Those Guys Have All the Fun - James Andrew Miller [375]
CHRISTINE BRENNAN:
The first words I said in a radio interview about what happened to Erin were that it was “gross” and “despicable,” and I then went on to say several times that Erin never deserved what happened to her. It’s unfortunate that those comments were almost completely ignored.
When I used the phrase about not playing to the frat house, it was not meant to be pointed specifically at Erin, and I clarified that the next day in a USA Today story. It’s a comment I have used hundreds of times in speeches and conversation in an effort to mentor younger women on how to live their lives in the field of sports journalism.
If you’re a woman and you’re in this business, you hear some things that you never would have imagined. When I first started covering the Washington Redskins in 1985, I happened to give a quick hug to a local sportscaster as we said hello at practice one day. A couple of days later, he came up to me and said that some of the players were now asking him if he and I were dating. Another time, a player told me that because I had come by his locker to interview him a few times in the same week, his teammates were wondering if we were dating. Both of these things really surprised me, so I learned early in my career that women in the sports media are judged in a very different way than men, and I think it’s important to talk about that. I spend a lot of time encouraging women to find careers in the sports media, but I also think it’s smart to discuss the things we need to be careful about in a predominantly male world.
MICHELLE BEADLE, Anchor:
I felt bad for her. She looked fabulous but it was such a violation. I mean, I’ve had moments in my apartment in New York when the blinds were up for one brief second and you think, “Ugh!” but that’s nothing compared to what happened to her. Nothing.
I think things might have been handled differently, but she seems to be moving on. Sometimes these things turn out better for people.
ERIN ANDREWS:
Through my whole ordeal, Norby and I developed a pretty—gosh, I don’t want to say “intense”—but it was a lot different relationship than anybody would ever have with their boss. I was calling him when he was on vacation with his kids and he was stepping away to take my calls. I was so thankful. He basically told me that whatever I wanted to do, they would respect. To this day it’s still awful and hurtful and that was one of the reasons why we developed a relationship—because he was understanding.
I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to move on and just go back to work, but there were reasons why I decided to talk. I’ve been put in this position and I can’t hide from it, and it is now my responsibility to help out other victims. I have been made the face of this; I can either walk away like a coward or I can deal with it and help other women. I got tons of letters from women that said, “Please, you have a face. You have ESPN supporting you with a lawyer, and please fight this.” And I knew I couldn’t walk away.
CHRIS FOWLER:
Erin’s a close friend. I respect her professionally and like her a lot personally. So I didn’t react as a member of the media, or even react as a colleague, as much as I did a close friend. It was horrible. She was the victim of a crime for which there is not a hell of a lot of precedent. And it’s not a crime that you can fully understand unless you’ve been a victim of the same