A sports journalism icon will be honored at the upcoming New York TV and Film Awards as the organization will honor Lesley Visser with the Festivals’ 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award. Visser will receive the award at the upcoming Storytellers Gala, which will be streamed in May of this year.
Visser’s career began in 1974 when she was hired as a reporter for the Boston Globe, which only two years later she made history as the first woman to cover the NFL for the newspaper. When she was named to the beat, press box credentials were not allowed for women or children.
Visser also broke ground as the first female NFL analyst on television in 2009 with CBS Sports on top of being the first woman to be recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, receiving the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. Visser is the only sportscaster in history to work broadcasts of the Final Four, NBA Finals, World Series, Triple Crown (horse racing), Monday Night Football, a Super Bowl, the U.S. Open (golf), the World Figure Skating Championships, and the Olympic Games.
Visser now serves as a member of CBS Sports Network’s show We Need To Talk, which is the first all-women sports talk show on television, debuting in 2014.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Television and Film Awards,” said Visser, “and I love that it will be presented at the Storytellers Gala. The heart of any sports journalist is dedicated to telling stories. I’m grateful to CBS for giving me this opportunity for more than 30 years, and I salute the men and women who have won this honor before me.”
A Boston College graduate, Visser was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2007 and has continued to mentor young women throughout her career.
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