ESPN announced two new additions to their team of NFL beat reporters today, with Stephen Holder and DJ Bien-Aime joining to cover the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans, respectively.
ESPN's NFL Nation announces the addition of 2 new team members to the roster
Welcome @Djbienaime & @HolderStephen
More: https://t.co/GHuEXlhpUM | #NFL pic.twitter.com/nsFjDBZW4Q
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) July 11, 2022
Bien-Aime joins ESPN from the New York Daily News, where he’d covered the Jets. Holder had covered the Colts previously for both the Indianapolis Star and The Athletic.
Both reporters confirmed the news via Twitter:
Basically, nothing changes for me. I'll be covering the Colts and the rest of the NFL for ESPN, much as I was doing at The Athletic and Indy Star before that. If you liked me before, you'll probably still like me now. If you were annoyed by me before, that won't change either lol
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) July 11, 2022
I’m extremely blessed to be in this position. I wouldn’t be here if not for the people I’ve met across the way that propelled me to this position from co workers at the NYDN and St Augustine Record, friends, family, Jets fans, yes those lunatics, jets beat, NABJ and etc
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) July 11, 2022
ESPN’s release also touted role changes for other reporters ahead of the NFL season hitting full swing for training camp in the coming weeks.
Joining the ranks of NFL Nation for the upcoming season are DJ Bien-Aime, covering the Houston Texans, and Stephen Holder, the Indianapolis Colts. Bien-Aime, who started his career as a high school and college sports reporter in Florida, was most recently the New York Jets beat writer for the New York Daily News. Holder, an NFL reporter for nearly 18 years, spent the last nine years covering the Colts for the Indianapolis Star and The Athletic.
Four current NFL Nation reporters have new beats for the upcoming season. Sarah Barshop, who formerly covered the Houston Texans, will move to the Los Angeles Rams. Lindsey Thiry, who spent the last six seasons covering the Rams, will cover the Los Angeles Chargers. After spending five seasons covering the Vikings, Courtney Cronin will return to her home state of Illinois to cover the Chicago Bears. Kevin Seifert will continue to cover the wider football ecosystem while adding the Vikings.
In addition, ESPN offered fairly standard praise for the new additions:
“We are pleased to welcome DJ and Stephen, two established NFL reporters, to the fold,” ESPN NFL senior deputy editor Heather Burns said. “They will continue that work at ESPN, breaking news and delivering compelling storytelling across our platforms.
“They will add to the depth and breadth of our already robust NFL team of reporters. We are proud of what we have built with our NFL Nation staff, who do a tremendous job providing fans with insights to their favorite teams, players, and the entire league throughout the year.”
Holder (replacing the departing Mike Wells, who is leaving for academia) and Bien-Aime are both excellent reporters and very solid additions for ESPN. The commitment to having a dedicated beat reporter for every NFL franchise has been a longstanding one, and the sort of thing that helps ensure quality coverage across the most popular sport in the country. (It also probably looks really good to the NFL, too, as a rights partner.)
[ESPN]
