Power, strength, confidence, presence – these are the words that come to mind when I watch ESPN personality Kimberley A. Martin, a woman who has staked her claim as one of the best football commentators on television. Martin’s work, chiefly on ESPN’s Get Up and First Take, has been remarkable.
In these days of walking on eggshells and avoiding controversy, the issue of gender is often one that people avoid, but let’s not do that here. The fact of the matter is that Martin is usually the only female analyst on any given sports talk show panel. Molly Qerim is alongside on First Take, but she is the host of the program, and while she ably engages in debate at times, her main job is to move the show forward, pace the program, and run the rhythm of the broadcast.
Moreover, Martin’s fellow panelists are not television neophytes like Rob Gronkowski or Tom Brady. She is sitting side-by-side and going toe-to-toe with grizzled and glib former players like Tedy Bruschi, Shannon Sharpe, Jeff Saturday, Dominique Foxworthy, Bart Scott, Damien Woody, Dan Orlovsky, and Harry Douglas. These are hardened NFL veterans who know the ins and outs, and X’s and O’s of football.
In addition to former players, Martin also debates some of the best gabbers in the TV game right now including the legendary Mike Greenberg and Stephen A. Smith. This pair is unquestionably the most articulate, prepared, and knowledgeable duo on television today. They have seen it all in every format through multiple generations.
Such is the heady backdrop in which Martin does her stuff. On the Thanksgiving Day edition of Get Up, Martin gave some real talk about the diversity of the Lions’ offense and how head coach Dan Campbell set the tone for the team by saying that they were not going to lose at home on Thanksgiving Day anymore.
She was also omniscient questioning whether Matt Eberflus is the head coach that can really develop quarterback Caleb Williams over the next few years. Just 24 hours later, Eberflus was fired by the Bears.
When asked whom she trusted more as a QB, Tua Tagovailoa or Jordan Love, Martin pointed to the fact that Tagovailoa still has not proven that he can win a game in cold weather. She also said that Packers’ head coach Matt LaFleur has been excellent at mitigating mistake opportunities for Love with a strong running game.
Sure enough, Green Bay’s Josh Jacobs had 117 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown as the Packers beat Miami 30-17 at Lambeau Field.
Martin is unafraid to stray from conventional wisdom. She went against the popular grain saying that the Dallas Cowboys should keep Mike McCarthy as head coach next season. In addition, while she did pick the Pittsburgh Steelers to make the playoffs, she pointed to their red zone efficiency as a potential obstacle to going deep in the playoffs. I like the way Martin moves from generalities to specifics. It is a key weapon in her debate arsenal.
In a conversation as to whether the 2024 version of the Kansas City Chiefs could win their third straight Super Bowl, Martin emphatically answered, “Yes sir.” She talked about how everyone is downgrading KC, but noted that they always find a way to win big games. Again cutting through the BS, Martin pointed out that the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs are 45-11 overall between November and January.
Martin’s excellence comes from experience. Before joining ESPN, she was a Senior NFL writer for Yahoo! Sports and co-hosted an all-female weekly football show called Cover 3. She was also an NFL beat writer for the Washington Post and Newsday, and a columnist for the Buffalo News. In addition to First Take and Get Up, Martin has also been featured on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, Fantasy Football Now, NFL Live, Around the Horn, SportsCenter, and ESPN Radio.
Martin is outspoken, passionate, and extremely smart. Her takes are original and filled with the right mix of stats and sass. Her weekly repartee with Smith on First Take is especially entertaining. It is very difficult to go up against Smith in a head-on debate. He cuts through an argument with great relish, like a chainsaw in a $5,000 suit, but Martin never backs down from her points. She lets Smith roll, waits her turn, and then does some cutting of her own, calling Smith out on any hypocrisy or double talk.
More than just talk, Martin is a terrific listener. In fact, some of her best takes actually come from hearing opposing viewpoints. She is adept at breaking down and analyzing a game or a player and seems to look at football from a different perspective. She often focuses on the personal side of the game and is a champion of players who have overcome obstacles or been overlooked. Martin’s chops as a newspaper reporter are apparent. You can tell that while she has a tremendous on-air charisma, she is still a writer/reporter at heart.
Martin does, however, recognize that her current gig is on television. She gets that it is a visual medium and her fashion sense and enthusiastic style stand out in an extremely positive way. At times, Martin’s facial expressions show that she is just waiting to pounce on a fellow debater’s dissertation.
It is clear that her background covering NFL teams in Washington, Buffalo, and New York has given her solid contacts throughout the league. She has a rapport with players and coaches, and inside info to dole out when necessary. Perhaps Martin’s greatest strength is her feel for the drama of the NFL season. She gets that it is a week-to-week soap opera.
Smith likes to say that his regular Stephen’s A-List is “fluid.” Well, so is the entire NFL season and Martin understands this. She is a media professional for sure, but has a unique way of tapping into the fan psyche as well. Uniqueness is a watchword for Martin. When she makes a point, it’s not something that I’ve heard ten other people say already.
There are a lot of great female football broadcasters out there now, but while many of these women are in sideline reporter or host roles, Martin is in the trenches, in the fray, and part of the linguistic melee. Martin’s fearlessness crosses into societal matters and discussions on inequality and biases both in and out of sports. Social issues? No problem. Political topics that leak into sports? Sure. Off the field problems for players and teams? Absolutely. Martin takes on all discussions and debates and, in doing so, has become a vibrant and vital part of ESPN’s talent roster.
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John Molori is a weekly columnist for Barrett Sports Media. He has previously contributed to ESPNW, Patriots Football Weekly, Golf Content Network, Methuen Life Magazine, and wrote a syndicated Media Blitz column in the New England region, which was published by numerous outlets including The Boston Metro, Providence Journal, Lowell Sun, and the Eagle-Tribune. His career also includes fourteen years in television as a News and Sports Reporter, Host, Producer working for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T. He can be reached on Twitter @MoloriMedia.
