to younger girls
that like that's not the reality every day for every

(21:43):
woman in the league or in other leagues. You know, yeah,
a thousand percent, because you never know who's watching too.
Like you said, it could be an encouragement for younger
women who might be looking up to you, or it
could even be younger men like, as soon as the
conversation is out there and people are talking about things
that need to be improved upon or things that people
are going through. I think that's always the first step,

(22:05):
is the conversation. But let's start a little bit deeper
into our roles and our jobs as team reporters in general.
We were talking about this, um when I'm one of
the last episodes, and we were just talking about some
common misconceptions that people have a common question oftentimes. We
were talking about that people ask is what do you

(22:26):
do in the off season? Are you free in the
off season, like like do you gout de chill? And
we dove a little bit deeper into that about how, Okay,
the off season is not chill. We are still full time.
Those are still that is still very much a very
busy part of our jobs. But what other parts of
this job can you guys maybe bring to light that

(22:47):
people don't know some of the things that we do.
I'll start with one here. Um, I'm not sure if
people really realize the amount of prep that goes into
each and every live show or interview that you do. Oftentimes, Um,
you know, I'll hear people ask me like, oh, that
was such a cool interview. Um, like you must have

(23:08):
just like it must have been so easy, right, And
in my mind, I'm like, no, it took. It takes
a lot, a lot of preparation for every individual. I think.
I hear a cat. Yeah, yeah, it's that he wants
to see pull out lion haircut right now. Yeah, let's

(23:30):
get a let's get an eye saw on the kitty
real quick. But I was listening to what you said.
Obviously he was too. He wanted to chat about it
as well, and uh, having bad attitude. But you know,
I totally agree, and that was going to be my
point as well, was about you know how people think
that we just kind of like appear on camera. I

(23:51):
don't know what we have right now. Let's let's what
I love about this, Like it's so casual, like everyone
might turn right here. I'm just like, please don't bark,
Please don't bark. No mine mine has decided that he
totally does not want to to be have any chill whatsoever.
But yeah, people think that we just kind of like

(24:12):
appear on camera and we just kind of walk on.
We asked the questions, we walk off, and that that's
all we do. But I think a lot of us
have roles where we either write or edit in addition
to what we do on camera. I know Cassie does
social media, so they're very different aspects to what we do.
So we do do a lot of things besides just
being on camera. And the on camera part isn't just
stepping in front of a screen and then just talking

(24:33):
and calling it a day. And I think that's a
huge misconception, and it can sometimes be a misconception. Misconception
even among people that you work with. Um, you know,
because what we do and so forward facing, and so
people see that aspect of it, but people don't often
see the hours spent researching to make sure that you're
up on everything that's happening with your team, to make
sure that you know you know what's going on in

(24:56):
the rest of the NFL and how that could affect
or applied to your team. Even being able to prepare
interview questions, I'm being able to know them so that
when you are having that conversation, you're not looking down
and looking at questions the whole time. You have it
all in your head because you've prepared and you know
what you want to talk to this person about and
how you want to guide the conversation. Those aren't just
things that just happened when you step on camera. Yeah.

(25:18):
I think a good example of that is for me
in the off season, I host a pre draft show
with our radio color analyst and he's a former FATS quarterback,
and we go pretty in depth in the breakdowns, and
I think it's a really cool show for fans that
want to get perspective on so say we're going to

(25:41):
break down the quarterbacks this year, to have a former
quarterback literally breaking down plays while he has b role
going of that player, And I just remember as the
show went on last year was our first year doing it,
I was like, you know, I want to spend more
time on the research part of it, because it kind

(26:02):
of felt like at first it was all about his
tape breakdown, and I was like, you know, I want
to have something to bring to the viewers too. I
don't want this to just be just a breakdown and
you just introduced and closed the show. And just the
amount of time it took to go through the research
aspect of those draft prospects. We did five per per

(26:23):
position group, so I think in total we ended up
doing like thirty five draft prospects, and I just remember
being like, oh my god, we just did thirty five.
I can't like but but I'm thinking about like the
scouts that do what like two hundreds, And then I'm like,
that's the time job all year long, and we just
did thirty five in a month. And I just remember

(26:43):
how much time it took just for me to even
be able to say like two facts about like oh,
he wore number eighteen because of this reason. Just so
I felt like for me and for the viewers, I
hope it was like, oh, she she has something to
contribute to the conversation. Because I know it's it's easy
for my color analysts to just see a throw and

(27:04):
be like, this is this is what was good about this.
It's like second nature for him. So going back to
our original point about almost having to work extra harder
um just to be able to have something to bring
to the table for those that it just comes like
second nature. Two. Yeah, It's it's so funny too, because
when I think about some of the times where I

(27:25):
really had to prepare most I mean, how many of
you guys go to the draft. I think most of you, right,
do most of you go to the draft. Yeah, I
mean obviously, like last year it was a little different
with um the pandemic and the COVID nineteen protocols. But
I remember one year, or not one year, a couple
of years in a row. UM literally I wrote out

(27:47):
the top one hundred prospects, like I went through mock drafts.
I read so many articles and I just wrote wrote
out in pen and paper the top one hundred prospects
in the NFL draft, and then individ aujually, I went, Okay,
this player played here at this position for this many years.
He might be a player of interest for the Jets,
for X, Y and Z. And it's just like little

(28:10):
stuff like that. I'm not sure if people really know
like this is this is the type of work that
goes into preparing for being on camera, because, like you said, Tori,
oftentimes I think it's it's very front facing and people
just say, oh, it's come on camera, and we say
something and and then that's it. But it's actually like
the amount of preparation and research that goes into writing scripts,

(28:33):
learning your material, and also you have to have your
on camera presence sharp too, and that takes that takes time.
And preparation before you get on camera as well. Yeah,
and I don't want to say I want to say
that there's not a single woman in this role in
the league that gets their questions or scripts or stats

(28:53):
from anyone else. Every single one of these women writes
those themselves. They know what questions that they want to
ask themselves. Nobody's feeding us anything like this is all
the hard work of these women who do this job. Yeah,
let's break that common misconception now, Um, nobody is writing
our material or our questions. That's strictly us and Olivia,

(29:15):
I love that you said that, Like people think that,
like we don't do anything in the off season because
you talked about the draft and Tory has a great
TikTok about this, but like there's so much the NFL
does a great job of saying in the news seven
year round. I think that's something that even my friends
don't understand. They're like, there's no games, why are you
still busy? And I'm like, because it's five o'clop on
a Friday and we just signed a fridge, and like

(29:36):
there's no schedule on the off season. And I think
the season can sometimes be easier because we get in
this rhythm and it's like transactions happen at this time
and this day of the week we do these things,
and like on other days we do these things, but
in the off season, it's like it can happen any moment,
Like we've I've had to post things from like a
golf course or like the side of the road, like
because you never know, Like I've literally driven back to

(29:58):
our facility to like get video of a player signing
after five o'clock on a Friday in the offseason like
the normal times. So it's just it's wild because like
with the draft and free agency and like usually we
have the Senior Bowl and then there's Pro Days and
then there's mini camps and Rookie Mini Camp and it's
there's always something happening in a normal year. So it
doesn't really ever like slow down. Yeah, it really doesn't.

(30:21):
It really doesn't ever slow down. Um, let's transition a
little quickly because before before we end the podcast, I
want to I want to have some fun. But before
we get there, I'd love to know maybe one thing
from each person that you guys feel like during your
time because everyone's had different experiences and has been with
their respective teams for a different amount of time. But

(30:42):
in the time that you guys have been team reporters,
what are some things that you've learned, both professionally about
yourself and personally. How has it helped you grow in
either one or both of those areas? And maybe I'll amy,
are you okay? Can I start? I'm gonna throw it
out to you. Yeah, if you're cool with that, Yeah, yeah, okay.

(31:03):
I'm piecing my thoughts together. But um so I'm going
into my fourth year with the team, and I feel
like my role with the Eagles is probably a little
bit different because I am seasonal, so I am not
working for them during the offseason. They'll bring me in
to do the draft show, which, by the way, the
draft prep is probably the toughest thing of the year
because I just I'll be ready to go live. They'll

(31:25):
tell me to pick in my ear and I better
hope that that was one of the guys, one of
the possible three hundred that I did research on. But um,
I think in my time with the Eagles, so the
Eagles hired me. I'm thirty two, so the Eagles hired me.
Now I'm going into my fourth season, So I didn't
come straight out of college. I've been a working professional
in the industry for a long time. And I guess

(31:47):
I don't know if this answers the question, but this
is a personal story because this Eagle's job, I felt
like to me was this crowning moment of um I
was finally able to be myself. And I think for
the first part of my career, I was, Oh, this
is what a good broadcaster is, this is what a
woman in broadcast is. And I would constantly get feedback

(32:09):
from perspective agents that I would be sending my tape
to from uh potential employers that I would be sending
my tape too, and the feedback was always, you're really
really good at this, but what is making you stand out? Like?
Who are you? What's making you stand out from other
people that are also really good at this? And I
had a really hard time answering this question because I
was looking at what I thought I was supposed to

(32:30):
be in trying to match that. And then I started
to do this inward work of trying to figure out
who am I as a woman in the world, What
do I like, what do I believe in? All of
these things that are the inner work, and magically that
started to show up on my tape, and that started
to show up in my work on camera and my
confidence UM as a woman in the world, in the

(32:51):
professional world and in this professional world of sports. And
so when I went into interview for that Eagles job,
I went in there with the most confidence I've ever
had because I knew I was right for it. I
knew they were looking to diversify, which is super important
to me, and that they were looking for someone who
was a little more seasoned and who was really passionate
about the game. And I was so pumped to go

(33:11):
in there. And I live in New York City and
I commute to Philadelphia, and we have made it work
because this is a perfect fit for both of us
UM and I'm there again seasonally and part time and
once or twice a week during the season. But I
remember walking in UM and talking to my now boss,
who is amazing and has been one of the best
bosses I've ever had, and I said, look, I I

(33:33):
know I'm perfect for this job. And even though I
live in New York City and I'm gonna be part time,
like it's gonna be worth it. Too, because I'm gonna
do a really good job. And I met the entire
team and they all took the time to really get
to know me. We talked about my passion for mental
health awareness. We talked about my journey and finding my
voice and my confidence, um, and my obsession with the

(33:53):
NFL draft and what a big nerd I am about
the game, um and all those things. And I walked
out of their knowing that I had that job and
knowing that it was the first time I was really
myself in a job interview, and uh, and so that
is what getting that job. I tell this story so
often because I felt like it was the culmination of
me finding myself as a woman in the world and
as a woman in this business. And so from there,

(34:13):
I've just grown in my skills and grown in my
comfort level and my role has continued to expand. But
it was really like this point of a personal journey
for me of like finding myself and my voice as
a woman. That's incredible, Like seriously, hell yeah, girl, Like
something you said that was interesting to me. I don't
know about all of you guys, but I struggled with
this early on in my career as well. I don't

(34:34):
know if it's just because I was young or what,
but you said, Um, you struggled with kind of like
comparing yourself to others, and like had this image in
your head of what it should look like to be
a broadcaster, or to be a team reporter or to
um work for an NFLS. You know, I struggled with
that when when I was early in my career, like

(34:55):
finding that identity within yourself. And and I tell young
broadcasters this all the time, or young college students, um,
who are always like who will ask for advice and stuff.
And I'm like, the most important thing to remember is
to be yourself. Don't compare yourself to other broadcasters. Don't
compare yourself to other women, other men in the industry.

(35:15):
If you have people you look up to and you know,
want to kind of model your your game after, that's different,
you know, But to compare yourself could be an unhealthy mindset, um,
if you're not even aware of it. You know, so
very interesting that you said that. I struggled with that too,
um in my early in my career. But yeah, and

(35:37):
to be yourself, you have to know who you are.
And I think that to me is the thing that
I went inward and I stopped thinking about work and
how do I put myself on tape. I started to
ask like those deep philosophical questions, who am I, what
do I want to be in the world, what's important
to me? And the work came after that. Um. And
then Tori was one of the first people I called,

(35:58):
because Tori is my friends of college go Gators, And
I was like, I don't know the family I got
the Eagles job. I can be invited to the group
text I was so included college together. Yes we did.
Amy and I knew each other in college. Ashlyn went
to our school as well, So we have three Gators
right now. A big deal. Yes, Um, So I can

(36:22):
definitely attest to say that I've seen Amy grow into
herself since taking this Eagle's job, so I can I
can be your witness on that one to see how
awesome it's been to to see you really take over
this job and make it your own. But I mean,
you're totally right about being yourself. And it sounds like
the most cliche, annoying advice ever because they're like, okay, cool,
like what does that even mean? Not helpful? But I

(36:45):
think The key is, you know, when you start to
get good at broadcasting is when you start to just
be yourself on camera because I think we get in
front of a camera and we feel like you have
to do this certain voice and we have to have
this certain posture, and like, sure, that is part of it,
but you early on in your days of broadcast and
you're kind of thinking too much about those things, and
you're thinking about the delivery and the posture and the

(37:06):
voice and the script that you memorize in your head
and like trying to make this interview really good. But
as you do it and you get more reps, it's
it's kind of like sports and that you know, the
more reps you get, the better you get at that sport.
And it's the same way in broadcasting. But in broadcasting,
the more reps you get, the more you just relax
and feel like your own personality can come out and

(37:27):
that you can just be you, That you don't have
to be this like on camera version of you, that
you can just be you. So when we say be yourself,
that's that's totally what that is. Like It's it's not
this like unhelpful advice. That's like, you know, what you'll
get a job when you just be yourself like. It
really is genuinely um, you know what shows progress as

(37:47):
as a broadcaster, and football is fun like it's supposed
to be fun like, it doesn't always have to be
so serious. And I think that's something that I've learned too,
And it's like you just trust yourself and like to
Amy and Tory are saying, like when you are yourself
like and you're just having fun with it, like fans
have more fun, like, you don't always have to take
yourself so seriously. And I think that's something that people
like think you know, but like when you're having fun,

(38:09):
the people that are watching you are having more fun
than if you're just dull. But you said trust yourself.
That's a big one. I don't know about you guys,
but I had to literally learn to trust myself. And
by trusting myself, what I did to get to that
point was do the extra research, you know, stay the
extra few minutes, like ask for help or ask for

(38:30):
resources when you feel like you're not prepared. But trusting yourself, man,
that's a big one. Like preach on that one, girl,
but that one takes a while. I don't know about
you guys, but for me, that took a while for
me to be able to trust myself. It does. I
always tell, like you were saying, college students that reach out,
I always say it sounds a little harsh, but I
always say, there's no excuse to be unprepared. And I find,

(38:50):
for at least me overprepared and I probably will use
maybe thirty percent of the stuff I prepared for. Makes
me so much more confident on air because I know
what her is thrown at me, I can handle it.
And I'm with you, Cassie about learning how to have fun.
I think that's the biggest thing I've grown professionally is
I'm not this buttoned up blazer type of girl. And

(39:11):
at first I was trying to be that and it
just wasn't working. It just came across fake. And the
biggest viewership I've ever had on a video I posted
was my bloopers and people like this is awesome. Post
more of this, and I know Olivia's are awesome as well,
and I was like, man, maybe I should do more
of this. And then I've been fine ever since. Yeah,
players like respond to that too, you know, like I

(39:33):
think we're more relatable to the players that you're talking
to when you're relaxed and you're having fun, and then
they're more relaxed and they're having fun, and it shows
a better side of them to a fan than if
I'm just sitting here, you know, being serious the whole time. Like,
and it's not that some things are serious, obviously, I
don't mean that everything is a joke, but I think
that when you're more relaxed, a player can feel that,
like respond to that. Yeah, I totally agree. Um Kelsey,

(39:56):
did you have anything to add to that as far
as your career and things that you learned, both personally
and professionally. Yeah, it's funny. I actually had a girl
call me, Um, I want someone asked if this, this
woman who was graduating from UM grad school, could talk
to me about just, you know, what being a team

(40:18):
reporters like, because she's graduating with a broadcast degree and
doesn't know if she wants to go more of the
team route or the news route. Um. And it's funny
because I just remember talking to her about all of
what I do and UM, I remember her saying to me, Um, well,

(40:39):
I know what I'm worth and I don't I don't
necessarily want to go to a certain market. Um and
kind of start from the beginning because by the time
I graduate, I'm going to have two degrees. And I
just remember thinking to myself, I think that my advice

(40:59):
to her was that's definitely the wrong approach to take,
because I think everybody on this call can talk about
doing things in their job that they never wanted to do,
but you had to do it to get to where
you are now. And I think when I first got
into my role, I had to do a lot because
the department was really small, and it's grown a lot,

(41:21):
so my responsibilities have changed a lot. But I think
now more than ever, I'm so grateful that I've been
able to do more than just being an on camera host,
because if I didn't write as much as I do,
I wouldn't be as knowledgeable as I am about football,
and I think that made me so much better at

(41:41):
my job. And I didn't really look at it as
that when I took the job. I was like, I
don't really want to write all this much, But now
I can see it, and I'm like, that's like, I'm
so glad that I did, and I'm so glad that
I can say that I have those strengths. So I
think for me now, UM, learning that about myself is
something that I'm really proud out of. And and I

(42:01):
if I could give any advice to anyone, it would
be to kind of be able to open your eyes
and your perspective in that aspect, because there's no job
that is too big or too small for you. And
I know it sounds cliche, but they all end up
kind of making you who you are. And I kind
of wish I had that perspective um a couple of
years ago, and I'm glad I have it now. And

(42:23):
I would piggyback off of that kind of tough love
from from Kelsey, Like you know, you hear the phrase
like do what you love and you'll never work a
day in your life, and like that sounds really great
and fun. And you know, we all love working in sports.
We love the fact that we get to be around
football all the time and it's really cool and there
are days that it is so glamorous and you're like,
oh my goodness, I you know, just covered this overtime

(42:47):
game and it had a crazy ending, or you know,
I'm covering the NFL playoffs or I'm here at the
NFL draft and those are amazing mountaintop moments and we
do love what we do and we're so passionate about it,
but there are days that it still feels like work,
and there are days where you are, like Kelsey said,
doing things that aren't necessarily things that you want to

(43:07):
be doing. You know that there are you know, leg
work things or or busy work things that are just
part of what you have to do to get where
you want to go. And so you know, it is
great to be able to work in a career that
you love, and that's that's really fun and seemingly glamorous.
But the idea that if you do what you love,
you'll never work a day in your life, I don't
really buy into that concept because I think that there

(43:28):
are days where you just have to let work feel
like work. But the key is to knowing. The key
is knowing why you're passionate about it and why you
want to stick with it, and knowing you know, and
sometimes that passion and that reason can change, you know.
So for me, when I was first in the league,
I was like, I'm going to do all this you know,
girl power stuff and show the women can do everything
that guys can do. And you know, I went and

(43:49):
joined the women's tackle football team, like played women's football,
and I did a course where I learned a lot
about scouting and I learned those aspects of it, and
and those things gave me an amazing basis of not
and I'm so glad that I did them, and I
love doing them. But then later on I grew in
my love for storytelling, and you know, so that was
my passion and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

(44:10):
So that that passion and that motivation can change. But
it's knowing what that is and where you stand with
that to let it get you through those days where
work does feel like work. And like you said, it's
important to know that it can change. Because who I
was at twenty two when I first came into the
league and first got this job, is that who I
am anymore, you know, as as a twenty six year
old woman in my fifth season with the New York Jets. UM,

(44:33):
And that's very true, like sometimes your passions will change. Sometimes, UM,
what you find most interesting will evolve over the years
based off of things your experience or maybe something someone
brought to your attention, But that's okay. I think people
need to, especially people upcoming in this industry, needs to
know it's okay if it changes. It's not always going
to be like you said, this big glamorous one thing, like,

(44:56):
sometimes it's gonna feel like work and sometimes you're gonna
do things you don't want to do. But it's okay
to be as long as you're adapting and being able
to change along the way. I think that's what's most important.
Are there any other final thoughts before we Um we
wrap things up with some untold stories or experiences. Any
other final thoughts on that subject. We're good, alright. So

(45:20):
before the last episode on the Team Reporter series, UM,
we did this little thing at the end and I
it was called like some untold stories of the NFL,
but um, it can also go prior to that because
Maddie Glab from The Bills had a hilarious story about
how she got locked out of her hotel room in college. UM,
I'll start off, so I had this there's one time

(45:43):
I want to car out of state because I'm from Colorado,
I want to calor out of state in I used
to work for both our athletic department and are on
campus television station. It used to be called CTV or
on campus television station. And one game I was filming
the football the football team because I would go out
and I'm not sure if some I'm sure some of

(46:03):
you guys did this too. Um, like go out and
like you were a one man band in college, like
you filmed it, you shot your own stand ups, you
edited everything like you produced it, wrote it all like
it was a one man band. So I went out
to one of these football games with um. One of
my co workers at the time, her name was Carly,
and we had taken turns filming highlights. So we were

(46:26):
on the sideline and it was her turn to film
We're in the end zone and UM, I remember it
was just like the last few minutes of the game.
And UM, you know, I don't remember who the quarterback
was at the time for we were playing New Mexico.
I think that's who because we're we're in the Mount
Colored city is in the Mount West. Um. Anyways, long

(46:47):
story short, she was filming in the end zone. I
was behind her. I wasn't really paying attention because she
was the one filming the highlights. So literally all I
remember is like it happened so fast. I'm sure this
has happened to you guys too. But I was standing
behind Carly and literally she's like get out of the way,
and I just see her like dive to the side,

(47:09):
and I'm like, what are you talking about? And I
like look and literally the football comes literally just like
hits me in the gut like this, like my stomach comesorber.
I was like boom, literally on on live television. We
were on live television, And so she dives out of
the way. I don't see if the football comes hits me,

(47:29):
and I'm kind of like like crouching down and everybody
in the end zone literally started like laughing. Whatever is
an embarrassing moment. But after the game, one of my
friends who was watching the game live literally sent me
a video clip of me getting rilled by the football
and was like, literally everybody just watched to get drilled

(47:52):
by football. So that is an untold story from I
don't know who else. Has anyone else ever been drilled?
But I asked this last time, has anyone else that
I've been go by the football or a player? I've
been top ten, I've been number three. Yeah, Torre doos
um most here you google me Um. It's actually kind
of funny when I like meet people, how long it

(48:12):
takes them to realize that they've seen me somewhere before
top ten. I got run over. I was at a
seven on seven event because I used to cover football recruiting,
That's how I got my start. And I was in
Oregon at Nike headquarters, and uh, I kind of saw
it coming. I was shooting something with one of my
analysts and kind of stat coming behind me and we

(48:32):
were not close to the end zone, and I thought,
they're not coming over here. I'm not gonna blow my take.
I got completely destroyed. Um. And the video it's on
YouTube in many places, but like you can see like
my whole profile like going to the side and I'm gone,
like vanished, destroyed. It was fourth of July weekend and
so it played on the not top ten for like

(48:53):
the whole weekend. Number three. I got so many calls
and texts about it, and I also loved it. I
watched that footage back and I was like, oh, I'm
gonna be on the nota top ten, which was actually
kind of like one of my secret like Dreams was like,
and I was number three, and uh, it's still out there.
The video on YouTube has like more than a million views. Um.
But what's hilarious is that anytime anybody looks me up

(49:15):
or tries to look up my work, or like when
I go in for a job interview or when I
would go in for a job interview, the first thing
that comes up is this video instead of my resume
or anything like that. But it's always funny to see
how long it takes people to figure out, oh, they've
seen me somewhere before. You have to laugh at it, though,
right right, I love it. I'm googling that as soon

(49:35):
as we get off here. I can't believe I didn't
know that. I know. I can't believe that either I
had no idea. I'm sure you've seen it before and
you didn't realize because everyone has seen it before and
didn't realize. I didn't realize that it was you, all right?
What about anyone else? Does anyone else have any funny
untold stories? It doesn't even have to just be getting
drilled by a football? Um? Doesn't one else have any funny,

(49:59):
unseen or untold stories of their experiences? Um? Covering football
at any point in college too, everything goes at this point.
I mean I told my I told my best one
earlier with the flight attendant situation, that that one makes
me laugh every single time. And it was my first
week on the job. Um, but I guess I didn't

(50:20):
get drilled. But on you know, the combine several years ago,
they had like a fan area where they had the
forty yard dash set up and I was just in
my normal reporter clothes for that day, and my coworker
was like, Hey, why don't you just like go round
the forty yard dash and then just say like, hey,
watch the combine and we'll use it as like a

(50:40):
little promo for our coverage for the week. I was like, okay, cool,
And so, you know, when filmed it and you know,
then posted it and we walked back in the press
room and like a couple of people that I knew
vaguely well but not that well, we're like, hey, nice
forty yard dash and I was like, oh, thank you,
Like how do you see that already? So quick? And

(51:00):
like later that day it was you know on ESPN
dot com and you know, all these different websites because
I had run it in heels and I had had
like they weren't like high heels or anything, but they
were heels and I ran it under six seconds and heels.
So like that's my like thing that comes up when
you Google me type of thing like Amy's did you did?
Did you run it? Run? Run it in wedges or

(51:23):
was it legit? Like it was it was wedges. They
were like little bodies. They were not like stiletto heels
or anything like that. It was just that they weren't
running shoes, and you know, it just kind of took off.
But it was a lot of fun because it was
something unexpected like that. Um, but you know, it definitely
is funny because that's like I feel like, if you

(51:44):
don't know me for the Lions, like that's probably where
you've seen me before. You made me look really bad
because I when I guess was it before, it must
have been before that video. I was looking on Twitter
and I saw that when this one prospect was like, Oh,
I'm gonna run like a sub for six forty and

(52:06):
I just remember like saying out loud, oh I can
totally do that, and not like grasping just how fast
that is. And I should know because I'm a former
Division one athlete. So the fact that I didn't quite
grasp that and I remember they made me do it,
and I did not run a sub four or six,
and your time in heels was better than mine in

(52:28):
sneakers and a performer athlete, So let's just say I
was a little bit embarrassed. So don't tell yourself short,
you totally crush that. I'm all right, ladies, Well, um
my light went out while, of course, as we were
mad conversation, so I just have to point that out

(52:49):
really quickly. But anyways, this was an incredible conversation. Thank
you guys so much for joining me for episode number
two of the Team Reporter series. I think it's just
so important to hear some of the women around the NFL,
and here's some of the things that they have to say.
So thank you everyone for coming on the New Yorker
Podcast presented by Visa Ladies. It was an absolute pleasure.

(53:10):
Thank you for having me you, thank you so much.
Olivia my cat says thank you as well.