FOX NFL reporter Erin Andrews joins Buffalo Bills multimedia journalist Maddy Glab and team owner and president Kim Pegula on the latest episode of "Bills Pod Squad," presented by New York Lottery.
The episode is available now on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts. You can also watch the episode on BuffaloBills.com, the team's YouTube channel, and the Bills Mobile app, presented by M&T Bank.
Andrews has been a regular on NFL sidelines since 2014 after spending nearly a decade as a leading face in college football coverage, first for ESPN and later for FOX Sports. She has also covered Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and college basketball, among other sports.
Each week, Maddy and Kim are joined by guests from around the NFL to discuss their careers, the Bills' season, and more.
Here are three takeaways from their conversation with Andrews.
1. Her love for sports drives her
Andrews described how her father, a journalist, took her under his wing and made her fall in love with sports in part through his knack for storytelling. Her love for sports is an essential aspect of her ability to work through the grind of her career.
"You've really got to love this job because you're going to sacrifice a lot," she said. "I lost a lot of girlfriends coming out of college because I couldn't make their weddings. They all got married on weekends that there were college football games, I was working.
"I was like, 'Who gets married for Florida-LSU weekend? Are you crazy? I'm working that game, I can't be in your wedding!' There's a lot of sacrifice. I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since I started working for 20 years. … It's worth it, and when you love it, I don't see myself doing anything else."
2. She is "obsessed" with doing well
As was the case with an earlier episode featuring Good Morning Football’s Kay Adams (and with any content featuring Kim and Maddy), this episode is a must-listen for women with aspirations of breaking into the sports industry.
Andrews said she never worried much about the thought of working in a male-heavy industry, possibly because she was too preoccupied with her own motivation and the work she demanded of herself.
"I have thought I have to prove myself," she said. "But I never really worried about being the only female on the road with 40 guys. I feel like it's always fueled me, but I never was worried about not belonging. I do worry about proving myself and I still do to this day."
3. She sees opportunities for young journalists
Along with relaying the two pieces of advice that helped her in her career, Andrews pointed to the podcast itself as evidence of jobs becoming available for aspiring reporters.
"I will say, there's a lot of opportunity because of what you're doing: digital," she said. "Everybody on teams. I'm always on the team's website, because there's always the best information on them. There's the reporters on the team. You guys all have your own production groups, and that's so exciting and I think that opens up a lot of jobs for women as well."
