From sideline sprints to surprise interviews, ESPN’s Laura Rutledge enjoys a hectic football season

By Canadian Press on January 17, 2026.

Laura Rutledge’s schedule during football season has always been hectic.

The ESPN reporter has hosted “NFL Live,” the network’s year-round weekday news show, since 2020, along with “SEC Nation” on Saturdays during college football season.

Rutledge took on another assignment this season when she became a full-time sideline reporter on “Monday Night Football.” Rutledge had done some sideline work during NFL games over the past couple of seasons, but the network decided to have two reporters at every game in 2025.

With her seemingly effortless transition from host to reporter — sometimes in a matter of minutes — and her fluency in both college football and the NFL, the always enthusiastic Rutledge has become the face of football on ESPN.

On “Monday Night Football,” Rutledge joined Lisa Salters, who has been patrolling the sidelines since 2012.

“Lisa is amazing. She’s been doing this for so long at such a high level and I’m really thankful because I’m still learning in a lot of ways and I fully know that,” Rutledge told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I just love her perspective on things and it’s been such a gift and a privilege for me to be able to spend the time with her.”

Rutledge’s typical schedule was hosting “NFL Live” on Mondays from the game site and then doing sideline reports for the game. Then it was back to ESPN’s studios in Bristol, Connecticut, where she anchored “NFL Live” from Tuesday through Thursday, before traveling on Friday and hosting “SEC Nation” on Saturday.

Rutledge joined ESPN in 2014 and has been on “SEC Nation” since it started. She also has had other roles in ESPN’s college football coverage, including sideline reporting for College Football Playoff games.

“Having Laura join Lisa Salters, whose professionalism and journalistic expertise has long set the tone for our coverage, on ‘Monday Night Football’ has really elevated the overall editorial feel of our broadcasts. Whether she’s reporting on‑air or feeding key information to the truck or to Joe (Buck) and Troy (Aikman), Laura’s natural reporting instincts and storytelling ability are spot‑on. She brings an energy and passion that are contagious, and she genuinely lifts everyone around her,” said Mark Gross, ESPN’s senior vice president of production.

ESPN approached Rutledge during the spring about doing a full “Monday Night Football” schedule. She understood she would be adding more responsibility and not trading one job for another.

“I think when it comes down to what the schedule ended up being, it was more than even I expected. I had sort of prepared myself for what I knew was going to be crazy, but it was wild,” Rutledge said this week as she prepared for Sunday’s divisional-round game between the Houston Texans and New England Patriots. “It was sort of like this revolving-door cycle throughout each week, but what an honor to be on these things. I mean, it’s beyond even my wildest dreams. I think for me that was what I’ve constantly reminded myself of when things get a little hairy with the schedule.”

Rutledge has also showed during college football and NFL coverage that she can quickly adjust on the fly.

During the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, ESPN’s cameras caught Rutledge running from one sideline — where she was reporting for “SEC Nation” on SEC Network — across the field to anchor halftime coverage on ESPN.

The 45-second dash even got a full highlight narration from Chris Berman, who whooped with delight as he watched Rutledge weaving her way through the Mississippi band.

“I’ll never get over it. It’s one of the coolest things that’s ever happened to me in my life. He’s been an incredible mentor to me, so it’s something I’ll treasure forever,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge can also give firsthand perspective on trying to get a postgame interview immediately after a game when time is at a premium because of the 11 p.m. local news.

That happened after the Los Angeles Chargers’ 22-19 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 8, when Rutledge buttonholed Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert immediately after the game and seemingly caught him off guard.

Rutledge got the interview — even if Herbert was reticent at first — after the Eagles appeared to be driving for the winning score and Rutledge was on the other side of the field.

“We had even less time than we normally would and I was still trying my best to let Justin Herbert shake the hands that he wanted to and see the people that he wanted to,” Rutledge said. “From my perspective too, you never want the player to be caught unawares. So we’re trying to be sensitive to so much. And then yet when a team has said, ‘You’re going to get this player,’ that’s what we have to do.

“I don’t fault anybody in that scenario. We were both trying to do our jobs and he stood there and did the interview.”

The situation was the opposite with Seahawks QB Sam Darnold after Seattle beat the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 3. ESPN and ABC had extra time because the Seahawks’ 13-3 victory ended at 10:46 p.m. EDT.

Rutledge told Darnold he had time to find San Francisco’s Brock Purdy and exchange postgame pleasantries before coming back to do the interview. Some observers speculated on social media that Darnold was trying to get out of talking to Rutledge.

“I try to never say anything publicly about these things. but I’m not going to have people trashing these guys. They deserve better than that,” Rutledge said. “He was asking me if we need to do the interview right then.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Joe Reedy, The Associated Press