Latest news with #LauraOkmin
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin announces shock exit from Fox
NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin has announced she is leaving Fox. Okmin has become one of the most recognizable faces on the sidelines of NFL games after two decades with the network. She told Front Office Sports on Wednesday that she wasn't forced out by Fox, but rather rejected their offer of a new contract. Okmin said: 'They sent me the contract. I printed it out. I sat there. It was just my voice saying, "It's time, this is it". 'I'm happy to say [my boss] was very surprised. I would have been very disappointed if there was any other reaction.' Okmin spent last season working in a team alongside play-by-play commentator Kevin Kugler and analyst Daryl Johnston. She joined Fox in 2002 and, over her 23 years in the NFL, became the third-longest tenured sideline reporter in league history. Away from her NFL duties Okmin launched GALvanize, a mentorship space for women in sports media. After working on the sidelines for such a long time, she now wants to switch her focus to her new passion of guiding the next generation of female reporters. 'Honestly, it's a tough job having to justify your job for 20 years. Having to fight for your job and having to justify it,' she added. 'It feels like there's a bit of dog years with that job.'
NBC Sports
10 hours ago
- Business
- NBC Sports
Sideline reporter Laura Okmin leaving Fox to focus on her company
NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin is leaving Fox Sports of her own accord, having turned down a new contract, she told Front Office Sports. The third-longest-tenured sideline reporter in NFL history said she wants to focus on her company, GALvanize, which teaches and mentors women sports journalists. She will continue to cover the NFL in the postseason, including the Super Bowl, for the Westwood One radio network. 'They sent me the contract. I printed it out. I sat there. It was just my voice saying, 'It's time; this is it,'' Okmin told Front Office Sports. 'I called my boss and my friend, Jacob Ullman, who I've known as long as I've been at Fox Sports. I'm happy to say he was very surprised. I would have been very disappointed if there was any other reaction. It was a really nice call, because I got to have it with my boss and my friend.' Okmin worked on a team with play-by-play announcer Kevin Kugler and game analyst Daryl 'Moose' Johnston in 2024. She joined Fox in 2002 as a host, anchor and reporter and has covered more than 20 Super Bowls. Fox's Pam Oliver and the retired Michele Tafoya are the only sideline reporters believed to have worked more NFL games as a sideline reporter, according to Front Office Sports.
