Nobody has done more SportsCenter’s than Linda Cohn. The honor means a lot, but it’s not what she’s most proud of. Few have paved the way for women in sports more than Cohn. But as noble as she’s been in that endeavor, still, that’s not what she’s most proud of. In a business where family life is almost always sacrificed in one form or another, Cohn has always put hers first.
That’s what she’s most proud of.
“What I’m most proud of in my life is the fact that not only did I go after my dream job, but the fact that I’m a mom,” said Cohn. “I didn’t want to jump around and in this business that’s the norm. I’m not saying I didn’t contemplate that, I’m not saying I didn’t have opportunities, but I put being a mom first. What that meant was not uproting my kids. They still have the same friends they grew up with to this day, because they were raised in Connecticut outside of Bristol, and they had that consistency in their lives.”
Cohn is one of ESPN’s most likeable personalities, but that statement not only makes her more endearing, it also humanizes her to the millions of people that have watched her over the years. That’s exactly how Cohn wants you to feel about her. She wants her listeners and viewers to know she’s the same type of sports fan they are. The main difference, she has a platform few others have. But even if she didn’t, she’d be plopped on the couch watching her favorite teams.
“People associate me with just hosting SportsCenter, the highlight queen, which I love and is fantastic,” Cohn said. “That’s why I’ve been at ESPN for so long. It’s still fun for me. I have such a passion for sports. I grew up as a fan first. I’m just like the fans.”
Cohn got to ESPN in 1992 and has seen everything the WorldWide Leader has to offer. She was there for all the “Boo-Ya’s” with Stuart Scott. She was there for all the hilarious ESPN commercials in the late 90’s and 2000’s. She’s seen all the high’s and low’s that’s happened in Bristol over the past 29 years. Cohn has been a constant and when many people in this business think of their childhood, they think of her sitting at a desk and delivering the highlights.
“It actually makes me smile,” Cohn said. “It’s such a compliment. It kind of confirms something that I don’t think about enough, and that’s the fact I’ve been doing it for this long. I still approach every SportsCenter, or every edition of In The Crease on ESPN Plus, or anything else, as this could be the first time that someone is seeing me. I know that sounds crazy for someone that’s been at SportsCenter coming up to 29 years, but I think that’s been a great formula for me, just to think that someone is going to see me for the first time.”
It’s true most sports fans associate Cohn with SportsCenter. That comes with the territory of hosting the most popular sports studio show that’s ever aired on television. But with all the greats that have ever sat in that chair, it’s a remarkable feat that Cohn has out-lasted all of them.
“I remember when my wonderful boss Norby Williamson came to me several years ago around 2017,” Cohn said. “He realized I had done the most SportsCenter’s, out of anyone, male or female. He said we’re going to have a special show and celebrate your 5,000th SportsCenter. Honestly, one, I didn’t count them. Second, I was just doing something I love. I know that sounds corny and cliché, but the point is, this is my job, the one I chose. My jam is hosting SportsCenter and it just turns out I’ve done more than anybody. I looked at it as a positive.”
“Maybe some people said or thought, I don’t know, maybe it’s because she wasn’t really sent out to do more things. Or, she wasn’t able to do other assignments. I don’t care what the reason was, they still were going to me. To use another sports analogy, whether I was a starter or coming off the bench, I was still there.”
The great thing about this stage in Cohn’s career is the fact she’s getting to show she’s not just great at reading highlights off a prompter. She’s always had strong sports takes and opinions and she’s finally getting to showcase those both on radio and television.
You can hear Cohn pretty regularly on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio and SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. She’s extremely passionate about hockey, especially her New York Rangers, so the opportunity to showcase just how much of a true fan she is has played very well with the listeners.
“Here’s the thing, I’ve watched over 29 years, it’s great, ESPN is now allowing hosts to have an opinion and to root for their team,” Cohn said. “In the early days you were not allowed to do that. You had to sneak things in and then people began to know what teams were your teams.”
Cohn got to chase her dream and she’s been incredibly happy throughout it. But being one of the first women to be on major sports television wasn’t exactly the most accepting of roles with male viewers. Luckily, she was raised to brush off the negativity. As much as Cohn loves watching hockey, she loved playing it even more. That even meant playing against the boys when she was growing up as a goalie.
She heard the whispers of parents saying she was better off babysitting than collecting glove saves as a kid. But she learned to block all of that out. So whether it was men saying she couldn’t talk sports or even nasty social media responses she may occasionally get, it’s brushed off. She’s already heard anything you have to say.
“I was on Twitter in 2009 and my daughter Sammie would always say to me, treat your great mentions the same way you treat your awful mentions,” Cohn said. “Let’s face it, everyone gets awful mentions, but they don’t mean anything. There’s a great compliment I’ve gotten over the years, which was, guys coming up to me and saying, I never took sports from a woman before you. I don’t even think about gender. They would always preface it with, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m like, how can I take this the wrong way? I think that’s the greatest compliment you can give me”
So who is Linda Cohn? What’s the real version of the ESPN anchor so many of us grew up with?
She’s the president of the Eli Manning Fan Club, she’s the author of Cohn-Head A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys Club, she’s the one that never used ESPN or SportsCenter as a stepping stone, she loves her job, she loves to laugh, she loves sports just as much as we do, she’s a mom, she’s like you, she’s like me.
“I really love sports the way the fans do,” Cohn said. “That’s what I want people to know. From the beginning when I started at ESPN until now. I still have the passion. If I wasn’t on SportsCenter, I’d be sitting on my couch on a beautiful day watching some sporting event.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
