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In February of 2021, a new podcast hit the scene with two of the most famous women in sports broadcasting today, Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson. While hundreds of thousands, if not millions of podcasts have come and gone since then, the two friends who share very similar work lives and interests are still going strong. While I had heard and seen many clips from the show in the past, I had yet to tune in for a full episode because, to be honest, I kind of viewed it as a ‘chick podcast.’ However, that isn’t exactly what I found when I eavesdropped in on episode 284 of the podcast titled, ‘Do We Have Dirty Mouths?’
I won’t bury the lead here – the answer is a resounding yes, they do, in fact, have dirty mouths, but they are working on it and promise to get better at it. That is just one of things I learned when tuning in to the show, which I did via YouTube. The show has garnered nearly 50,000 subscribers via the video platform and has over 175,000 followers on its Instagram account.
None of the numbers the show has done is really a surprise. Not only are Andrews and Thompson both incredibly talented, but they are also on the scene for some of the biggest sporting events on the calendar and get to talk with many of the athletes sports fans want to hear from. And they happen to be really good friends who, as they say, would be doing this anyway even if it weren’t being recorded.
When Calm Down With Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson was first announced, it was said the show would be “all about the conversations you would have with your friends when you think others aren’t listening. It’s like a text chain put into a podcast. This is the place where Erin and Charissa get real, and no subject is off limits. It’s a ‘pull back the curtain’ look into their lives, while they also ask questions about everyone else’s. Get ready for unfiltered conversations between two girlfriends about life, gossip, sports, and pretty much every random topic that needs to be dissected.”
Never has a description of a show matched the content any better. Mission accomplished.
The first thing I noticed about the show featuring the longtime lead reporter for the NFL on FOX and the host for Amazon’s Thursday Night Football on Prime Video is the incredible chemistry they have. I am sure they prepared before the episode and probably had material they were referencing, but you wouldn’t know it by watching or listening. It really sounds like they are just having a private conversation about their lives, and you are being welcomed into it.
So, yes there is a lot of ‘girl talk’ as you would expect, but this show is far from just a girl’s club. Again, their lives this time of year revolve around the same thing most sports fans lives revolve around, football. Not many people get to spend game day on the field where the action is and these two do.
At the front of the episode, the two were talking about their voices and said what most people say, which is they don’t like necessarily hearing themselves. Thompson talked about her ‘broadcast voice’ while Andrews said, “You have your announcer voice, I try to have one, but my voice couldn’t be worse.”
Immediately you hear something which will be a constant throughout the show and that is the two friends pumping each other up and not letting them get too negative about themselves. They support each other, they root for each other, and they lean on each other.
Football fans will love the insider conversation. During one part of the show, Andrews talked about practicing a report she was getting ready to do and said she found herself imitating Melissa Stark and actually threw to Mike Tirico while she was practicing. Tirico, of course, is the lead play-by-play voice for NBC’s Sunday Night Football which Stark works on. Andrews is teamed with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady after many years of working with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
Thompson than says about Stark, “Melissa Stark, is/was our Michael Jordan. I still have her haircut that she had when she first came on Monday night sidelines.” Andrews adds, “She has always been so good to us, and we love her…She has not aged, which is really annoying.” Thompson replies, “Not a fu***** day!” Again, they are working on the potty mouths.
Next, they moved into the two games they each had the previous week and this is where you start to get the overall landscape of the podcast. In this section, they not only talk about the games and what actually happened that football fans might want to hear, they also talk about things they have to deal with and think about for games, such as what to wear, how to wear their hair and how to deal with bad weather.
While Andrews had the Tampa Bay-San Francisco game, Thompson was at a great game between Baltimore and Cincinnati. “You looked so great, the wind was blowing, you were in this great coat…you looked gorgeous,” Andrews told Thompson.
You probably won’t hear the word ‘frumpy’ much on a lot of other podcasts that talk about football, but it came up on Calm Down as Thompson described how she felt in a big coat she was wearing. Andrews says to those tuning in, “Guys, it’s hard to have a frumpy day when you are on in front of how many millions of people?”
The two talked as well about what they do during the games. Many might be surprised to know that Andrews logs the entire game on a notepad as it is going on. She said it helps her stay locked in and she is marking down key things Burkhardt and Brady are saying that she can then use to follow up on when she talks with any players or coaches. It seemed Thompson was also learning this for the first time, and she seemed to think Andrews was nuts for doing it.
I really liked a line Thompson said during this part of the podcast, when she said, “It is an honor to have front row seats to watch these athletes.” You can tell both love what they do, and they really enjoy being able to experience it all at the same time and talk about it together.
The two women know their stuff when it comes to football and those they are covering. They are also both very attractive and while many years ago that may have been all you needed to obtain a job like the ones they have, the times have changed, and as the saying goes, ‘you can’t just be a pretty face.’ As you listen to what they are saying about the games and teams they cover, it is obvious neither one is relying on anything other than their knowledge, hard work, relationships and their broadcasting teams.
I sensed a bit of jealousy from Andrews in this episode, mainly because Thompson’s schedule of games has been better of late. While Thompson was preparing for an NFC East battle between the Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles, Andrews and her FOX Sports partners will have the Green Bay Packers playing at the Chicago Bears.
Not only do you learn plenty of things about sports, including the two broadcasters’ affection for tight ends in the NFL, but you also learn about their interests away from the cameras and get into their personal lives. Thompson talked about shows she was watching and being upset Kevin Costner has left Yellowstone, Andrews talked about trying to reach her husband to tell him to get the blanket out of their son Mack’s crib.
Whether it was how you should clean up after yourself at the gym, why Charissa hates the term ‘squash beef’ or how long pumpkin flavored items should stay around before things flip to peppermint, the ladies cover it all. The show moves quickly, and episodes are perfectly timed at around 40 minutes.
Throughout the show I did think to myself at least once that the two sure do cuss a lot. But so do I, so it didn’t bother me. However, they both seemed a bit bothered by it when the subject came up. Andrews said, “I need to watch my mouth, its gross, it’s pretty foul. It’s disgusting, I really need to tighten it up. I think of women that I look up to and think they would never speak this way. It’s my early New Year’s Resolution, again, for like the 10th year in a row.”
They said they plan to hold each other accountable about it, but in truth it does add more realism to the show. This is how they talk when they talk to each other, so why not be their very true selves on the show.
As they went from the way they talk to other things they like to do away from work, they got into talking about etiquette at the gym and Andrews seeing people who will wipe down equipment, but not the pile of sweat that is on the mat below them. As they went back and forth on what the right thing to do is, Andrews made a deal with those that attend gyms saying, “I’ll watch my mouth, you wipe the mat.”
Andrews and Thompson are funny, they’re relatable and truly have a couple of the coolest jobs in the world. Calm Down is absolutely a look into their lives and a peek behind the curtains that fans, male or female, can all enjoy.
As they wrap the show, they did a ‘Headlines’ segment where they gave thoughts on some things they saw around the internet that week. This week it involved wondering if women’s intuition is a real thing, whether you should charge a roommate who always has a companion over and whether or not Home Depot is a good spot to pick up a date.
Calm Down is a fun listen. Whether it was football and the games they are working and have worked, or it was Thompson ranting on those who save voice notes, it had everything you look for in a good podcast. It even came with a great movie line drop from Charissa who told a story about watching people not use tongs to pick up food in the Delta lounge when she quoted Carl the Janitor from Breakfast Club who famously said, “I am the eyes and ears of this institution.”
Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson are lucky in a lot of ways. For their podcast, they are lucky to have their friendship and the shared journey of their careers. Thompson, towards the end of the show, also said they are lucky for another reason, which may or may not make for a good tag line for their show.
“We are lucky that we have any boyfriends or husbands,” Thomspon said. “Because we are fu***** crazy, we are nuts!”
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
