January 6, 2023 • 16 mins
On this episode of “The Snap,” Sydney Jones is joined by ESPN’s NFL Nation Los Angeles Chargers reporter Lindsey Thiry to discuss the Chargers’ season, how they’re peaking at the right time and what’s been so impressive about quarterback Justin Herbert’s season. Plus, Thiry details her role with ESPN, how she got to where she is today and more. Want more of "The Snap"? Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, TuneIn, Stitcher or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to leave a rating and review.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heyt scoring the Sudden. Hey listen, Tim Patrick. Are you
(00:02):
listening to The Snap with Sydney Don on Broncos Podcast
Network Year What's the Broncos Country? Welcome back to the
Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube for this week's episode of
The Snap. I'm your host Sidney Jones, and it's the
final week of the regular season. Here in the Denver
Broncos are back at in power Field at Mile High
this Sunday to take on the Los Angeles Charters. So
(00:23):
joining me for this week's episode is ESPN's NFL Nation
Los Angeles Charters reporter Lindsay Theory. Lindsay, thanks so much
for joining me today. Pleasure to have you on the podcast.
Thanks for having me, pleasure being here, of course. How
are you? How are things over there in Los Angeles?
All is good? It's what week? Eate team? Uh and
let's become a very long season and Jess kind of
(00:43):
finding that extra gear as the Chargers get ready to
go into the playoffs. Yeah, seasons not over free quite yet.
How's this season really just been over there? Been exciting? Probably? Yeah,
it's been exciting. You know, it's been very up and down.
You know, this team it's just in a roller coaster.
They went into the season as a super Bowl favorite, UM,
(01:04):
which kind of seemed crazy enough for an organization that
hasn't limited the playoffs twice in the last since two
thousand thirteen, last ten years. Uh, and then all of a
a sudden they had a rash of injuries and they
went from super Bowl favorite to how are they going
to keep this thing together at all? And then here
they go with two games remaining, clinch a playoffs spots.
So it's been a roller coaster. It's been a really
(01:26):
hard team to define. But nevertheless, it's they're getting good
at the right time, which is exciting for them. Yeah,
you mentioned it getting good at the right time. I
feel like they're really peeking right now. Lindsay, what have
you kind of seen I guess maybe change about this
team just in recent weeks. It was really funny early
on in this season in the locker room, you just
(01:47):
didn't feel it. And when people say it, like it's
really it's hard thing to define, but it didn't seem
like a together team. It didn't seem like guys knew
each other, that there was any kind of like chemistry.
And in long Behold Khalil Max starts having defensive dinners. Uh.
Kyle Vannoi over the last several weeks has been hosting
(02:07):
like player only defensive meetings. So it's really something about
like how they've gelled, how they've kind of come to
gather starting kind of midway through the season and on
a lot of times that can be overlooked or maybe
spoken too much about, but for this team, because of
all the individual talent they have, that really seems to
be kind of the final component that they needed to
(02:28):
get to know each other to realize they need to
play hard for each other and go out there, which
is a better energy. Yeah, definitely, Lindsay, before we get,
you know, too far into this matchup. I know it's
just been a really tough week for the entire NFL community,
given what you know with Bill Safety to mar Hamlin.
I know, we're all so thankful he's doing better, he's
now responsive. Um, those were some of the latest reports today.
(02:49):
Several Broncos players they've talked this week just about you know,
how it's kind of maybe changed their perspective of this
game and how they're just dealing with this with you know,
they have a game to play, in a couple of days.
So how have kind of some of the Chargers players
talked about this this week and are handling this really
scary situation. Yeah, you know, there's a lot of concern Um.
There's obviously everyone has expressed prayers, their thoughts everything for
(03:12):
his health, his recovery, UM, so that they have like
very heavy hearts. Brandon Staley UM spoke about how when
he was a coach back east at James Madison as
an assistant at John Carroll is an assistant that he
actually knew Central Catholic High School well, recruited that school,
recruited Damar. Chargers defensive coordinator Ronaldo Hill was DeMar's dB
(03:35):
coach at pitt Um. So there's a lot of kind
of close connections there. So obviously very heavy hearts. UM.
On the other side of that, the Chargers did take
an approach where they had the team doctor come talk
to the players and tell them like what happened and
why it happened. UM. So on some level, as scary
as the situation is, it also eased some of their concerns, UM,
(03:59):
at least from their team doctor said kind of how
rare this is to have happened. Um kind of called
it like a little bit like like being struck by lightning.
I don't know that makes it less scary, but for
them it kind of put into perspective, um, what happened
and eased some concerns about whether could happen to them. Yeah,
that's great to hear. I'm glad a doctor came and
(04:19):
talk to them. I know here with the Broncos, they've
had a lot of resources and the team addressed them
in the same regard. So yet praying that tomorrow continues
to recover and is in the right direction. So thank
you for sharing that. Lindsay, you know, going back to
this matchup here, when you look at the season overall,
what has kind of impressed you just about Justin Herbert's
performance this year? I mean, in the recent weeks he's
(04:40):
looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Really. Yeah,
you know, I think what's really been lost on Justin's
season is that and we two he had fractured rim
cartilage and the Chief game he gets absolutely crunched and
his performance took a dip, and I think a lot
of people were looking around saying, what's wrong with Justin Herbert?
And it was really too easy. He had fractured rib cartilage.
(05:02):
The playbook was really kind of condensed to compensate for that.
The offense, not to mention, was without several key playmakers.
Keenan Allen had a big hamstring issue, Mike Williams had
a high ankle sprain. So Jesson Herbert was not only
hurt himself, but he was hurting because he didn't have
his full arsenal playmakers. But what has been impressive is
(05:24):
how he navigated that, how he's come out the other side,
and how he really has this team um peeking at
the right time. I mean, he has shown, excuse me,
some some signs of just emotion on offense that we've
really never seen from Justin in excitement um over some
of the plays the last several weeks. And he's also
shown a steadiness um. A lot of his teammates just
(05:47):
say he's so poised and he's so even keel, and
there in a lot of two minute situations, a lot
of must win two minute situations, and Justin's demonstrated the
poise to handle that. Looking up the Broncos and Chargers
last meeting back in Week six, I know the Broncos
defense held Austin Ekeler to just thirty six rushing yards
justin Herbert didn't throw a touchdown pass. I think it
(06:07):
broke a record for him that week. How do you
think this Chargers offense is going to fair going up
against you know, this Bronco's defense this time around. Yeah.
I think that they are a very different group this
time around. I think there's more emphasis that we saw
this last week on trying to get the ball um
going in the run game UM with Austin Ekeler, So
(06:27):
I think that we will see them continue to try
to do that. It's going to be really interesting because
of when the games being played. The Chargers might have
already clinched that number five seat the Ravens game earlier ends, UM,
and that Ravens lose. So I think that it's relationship.
Brand Staley has said they're going into the attention of
winning this game, UM, but and that they're planning, you know,
(06:49):
they're practicing as though everyone's going to play and they're
going full steam ahead. UM. But I do think that
dependent on how they get started, what happened in the
other game at it could really see what they decided
to do against the Broncos if they if it becomes
like a tune up game, if it becomes a rest game,
I think that depends on some stuff. If if all
(07:10):
things all things considered, I think they're really going to
try to run the football, get Austin a couple of
touchdowns so we can get twenty on the season again.
And then I think they'll also try to kind of
just tune up a few um of the connections with
Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. Well, we'll see if you know,
all starters play this weekend. But you know, Lindsay As,
I'm sure you know this, Bronco's offense has really struggled
(07:33):
this season, you know, specifically looking at the offensive line,
they've struggled in recent weeks just with you know, injuries,
lack of continuity. And I know the Chargers passed rush.
They've been a pretty dominant group um the past few games.
So who do you think is really shined in that
regard this season that you know, Russell and company should
look out be on the lookout for. People might laugh
because he's an old veteran, but Kyle van Noy has
(07:55):
really come alive off the edge. Like I mentioned, earlier.
He's become one of, you know, leaders, hosting these player
only kind of defensive meetings so they can all get
on this cage and it's really benefited him too. Um
he's had four sacks over the last four straight games,
and Morgan Fox has been another kind of role player
guy that's had to step up as they've had several
(08:17):
injuries across the line. And then Joey Bosa name some
people might know. He returned last week for the first
time since Week three. H Brandon staleley after the game,
had a very long winded answer about Joey's performance. To
sum it up, it was, We're happy to have Joey
out there. Joey was pretty rusty. Uh So, I think
(08:38):
they will look for Joey to get obviously back out
there again this week and kind of try to continue
to get into football shape and knock some of the
rest off. Yeah, well, you know, depending on if you
guys play starters and not this weekend. I know you
guys are gonna be looking to get that win, Like
you said, coach Brandon Staley talked about that this week.
So how do you think you know Sunday's performance might
(08:59):
just affect going into the playoffs for you guys, and
just give them momentum really heading into the off season
or yeah, you know I've covered teams before they rested starters.
Uh that final game of the season. Actually, the Rams
I think was back in seventeen, had clinched early, rested
their starters week seventeen or yeah it was week seventeen. Yeah,
(09:23):
and before the playoffs, and they went to the playoffs
absolutely flat. It was not good. I have not seen
where a team rests and goes into the playoffs with
momentum um. So, you know, if I were the coach,
obviously I'm not going into that game. You know, I
think you want to get your starters out there. I
think you want to play really solid football. Now, if
(09:46):
they don't finish the game, great, like if you want
to get them a little extra rest there. But for
the Chargers to go into the playoffs, to me, they
need to go out there. They need to play a
few solid quarters depending on you know, what the outcome
of that Ravens game was. And and you can start saying, okay,
let's get you out of the game, let's get you
some rest, But to me, it's like going a little
(10:07):
final tune up and keep it moving. Yeah, for sure.
Well we'll see what happens. It's always a fun matchup
when the Broncos and Chargers play each other. You never
know what can happen. So well, Lindsay, so appreciate your
insight on this matchup. You know, before you go, just
want to switch gears and dive into your career for
a couple of minutes. As many of my listeners know
here on this snap, one of my main goals is
just to highlight women's impact in and around the NFL.
(10:29):
So looking at your career, you know, for many of
my listeners who might not know, lindsay, what is your
role with ESPN really, Entail? Sure, I've been with ESPN
and this is my fifth season now, UM and I
spent first four covering the Rams, where I doing the
same job now with the Chargers. UM. Writing a lot
for ESPN dot com. We have a feature that comes
(10:50):
out pretty much every week covering the news and then
also UM there's a heavy TV component where I get
to appear on Sports Center, get to appear on the
NFL Live or Sunday NFL Countdown, UM with reports on
the Chargers or sometimes on the TV side of things,
still the rams. What has kind of been maybe your
favorite part about this role in the most challenging part
(11:13):
as well. Yeah, I think my favorite part is just
the kind of different stories we get to tell. You know,
we need to cover the biggest stories in the league.
Plus it's like you can you have the room to
find kind of some of the niche stories like this
last week I was able to write about a special
Teams guy who was a substitute teacher just a few
years ago, DeAndre Card which it's Yeah, it's like a
(11:35):
really cool kind of moment, a kind of light somebody else.
But then when it's like Justin Herbert, you cover all
the big storylines with Justin Herbert as well. Um, I'd
say probably the hardest part is just time management, finding
the time to write the features in between TV hits,
in between breaking news. Um, there can be a lot
(11:56):
of balls in the air to juggle. At the end
of the day, it's all fun stuff, but can get
a little bit stressful. Yeah, definitely definitely during the season.
Hard to find for yourself too. Yeah that doesn't exist. Yeah,
that really doesn't exist. That's true. Can you kind of
walk me through the path that you took to get
to where you are today. Yeah, it's like you see
those diagrams where they're like what success looks like and
(12:18):
then what it really is. UM. I love it. Yeah,
long story shore, I've been doing this UM to date myself.
Let's see twelve years UM and I started in Great Falls,
Montana working for the local news department, UM and covered
six man high school football and uh what junior college.
(12:41):
I think it was junior no n Ai n ai
football at Carol College. UM and from there went to
the Atlanta Falcons, was their team reporter for a year
and then came back to the West Coast where I'm from,
and UM got a job in l A working for
Fox Sports dot Com and just kind of zig zagged
my way up. End up at the l A Times
(13:04):
was a like they taught me how to write there,
which was like kind of insane to learn how to
write at the l A Times, But I um did
like host a lot of digital videos for them, and
then parlayed that into my job at ESPN. Awesome. What
kind of you know, looking at this career that you've had,
Lindsay Wook, I guess there's some of the challenges that
(13:24):
you faced along the way and kind of can you
walk me through how you overcame some of them. Yeah,
I think the biggest challenge is hearing the word no
when you're applying for new jobs and trying to move up.
You know, I had a lot of executives, a lot
of news directors look at my resume. I mean I
remember one network looked at my resume when I was
at the l A. Times and I was simultaneously also
(13:47):
working for Fox Sports One as a freelancer, and somebody said,
you know, your resumes all over the place, like you
do everything but nothing. And I was like, oh, that's awesome.
And I was told, you really need to figure out
like do you want to be on TV? Do you
want to be a house do you want to be
a reporter? Do you want to be a writer? And
I was like, well, I'm just I was on the
(14:07):
path of, honestly just saying yes to people who asked
me if I wanted to work for them, Like the
l A. Times asked you if you want to apply
for a position, you apply for the you kind of
take it um. So I think the big that was
really the biggest challenge and the biggest hurdle was feeling
like I should be moving on to the next step,
but hearing the word no, we're hearing the word like
(14:29):
you're not the fit here um and then still having
like the determination and just kind of the will power
to keep going because hearing hearing knows really hard. Yeah,
it definitely is for sure. Well, last one here for you, Lindsay.
You know, I like to end these episodes just really
inspiring the younger generations. So what's one piece of advice
you'd look to give someone getting into this industry, no
(14:50):
matter what area of it really that they want to
work in. It sounds so it's oversimplified, but just work
really hard. I'm It's why I am where I am
I am. You know, I took the first job that
was offered to me out of college and I just
kept my head down and worked hard. I not really
someone I probably should have done a better job not
working and sending emails and kind of lobbying for myself.
(15:14):
But I've always just been a really firm believer that
if you work really hard and the product you put
out is really good, good things are going to happen.
And truthfully, if that's how I got to where I am.
It's was just like putting out a good product, working
really hard, showing improvement, and the right people will notice
and opportunities will um. Definitely, I love that one sounds
(15:37):
easy enough, easy enough, easy enough, But you gotta be
the first one there. You gotta be the last one
to leave, even when else for the young people, when
everyone else is going to have fun, you're gonna be working. Yeah,
you're probably gonna be working. You just gotta be okay
with it. I gotta be okay with it. And there
will come a day well, no, even on Sundays, even
on Christmas, even on You miss a lot of things
(15:59):
for this job, but if you love it, it's okay. Definitely. Yeah.
We had a Christmas game and a New Year's game
this year, so yeah, you know the drill. You know
the drill over here, Lindsey, thank you enough for joining
me on today's episode. It was really a pleasure to
have you on. Thanks for having me my pleasure. Thanks
for having me. Well that's all the time we have
for this week's episode of The Snap Broncos Country. Thanks
so much for tuning in, and thank you again to
(16:20):
Lindsay Theory for joining me. Make sure to follow the
Broncos Podcast Network on Twitter and stay up to date
on the Broncos YouTube for the latest episodes. I will
see you all next time.
Heyt scoring the Sudden. Hey listen, Tim Patrick. Are you
(00:02):
listening to The Snap with Sydney Don on Broncos Podcast
Network Year What's the Broncos Country? Welcome back to the
Broncos Podcast Network in YouTube for this week's episode of
The Snap. I'm your host Sidney Jones, and it's the
final week of the regular season. Here in the Denver
Broncos are back at in power Field at Mile High
this Sunday to take on the Los Angeles Charters. So
(00:23):
joining me for this week's episode is ESPN's NFL Nation
Los Angeles Charters reporter Lindsay Theory. Lindsay, thanks so much
for joining me today. Pleasure to have you on the podcast.
Thanks for having me, pleasure being here, of course. How
are you? How are things over there in Los Angeles?
All is good? It's what week? Eate team? Uh and
let's become a very long season and Jess kind of
(00:43):
finding that extra gear as the Chargers get ready to
go into the playoffs. Yeah, seasons not over free quite yet.
How's this season really just been over there? Been exciting? Probably? Yeah,
it's been exciting. You know, it's been very up and down.
You know, this team it's just in a roller coaster.
They went into the season as a super Bowl favorite, UM,
(01:04):
which kind of seemed crazy enough for an organization that
hasn't limited the playoffs twice in the last since two
thousand thirteen, last ten years. Uh, and then all of a
a sudden they had a rash of injuries and they
went from super Bowl favorite to how are they going
to keep this thing together at all? And then here
they go with two games remaining, clinch a playoffs spots.
So it's been a roller coaster. It's been a really
(01:26):
hard team to define. But nevertheless, it's they're getting good
at the right time, which is exciting for them. Yeah,
you mentioned it getting good at the right time. I
feel like they're really peeking right now. Lindsay, what have
you kind of seen I guess maybe change about this
team just in recent weeks. It was really funny early
on in this season in the locker room, you just
(01:47):
didn't feel it. And when people say it, like it's
really it's hard thing to define, but it didn't seem
like a together team. It didn't seem like guys knew
each other, that there was any kind of like chemistry.
And in long Behold Khalil Max starts having defensive dinners. Uh.
Kyle Vannoi over the last several weeks has been hosting
(02:07):
like player only defensive meetings. So it's really something about
like how they've gelled, how they've kind of come to
gather starting kind of midway through the season and on
a lot of times that can be overlooked or maybe
spoken too much about, but for this team, because of
all the individual talent they have, that really seems to
be kind of the final component that they needed to
(02:28):
get to know each other to realize they need to
play hard for each other and go out there, which
is a better energy. Yeah, definitely, Lindsay, before we get,
you know, too far into this matchup. I know it's
just been a really tough week for the entire NFL community,
given what you know with Bill Safety to mar Hamlin.
I know, we're all so thankful he's doing better, he's
now responsive. Um, those were some of the latest reports today.
(02:49):
Several Broncos players they've talked this week just about you know,
how it's kind of maybe changed their perspective of this
game and how they're just dealing with this with you know,
they have a game to play, in a couple of days.
So how have kind of some of the Chargers players
talked about this this week and are handling this really
scary situation. Yeah, you know, there's a lot of concern Um.
There's obviously everyone has expressed prayers, their thoughts everything for
(03:12):
his health, his recovery, UM, so that they have like
very heavy hearts. Brandon Staley UM spoke about how when
he was a coach back east at James Madison as
an assistant at John Carroll is an assistant that he
actually knew Central Catholic High School well, recruited that school,
recruited Damar. Chargers defensive coordinator Ronaldo Hill was DeMar's dB
(03:35):
coach at pitt Um. So there's a lot of kind
of close connections there. So obviously very heavy hearts. UM.
On the other side of that, the Chargers did take
an approach where they had the team doctor come talk
to the players and tell them like what happened and
why it happened. UM. So on some level, as scary
as the situation is, it also eased some of their concerns, UM,
(03:59):
at least from their team doctor said kind of how
rare this is to have happened. Um kind of called
it like a little bit like like being struck by lightning.
I don't know that makes it less scary, but for
them it kind of put into perspective, um, what happened
and eased some concerns about whether could happen to them. Yeah,
that's great to hear. I'm glad a doctor came and
(04:19):
talk to them. I know here with the Broncos, they've
had a lot of resources and the team addressed them
in the same regard. So yet praying that tomorrow continues
to recover and is in the right direction. So thank
you for sharing that. Lindsay, you know, going back to
this matchup here, when you look at the season overall,
what has kind of impressed you just about Justin Herbert's
performance this year? I mean, in the recent weeks he's
(04:40):
looking like one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Really. Yeah,
you know, I think what's really been lost on Justin's
season is that and we two he had fractured rim
cartilage and the Chief game he gets absolutely crunched and
his performance took a dip, and I think a lot
of people were looking around saying, what's wrong with Justin Herbert?
And it was really too easy. He had fractured rib cartilage.
(05:02):
The playbook was really kind of condensed to compensate for that.
The offense, not to mention, was without several key playmakers.
Keenan Allen had a big hamstring issue, Mike Williams had
a high ankle sprain. So Jesson Herbert was not only
hurt himself, but he was hurting because he didn't have
his full arsenal playmakers. But what has been impressive is
(05:24):
how he navigated that, how he's come out the other side,
and how he really has this team um peeking at
the right time. I mean, he has shown, excuse me,
some some signs of just emotion on offense that we've
really never seen from Justin in excitement um over some
of the plays the last several weeks. And he's also
shown a steadiness um. A lot of his teammates just
(05:47):
say he's so poised and he's so even keel, and
there in a lot of two minute situations, a lot
of must win two minute situations, and Justin's demonstrated the
poise to handle that. Looking up the Broncos and Chargers
last meeting back in Week six, I know the Broncos
defense held Austin Ekeler to just thirty six rushing yards
justin Herbert didn't throw a touchdown pass. I think it
(06:07):
broke a record for him that week. How do you
think this Chargers offense is going to fair going up
against you know, this Bronco's defense this time around. Yeah.
I think that they are a very different group this
time around. I think there's more emphasis that we saw
this last week on trying to get the ball um
going in the run game UM with Austin Ekeler, So
(06:27):
I think that we will see them continue to try
to do that. It's going to be really interesting because
of when the games being played. The Chargers might have
already clinched that number five seat the Ravens game earlier ends, UM,
and that Ravens lose. So I think that it's relationship.
Brand Staley has said they're going into the attention of
winning this game, UM, but and that they're planning, you know,
(06:49):
they're practicing as though everyone's going to play and they're
going full steam ahead. UM. But I do think that
dependent on how they get started, what happened in the
other game at it could really see what they decided
to do against the Broncos if they if it becomes
like a tune up game, if it becomes a rest game,
I think that depends on some stuff. If if all
(07:10):
things all things considered, I think they're really going to
try to run the football, get Austin a couple of
touchdowns so we can get twenty on the season again.
And then I think they'll also try to kind of
just tune up a few um of the connections with
Mike Williams and Keenan Allen. Well, we'll see if you know,
all starters play this weekend. But you know, Lindsay As,
I'm sure you know this, Bronco's offense has really struggled
(07:33):
this season, you know, specifically looking at the offensive line,
they've struggled in recent weeks just with you know, injuries,
lack of continuity. And I know the Chargers passed rush.
They've been a pretty dominant group um the past few games.
So who do you think is really shined in that
regard this season that you know, Russell and company should
look out be on the lookout for. People might laugh
because he's an old veteran, but Kyle van Noy has
(07:55):
really come alive off the edge. Like I mentioned, earlier.
He's become one of, you know, leaders, hosting these player
only kind of defensive meetings so they can all get
on this cage and it's really benefited him too. Um
he's had four sacks over the last four straight games,
and Morgan Fox has been another kind of role player
guy that's had to step up as they've had several
(08:17):
injuries across the line. And then Joey Bosa name some
people might know. He returned last week for the first
time since Week three. H Brandon staleley after the game,
had a very long winded answer about Joey's performance. To
sum it up, it was, We're happy to have Joey
out there. Joey was pretty rusty. Uh So, I think
(08:38):
they will look for Joey to get obviously back out
there again this week and kind of try to continue
to get into football shape and knock some of the
rest off. Yeah, well, you know, depending on if you
guys play starters and not this weekend. I know you
guys are gonna be looking to get that win, Like
you said, coach Brandon Staley talked about that this week.
So how do you think you know Sunday's performance might
(08:59):
just affect going into the playoffs for you guys, and
just give them momentum really heading into the off season
or yeah, you know I've covered teams before they rested starters.
Uh that final game of the season. Actually, the Rams
I think was back in seventeen, had clinched early, rested
their starters week seventeen or yeah it was week seventeen. Yeah,
(09:23):
and before the playoffs, and they went to the playoffs
absolutely flat. It was not good. I have not seen
where a team rests and goes into the playoffs with
momentum um. So, you know, if I were the coach,
obviously I'm not going into that game. You know, I
think you want to get your starters out there. I
think you want to play really solid football. Now, if
(09:46):
they don't finish the game, great, like if you want
to get them a little extra rest there. But for
the Chargers to go into the playoffs, to me, they
need to go out there. They need to play a
few solid quarters depending on you know, what the outcome
of that Ravens game was. And and you can start saying, okay,
let's get you out of the game, let's get you
some rest, But to me, it's like going a little
(10:07):
final tune up and keep it moving. Yeah, for sure.
Well we'll see what happens. It's always a fun matchup
when the Broncos and Chargers play each other. You never
know what can happen. So well, Lindsay, so appreciate your
insight on this matchup. You know, before you go, just
want to switch gears and dive into your career for
a couple of minutes. As many of my listeners know
here on this snap, one of my main goals is
just to highlight women's impact in and around the NFL.
(10:29):
So looking at your career, you know, for many of
my listeners who might not know, lindsay, what is your
role with ESPN really, Entail? Sure, I've been with ESPN
and this is my fifth season now, UM and I
spent first four covering the Rams, where I doing the
same job now with the Chargers. UM. Writing a lot
for ESPN dot com. We have a feature that comes
(10:50):
out pretty much every week covering the news and then
also UM there's a heavy TV component where I get
to appear on Sports Center, get to appear on the
NFL Live or Sunday NFL Countdown, UM with reports on
the Chargers or sometimes on the TV side of things,
still the rams. What has kind of been maybe your
favorite part about this role in the most challenging part
(11:13):
as well. Yeah, I think my favorite part is just
the kind of different stories we get to tell. You know,
we need to cover the biggest stories in the league.
Plus it's like you can you have the room to
find kind of some of the niche stories like this
last week I was able to write about a special
Teams guy who was a substitute teacher just a few
years ago, DeAndre Card which it's Yeah, it's like a
(11:35):
really cool kind of moment, a kind of light somebody else.
But then when it's like Justin Herbert, you cover all
the big storylines with Justin Herbert as well. Um, I'd
say probably the hardest part is just time management, finding
the time to write the features in between TV hits,
in between breaking news. Um, there can be a lot
(11:56):
of balls in the air to juggle. At the end
of the day, it's all fun stuff, but can get
a little bit stressful. Yeah, definitely definitely during the season.
Hard to find for yourself too. Yeah that doesn't exist. Yeah,
that really doesn't exist. That's true. Can you kind of
walk me through the path that you took to get
to where you are today. Yeah, it's like you see
those diagrams where they're like what success looks like and
(12:18):
then what it really is. UM. I love it. Yeah,
long story shore, I've been doing this UM to date myself.
Let's see twelve years UM and I started in Great Falls,
Montana working for the local news department, UM and covered
six man high school football and uh what junior college.
(12:41):
I think it was junior no n Ai n ai
football at Carol College. UM and from there went to
the Atlanta Falcons, was their team reporter for a year
and then came back to the West Coast where I'm from,
and UM got a job in l A working for
Fox Sports dot Com and just kind of zig zagged
my way up. End up at the l A Times
(13:04):
was a like they taught me how to write there,
which was like kind of insane to learn how to
write at the l A Times, But I um did
like host a lot of digital videos for them, and
then parlayed that into my job at ESPN. Awesome. What
kind of you know, looking at this career that you've had,
Lindsay Wook, I guess there's some of the challenges that
(13:24):
you faced along the way and kind of can you
walk me through how you overcame some of them. Yeah,
I think the biggest challenge is hearing the word no
when you're applying for new jobs and trying to move up.
You know, I had a lot of executives, a lot
of news directors look at my resume. I mean I
remember one network looked at my resume when I was
at the l A. Times and I was simultaneously also
(13:47):
working for Fox Sports One as a freelancer, and somebody said,
you know, your resumes all over the place, like you
do everything but nothing. And I was like, oh, that's awesome.
And I was told, you really need to figure out
like do you want to be on TV? Do you
want to be a house do you want to be
a reporter? Do you want to be a writer? And
I was like, well, I'm just I was on the
(14:07):
path of, honestly just saying yes to people who asked
me if I wanted to work for them, Like the
l A. Times asked you if you want to apply
for a position, you apply for the you kind of
take it um. So I think the big that was
really the biggest challenge and the biggest hurdle was feeling
like I should be moving on to the next step,
but hearing the word no, we're hearing the word like
(14:29):
you're not the fit here um and then still having
like the determination and just kind of the will power
to keep going because hearing hearing knows really hard. Yeah,
it definitely is for sure. Well, last one here for you, Lindsay.
You know, I like to end these episodes just really
inspiring the younger generations. So what's one piece of advice
you'd look to give someone getting into this industry, no
(14:50):
matter what area of it really that they want to
work in. It sounds so it's oversimplified, but just work
really hard. I'm It's why I am where I am
I am. You know, I took the first job that
was offered to me out of college and I just
kept my head down and worked hard. I not really
someone I probably should have done a better job not
working and sending emails and kind of lobbying for myself.
(15:14):
But I've always just been a really firm believer that
if you work really hard and the product you put
out is really good, good things are going to happen.
And truthfully, if that's how I got to where I am.
It's was just like putting out a good product, working
really hard, showing improvement, and the right people will notice
and opportunities will um. Definitely, I love that one sounds
(15:37):
easy enough, easy enough, easy enough, But you gotta be
the first one there. You gotta be the last one
to leave, even when else for the young people, when
everyone else is going to have fun, you're gonna be working. Yeah,
you're probably gonna be working. You just gotta be okay
with it. I gotta be okay with it. And there
will come a day well, no, even on Sundays, even
on Christmas, even on You miss a lot of things
(15:59):
for this job, but if you love it, it's okay. Definitely. Yeah.
We had a Christmas game and a New Year's game
this year, so yeah, you know the drill. You know
the drill over here, Lindsey, thank you enough for joining
me on today's episode. It was really a pleasure to
have you on. Thanks for having me my pleasure. Thanks
for having me. Well that's all the time we have
for this week's episode of The Snap Broncos Country. Thanks
so much for tuning in, and thank you again to
(16:20):
Lindsay Theory for joining me. Make sure to follow the
Broncos Podcast Network on Twitter and stay up to date
on the Broncos YouTube for the latest episodes. I will
see you all next time.
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