What happened to ESPN NFL reporter Josina Anderson?

Josina Anderson is an American journalist, sports commentator and former athlete, born on August 15, 1978 in Washington DC, USA. She is known for her work on famous networks such as Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) and FOX 31.

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early life

Josina is the only daughter from Lloyd and Yasmin Anderson’s marriage. Josina also has a brother – of age and name unknown – who works as a film producer. Josina attended Montgomery Blair High School in Maryland, and during her time there she worked as an announcer for the Maryland Blazers recruiting school.

In addition to her interest in sports, Josina was an avid ballet dancer, which led her to participate in several national competitions during her childhood.

After her admission to high school, Josina Anderson left her hometown to attend the University of North Carolina. There she studied exercise and sports science and excelled in athletic competitions, winning several medals during her college career. She graduated in 1997.

Career

Internships & First Steps

Immediately after graduating, Josina Anderson returned to Washington DC and began her professional internships with the radio station WTEM. During her time there she worked part-time for the show “The Tony Kornheiser”, the rest of the time for WPGC-FM on “The Donnie Simpson Morning Show”.

After good experience in the field, Josina Anderson finally landed her first full-time job at a local station in Coos Bay, Oregon.

Although she was quickly hired and everything seemed to be going well for her, she started looking for other vacancies later that year.

FOX 31 & ESPN

In 2001, Josina left her job in Oregon to go back to Washington, even though she didn’t have a job there. Josina lived in her parents’ house for about three years, working part-time as an athletic trainer and the rest of the time as an independent sports commentator for local and college teams.

Although she failed her audition for FOX 31 in 2003, she tried again in 2005 with more successful results. She was hired by the network as a professional sports commentator and told several important stories during the years she worked there. Josina specialized in National Football League (NFL) news, which eventually led to her becoming a reporter for the show “Showtime’s Inside the NFL”.

In 2009, she was awarded an Emmy for her coverage of the heartwarming story of John and Terina Dutton’s journey to adopt their son in Africa.

Seeking an upgrade in her professional career, Josina left FOX 31 in 2011 and moved to Chicago, where she started working for ESPN. During her time with this sports network, Josina received huge recognition for her professionalism and eventually landed an insider spot on the “NFL Insiders” show, becoming the first female journalist to do so.

Josina did not abandon her radio career and became a host of several radio shows during her tenure at ESPN, which earned her a Salute to Excellence in the Radio Feature category by the National Association of Black Journalists.

NFL scandal

In 2014, Josina Anderson’s career was on the line after her comments about the shower routine of Michael Sam, then a member of the St. Louis Rams team and the first openly gay NFL player.

During Anderson’s live coverage, she told the audience that Sam had to wait for all his teammates to shower before doing this himself. The implications of her comments were heavily criticized by the media, along with LGBTQ activists and even St. Louis Rams’ coach Jeff Fisher, who condemned Josina’s report: “I think it’s unethical, I think it’s very, very unprofessional. Not just the piece itself, the content, the way she did it’.

Jeff also said Josina was “out of line” for trying to make a story about Michael Sam’s teammates’ alleged discomfort regarding his sexual orientation, also accusing her of “misleading” several St. Louis Rams players. asking about Sam: ‘I’m disappointed for Mike. I’m disappointed with the players she’s put in this position, and I’m especially disappointed in her because she thought what she was doing was good.”

After the huge response to her, Josina Anderson apologized via ESPN’s website, acknowledging that her words were insensitive, also adding a short note addressed to Michael Sam: ‘I truly sympathize and respect your journey thus far on many different levels’.

In her statement, she also emphasized that she did not intend for her words to touch people the way it did, as she highly valued serious and objective investigations during her work.

Despite the commotion her report caused, Josina Anderson continued to work for ESPN for several more years. Josina’s comment about Michael Sam’s shower behavior in 2014 was mocked by “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central.

What happened to ESPN NFL reporter Josina Anderson?

In early 2020, The New York Post reported that Josina’s contract with ESPN would end in the summer, marking the possible end of her relationship with the network. Although this message initially seemed to be based only on speculation, it was announced in July of that year that Josina would officially leave the sports network for reasons that are unclear.

in a interview in October, Josina revealed that despite being grateful for the opportunities ESPN gave her, she left to close a chapter in her professional life: “We both moved on. They wanted to move in the direction they wanted to go. It was best for me to flourish in a new direction.”

She also confirmed that her search for a new career path was driven by her need to pay more attention to social topics: “I was trying to point out behind the scenes that as a person of color in the industry, as a woman in the industry, being addressed. I have a strong voice.’

What is she doing now?

Since leaving ESPN she has worked as a free media agent and recently launched her own radio show “Undefined With Josina Anderson”: ‘The purpose of (it) for myself and everyone else is to remind ourselves that we are not who we are. work for,” she said in an interview with… The big lead: ‘we can give the green light from someone cashing a check to writing a check.’

“Undefined” is also Josina’s attempt to go way beyond her career as a sports reporter and simply focus on guests from every industry, which has led her to interview singers, models, and other types of celebrities in addition to sportsmen. When asked if she’d considered returning to work with a major entertainment network, she said she’s open to offers as long as she can host her own show.

Private life

Josina Anderson doesn’t reveal many details about her personal life, so it’s unknown if she has a current romantic partner, but Josina isn’t married and has no children.

Net value

As of late 2020, Josina Anderson has an estimated net worth of over $2 million, which is the result of her successful career as a TV and radio sports commentator and reporter. She also charged her clients $100 a week during the time she worked as an athletic trainer.

Physical appearance

Josina Anderson is an African American woman with beautiful features and athletic build. Her weight is unknown, but she is 1.73 meters tall. Josina once dyed her hair red.

Interesting facts

Josina Anderson is good friends with former fellow ESPN reporter Jemele Hill. Josina expressed her support regarding: President Donald Trump, who accused Hill of “fueling up” ESPN’s audience rankings: “Stop attacking our colleague Jemele Hill, other journalists or media entities. We do our job’.

When it comes to business, Oprah Winfrey, Naomi Campbell and Martha Stewart are people she admires greatly: “Anyone who cuts out a check and owns their own stuff is really a role model.”