After being benched last season over her refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, ex-ESPNer Allison Williams is joining Fox Sports to reprise her role as a college football sideline reporter.
Williams made the announcement on Tuesday via Outkick, stating that she’ll be joining a broadcast team with Fox’s newly acquired play-by-play voice Jason Benetti and longtime analyst Brock Huard.
“I am beyond thrilled and so grateful to be joining FOX Sports’ coverage of college football this fall. Having to step away from the sport and profession I love this past year has re-affirmed and reinvigorated the passion I have for this job,” Williams told Outkick. “I can’t think of a more perfect way to return to the sidelines than with FOX and the tremendously talented crew of my former colleagues, Jason Benetti and Brock Huard. I am so grateful to the executive team at FOX, especially Brad Zager and Julie Boyd for giving me this opportunity.”
Williams spent more than a decade with ESPN, but her tenure at the Worldwide Leader ended unceremoniously after she refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19 last year. ESPN had previously announced a vaccine mandate for all on-site employees to ensure compliance with the various league, conference and stadium protocols. While ESPN made exceptions for some unvaccinated employees, letting a sideline reporter work from home obviously was not feasible.
One month after explaining why she wasn’t on the sideline for ESPN, Williams announced she quit her job at the Disney-owned sports network because of their vaccine mandate. Leaning into her new right-wing fanfare, Williams joined Ben Shapiro’s The Daily Wire less than one week after exiting ESPN.
According to Outkick, joining Fox as a sideline reporter won’t take Williams away from The Daily Wire. She plans to release a sports series for the company later this month.
[Outkick]