SEC Nation has built a cult-like following of southern football fans. You can add 92.9 The Game midday host Steak Shapiro to the list of those who admire the program.
While speaking with SEC Nation host Laura Rutledge Friday, Shapiro likened the Saturday morning pregame show to a morning radio show.
“The thing about SEC Nation — and having been on radio and programming stations for years — it’s the closest thing to a great morning radio show. It’s great chemistry. It’s the chemistry,” said Steak Shapiro. “Maybe ESPN, they won’t let you be quite as loose as how you built that thing, but like there’s an element of morning radio, like just a team that’s out there having fun every day.”
Rutledge shared her appreciation for the remarks from Shapiro. She admitted the SEC Network program brings some levity to her work, and she enjoys the cast of the program, which includes Paul Fimebaum, Jordan Rodgers, Roman Harper, Tim Tebow, and Marty Smith, among others.
“It’s so much fun to cover the SEC…that’s really where my career kind of started at ESPN and it’s something that you know means a lot to me,” Rutledge said. “It’s always going to feel like home to me. It’s always going to be my family, my SEC family. They’re a hoot and a half.
“The SEC Nation crew is hilarious. We have so much fun. And I was actually talking to Marty Smith about this last night. You know, one of the things that we’re really thankful for is we all kind of go our separate ways during the week, and we all have different roles and different jobs and different things going on in life. But then we come together on the weekend, and it’s just a blast, and we enjoy each other. I think that comes through on air, but it’s so authentic and it truly is kind of how we feel.”
