Maggie Gray is tired seeing kids at postgame press conferences: ‘These are reporters trying to do their job.’

Professional athletes and coaches bringing their kids into a press conference has been a growing trend in recent years. But should it be stopped?

Allen Iverson, Drew Brees, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning and Steph Curry are a few athletes who famously had their children crash important press conferences. Last week, after beating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game to earn a Super Bowl berth, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni brought his children with him to the podium.

💚 OMG Love Nick Sirianni’s Kids 😂 pic.twitter.com/S3c5kO3Y7p

— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) January 30, 2023

Sirianni’s youngest son sat on his lap, seemingly content, his older son sat to his right and covered his face out of boredom. But the head coach’s daughter, Taylor, stole the show as she mocked her father by lip-synching along to his answers, prompting Sirianni to play dad for a second.

Kids at their parents’ press conferences can be cute, especially because they often don’t recognize the significance of the moment and they continue to act like kids. But after watching Sirianni parent his three children during his postgame press conference last week, CBS Sports Radio’s Maggie Gray appears to have had enough of the bit.

We get it… your kids are cute. @MaggieGray just doesn’t need to see them at the podium! pic.twitter.com/UsBH2C7cWT

— Maggie and Perloff (@MaggieandPerl) February 6, 2023

“All professional athletes, your kids are cute. They’re all cute,” Gray told co-host Andrew Perloff. “We both have kids, they’re cute. Kids are naturally cute. We can see your kids down on the field with confetti, I’m not saying kids shouldn’t be part of this. But to be up there in the press conference after a game. No. These are reporters trying to do their job, number one. And two, we have plenty of time to see your kids. They shouldn’t be up there.”

Maybe Gray is right and if we polled reporters, they would prefer to see kids banned from the media room. But how many reporters are asking hard-hitting questions during a press conference that a coach or player will be reluctant to answer because their kids are with them?

Postgame press conferences are usually predictable. There might be a good player vs reporter exchange on occasion, but for the most part, they’re generic questions that we can predict the answers to. And if kids are at the podium, it probably means the player or coach is in a good mood because they’re coming off a win. Kids usually aren’t there after a demoralizing loss when there might be tougher questions to ask. But surely, Nick Sirianni can respond to “talk about how it feels to win” while his kids are in attendance. I’m still waiting for a player to bring their emotional support animal to the podium.

[CBS Sports Radio]