Faith in the Spotlight by Megan Alexander

Author:Megan Alexander
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Howard Books

Always More to Learn

People ask me all the time, “How do you get the job you have? How do you get to the big leagues?” I asked CBS sports anchor Jim Nantz, the best in the business, the same question. He responded, “There is always more to learn. I am never completely prepared.” So Jim always gets to town a few days before a game, and he reads as much as he can about each player. That way he always has something to say. If you listen to Jim and Phil Simms during a game, they rarely have any silence; they always have something to talk about, a story to share about a player, or a direct reference to the game.

Super Bowl 45 in Arlington, Texas, was my first Super Bowl. As I walked around the stadium watching Dan Marino, Deion Sanders, and Michael Strahan broadcasting, I was in awe. I remember attending my first press conference. It was about the Super Bowl halftime show, that year featuring the Black Eyed Peas. I sat near the back of the ballroom that was already filled with press, almost to capacity. I felt like an outsider, like someone who didn’t really have the right to be there. I very tentatively raised my hand to ask a question and finally got noticed. I was probably the twentieth person to ask a question that day, and I spoke hesitantly and without my usual confidence. I felt in over my head.

But I took the opportunity to observe my fellow reporters. I noticed who was in the front row and who was getting called on first. After the press conference was over, I chatted up a former CNN sports reporter and asked about the pecking order. He gave me some very important advice: “It really comes down to who wants it the worst. Some of these guys show up two or three hours before the press conference starts. They have also gotten to know the NFL personnel, and that makes it easier for them to get called on.” Great information, but when I left Super Bowl 45 that year, I never expected my boss would send me back the next year. Usually Inside Edition rotates reporters to cover the Super Bowl.

But my boss asked me to go again. And again. For six years—and counting. And every year I’ve gone, I’ve gotten a little more comfortable. I did start showing up early to all the press conferences, and I have gotten to know the NFL officials. The big moment for me came in 2015. It was Super Bowl 49, the Seahawks vs. the Patriots. By that point, I knew what was required to play with the media big boys.

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