The longest-tenured sideline reporter in the history of “Monday Night Football” is a Black woman.
With over 150 assignments and now in her 10th season under the primetime spotlight, Lisa Salters has taken the title on the NFL’s prestigious program, now in its 51st year.
“When I first got the call to do ‘Monday Night Football,’ I would have never thought that 10 years later, I’d still be doing it,” Salters told ESPN Front Row. “I was at home and I got a phone call. Whenever you look down and see your boss’ number on your phone you’re like, ‘Oh, this can’t be good.'”
Former ESPN producer Vince Doria called Salters and asked if she wanted to do the show.
“I just could not believe that this just happened to me,” Salters said.
Salters has over three decades of journalism experience after graduating from Penn State in 1988. Earlier in her career, she worked at Baltimore’s NBC affiliate as a general assignment reporter and covered the conflicts between African countries Rwanda and Somalia, according to her ESPN biography. In 2012, Salters returned to Rwanda to teach young girls about journalism.
