Laura Rutledge is the host of NFL Live, ESPN’s weekday offering of NFL news, notes and analysis. She joined the show as a host in 2020 and since then has been partnered with a bevy analysts including Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Keyshawn Johnson and others. One, however, was singled out on her latest podcast appearance.
She joined The Press Box with Bryan Curtis to discuss her media career that boomed from local high school recruiting writer to host with the ESPN family of networks. Curtis asked Rutledge what the process was like realizing she was ready for the role she is in now, hosting NFL Live and SEC Nation during the college football season.
“I still struggle with that daily,” Rutledge admitted. “It’s something that I think is really important for us to do as women, because the second we decide: ‘we’re good, we’re good to go here. We are prepared and we know so much about this, we love this sport’ then no one can take that from us.”
She says she has had struggles with some, in the industry and outside of it, who have not been as supportive of her. However, the daily she she hosts now, is a welcoming and empowering environment.
“Our NFL Live group is a lot of men, right? We’ve got a great female presence on the show with Mina Kimes, but we’ve got Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark, Keyshawn Johnson, Adam Schefter. They support us,” relayed Rutledge. “They treat us as equals.”
Rutledge then went on to offer some high praise of Kimes. “Mina… she is such a rare, cutting-edge, true trailblazer of a talent. I can’t overstate how important she is to the space and how much she matters and what she’s brought to the table. She’s in a different category than me because she’s a true analyst and she’s true gamechanger in so many ways.”
