Laura Rutledge (Photo By Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images)
Some people hear the “Monday Night Football” theme and think of the big plays. Laura Rutledge hears it and gets excited. As now, she’ll hear it from the sidelines all season long.
ESPN announced Tuesday that Rutledge will join Lisa Salters as a permanent sideline reporter for all 20 games called by Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Salters this year. It’s a big leap for the longtime “NFL Live” host, and a step onto ESPN’s biggest stage yet. The move locks in the network’s top on-air lineup for its first-ever Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 14, 2027.
Rutledge isn’t dropping her weekday duties. She’ll still host “NFL Live” from Bristol most of the week. On Mondays, though, the show will hit the road and air from the game site.
“Monday Night Football is the pinnacle and it’s always been a dream of mine,” Rutledge said. “I still get chills every time I hear the MNF music. Really excited to continue to work as hard as possible to earn this role.”
ESPN Loads Up The Sidelines
ESPN Monday night Football logo (Photo By Denny Medley-Imagn Images)
This season, ESPN will put two sideline reporters on every one of its 25 NFL games. Salters will enter her 14th season with the package after signing a contract extension. Rutledge, who signed her own extension earlier this year, now has a role on the network’s most important property.
The network also added Katie George and Peter Schrager to the mix. They’ll join Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, and Louis Riddick for five games, including Weeks 2, 4, 6, and 7 when Monday Night Football runs multiple matchups. They’ll also cover a Week 18 Saturday doubleheader. George will make her NFL debut in Week 2, adding pro football to her NBA and college football assignments.
For Rutledge, this moment is nearly a decade in the making. She joined ESPN at 25 and now, at 35, finds herself in a role she’s chased for years. “One of the things that has become most important is just being on the biggest events, on the biggest games, hosting, reporting, doing whatever is asked,” she told The Athletic earlier this year. “I enjoy being at those big events and being a part of that and also being a daily presence.”
Come September, viewers will see her doing exactly that, under the lights, with the MNF music ringing in her ears.
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