Laura Rutledge wears many hats these days.
She hosts NFL Live on ESPN (where she deals with Dan Orlovsky’s many idiosyncracies). She also hosts SEC Nation on the SEC Network. And we think she’s due for even bigger things.
The role she cherishes most, however, is as a mom to five-year-old Reese and one-year-old Jack. And while you can come after what she says and does on TV all you like, there’s a line to be drawn when it comes to her kids.
During football season, Rutledge posts videos on her social media accounts in which her kids pick the winners of that weekend’s big games. It’s a cute segment that often devolves into silliness over X’s and O’s.
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Jim from Tuscaloosa, a longtime listener of The Paul Finebaum Show, does not stand for that kind of tomfoolery. During a recent episode, he called into the show to say he found the whole bit “irritating.”
Rutledge joined the show on Friday and discussed how those comments made her feel.
“So I’m hurt, I’m upset,” Rutledge started in somewhat jest. “This whole time, I thought (Jim from Tuscaloosa) was my friend. But that’s fine. Jim, if you have an issue with me that’s totally fine. I get it. What I can’t get behind, though, is an issue with my 5-year-old daughter, who is, and yes I am biased, but she is truly the greatest human being that I’ve ever met in my life. It is an honor to be her mother. So what I won’t do is apologize for being proud of my kids.”
“An Ant has no quarrel with a boot.”
Watch as @LauraRutledge leaves Jim staggered… pic.twitter.com/limhTGlfJ5
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) November 1, 2024
Finebaum then invited Jim onto the show to offer a rebuttal and the Tuscaloosa-based caller came in hot, accusing Rutledge of getting “some things wrong.” He then explained that his animosity stemmed from the ESPN talent not following him back on social media after his account was suspended due to reasons related to January 6th.
“That made me angry, I’ll be honest with you,” he said.
As for the videos of Rutledge’s kids picking college football games each week, Jim explained why they irritated him so much.
“It’s kind of irritating for me to see the kids,” he said. “I’m just being honest with you, Laura. I thought you were kind of taking advantage of your position as a big-shot ESPN celebrity.”
For his part, Rutledge took the high road.
“I think we got too much hate in the world for us to be hating on each other,” she responded.
Hopefully, Jim will touch some grass soon and get some much-needed perspective back into his life.
