Plenty of people have their opinions about ESPN’s Mina Kimes, but let there be no doubt that her NFL Live coworkers are enormous fans of hers and will miss her while she’s away on maternity leave.
Kimes begins her maternity leave on Tuesday but before she goes, everyone at NFL Live wanted to give the soon-to-be-mom a major sendoff so she knows how much she’ll be missed.
“Our dear friend Mina Kimes, her last show before maternity leave is tomorrow,” said Laura Rutledge, standing next to Dan Orlovsky in Cincinnati. “Mina, we are gonna miss you like crazy. We wanted to just send you some thoughts, maybe a little bit of advice too before you become a mom.”
“Oh no,” Kimes can be heard saying as a montage of her co-workers praising her and sharing their excitement for her baby played.
What a nice and touching video done by @espn’s #NFLLive crew for @minakimes as she prepares to go on maternity leave
Aired a few moments ago and this is good!! 🥹 So happy for you, Mina!! pic.twitter.com/v0Wt85Bvbe
— AAJA Sports (@AAJAsports) September 25, 2023
Given the camaraderie and playfulness the contributors often have with one another on the show and social media, it’s little surprise that they would want to send Kimes off with the very best wishes. And she was incredibly grateful for the love.
Love my TV family @LauraRutledge @Realrclark25 @mspears96 @FieldYates
See you guys soon ✌️ https://t.co/1EmmN3wm5U
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) September 25, 2023
ESPN is also a pretty big fan of Kimes in general. They recently signed her to a lucrative extension after there had been rumblings from various competitors about wanting to poach her.
