For reasons that almost certainly don’t need to be explained, being a woman in sports media brings with it a host of challenges and frustrations.
According to ESPN’s Mina Kimes, one person who isn’t adding to any of those frustrations is Jason Kelce, which might be surprising to some, given his “big personality.”
Kimes recently spoke with Jason’s wife, Kylie Kelce, on Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce. After Kylie teed Mina up to give her husband a good jab over the difficulties that come with working with him, the NFL analyst offered some high praise to her co-worker.
“Who’s the most difficult person on the desk?” asked Kelce. “And why is it my husband?”
“It’s absolutely not him,” said Kimes. “Unfortunately, so far down on the diva ranking in sports media. I know. You hate to hear it.
“I’ll embarrass him for a second. People always ask me, ‘How can men help women?’ Because there aren’t that many of us, particularly ones who do my job. And I think your husband is an extremely great example of how you do that, which is just by being freaking normal, just engaging in normal football conversations with me. And it is not about being a weird performative ally. It’s the things you don’t see.
“It’s if I make a comment about something I see in a game and he will remember it weeks later and bring it up, which sounds so small, but those are the things that actually, I feel like I’m embarrassing you… But those are the things that actually help.”
While she loves to kid her husband, whom she’s referred to as a “neanderthal,” Kelce appreciated hearing the kind words about him.
“We love to joke around, around here, but I know how much he has loved working with everyone that you guys have on Monday nights, so it is nice,” said Kelce. “I’m sure he’s blushing and telling you no, but it’s lovely to hear about him in such a nice way.”
Jason has indeed been a whirlwind presence on ESPN since retiring from the NFL. While Monday Night Countdown is his main gig, he’s appeared on several shows and in various roles, including hosting a late-night TV show, interviewing NFL players, serving as a “special correspondent” for NHL Stadium Series games, and even reporting from below the TGL green.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.