ESPN host Laura Rutledge shares her career goals, thoughts on the Dallas Cowboys and … (+)
Honey Baked Ham Company
Laura Rutledge has career aspirations beyond being a host on NFL Live.
The 35-year-old is now one of ESPN’s most prominent personalities, hosting the daily NFL Live show and SEC Nation on the SEC Network, but her activities aren’t limited to football hoops.
“I got my first opportunity to cover the Masters, which is obviously a special tournament and it’s kind of a bucket list item for a lot of people,” Rutledge said in a one-on-one interview. “I really love the idea of covering different sports and the Masters, and being able to add that to what I’m doing this year is really special.”
Rutledge made it clear she was open to going into entertainment — like Fox Sports’ Erin Andrews, who, like Rutledge, started out as a sideline reporter before becoming a host on “Dancing with the Stars” — and detailed her background in music and cooking.
“If I want to go into the entertainment industry in the future, I’d love that,” Rutledge says with a big smile. “My background is in the entertainment industry, more ballet, dance, the art world, music. It’s funny, everyone who knew me through high school and college is like, ‘Wait a minute, why didn’t you do this? I never imagined I’d do this.’ Anything in the lifestyle field, I love cooking, so I see that as a possibility in the future.”
Rutledge has been the host of NFL Live since the 2020 season and has been the host of SEC Nation since 2017. A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, she first rose to prominence as a sideline reporter for local broadcasts of her hometown Tampa Bay Rays. She also served as a sideline reporter for the San Diego Padres.
While her current job involves hosting two of the ESPN-owned network’s most well-known shows, Rutledge detailed the stark difference between her responsibilities as a sideline reporter and as a daily show host: NFL Live, for example, airs Monday through Friday.
“The sideline report is a little bit more specific to the two teams, knowing both teams’ deep twos,” Rutledge said. “We find a lot of storylines that probably won’t make it into the game. The reality is, we prepare 15 seconds of our report and try to get it across as quickly and efficiently as possible. A lot of the preparation is spent on, ‘Okay, who’s the backup quarterback? Who’s the No. 2?’ We need to know something about any additional quarterbacks that might be in the game to make sure our quarterback doesn’t get injured.”
Being a studio host comes with a lot of responsibilities, including a “constant digestion of information” and a daily routine of preparing for the next day. Rutledge said he often works seven days a week during the NFL and college football seasons, which run from August through January/February, and that his days off (Sundays) are usually work-related.
“With a studio show, it’s about the big picture, but at the same time, you have to find a unique perspective that focuses on really granular details that you might not have seen anywhere else that week,” Rutledge explains. “For me, I’m just constantly digesting information. It’s always like, ‘OK, let’s check out this podcast.’ Finding different ways to phrase things and finding ways to ask interesting questions is a little bit similar to the studio and NFL Live. Every day I’m preparing for the next day. With this show, it’s a little bit cyclical.”
Rutledge has plenty of intriguing storylines to mention heading into the NFL season, including Aaron Rodgers’ return from an Achilles injury, the depth of rookie quarterbacks and the possibility of the Chicago Bears emerging as a surprise team this season. But when asked about “America’s Team,” she also makes sure to offer her opinion on the Dallas Cowboys and CeeDee Lamb.
“I think it’s just ridiculous that the CeeDee Lamb deal hasn’t been done yet,” Rutledge said. “It seems so simple, I just don’t get it. They know what to do, they know how much to pay him, and the offense just doesn’t work without CeeDee. He’s so important to everything they’re trying to do. They’re going to get the deal done before the season starts, but it should have been done already and it’s ridiculous.”
She said Dak Prescott, another Cowboys star facing contract issues, will have all the “clout” in the world. With contract issues looming for Lamb, Prescott and Micah Parsons, the Cowboys are in a bind to land a big-name free agent.
“How do you put together a competitive team with enough debt?” Rutledge asks. “This is going to be an interesting year. I don’t see Dak’s deal being done before this season. He’s already got an edge in every way. If they don’t win or get to the postseason, that’s going to be talked about in the sports world, but not for Cowboys fans. They’re flawed in some pretty obvious areas.”
Rutledge spoke about his partnership with HoneyBaked Ham Company, which launched a product line featuring traditional bone-in hams, sliders and sandwiches that are pre-packaged and aimed at serving to tailgate fans at football games. The ESPN host elaborated on how he will be posting different products and recipes on social media during the season and why he partnered with HoneyBaked.
“It’s been a really fun last year, so partnering with this company means a lot to me because it’s rooted in family and fun and, of course, football and good food, which is my favorite thing,” Rutledge says. “I actually just posted this reel (on social media) where you can really see all the different items that we’re trying out. This is my chance to create the perfect game day meal, and I’m going to share that with everybody this football season.”
A self-proclaimed food lover, she shared her favorite tailgate recipes, including Cuban Pulled Pork Sliders.
“I love a good slider,” Rutledge says. And that’s where HoneyBaked really shines. The sliders are amazing. They have the pulled pork Cuban and the honeybaked ham special, with Swiss cheese and pickles. The garlic butter is the highlight here. You just warm them up in the oven and pour them on top, and the garlic herb butter is amazing. The turkey and cheddar is good, too. You can’t go wrong. I always try to have all three. I’ll have a bite of one, then a bite of the next, then a bite of the next, and then I’ll keep eating them, because the flavor combination is just amazing.”
