In an era of sports reporting dominated by former players and coaches, it's becoming harder and harder for the non-athlete to break through into the sports media field.
However, there are several cases where people have worked extremely hard to make a household name for themselves without ever competing at sport's highest level.
These reporters had to encounter numerous pit stops along the way to build up their reputations and prove their worth.
We've outlined the career paths of several well-established sports personalities to give you a sense of what it took for each to reach their current position.
Sage Steele, SportsCenter Anchor
Steele graduated from Indiana University in 1995 before getting her start in television as a producer and reporter in South Bend, Ind. at WSBT-TV and a Indianapolis Colts reporter for WISH-TV until 1997, before covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1998 to 2001.
She later became a debut anchor for Comcast SportsNet in Washington D.C., working on SportsNite and covering the Baltimore Ravens up until 2005.
Steele joined ESPN in 2007, and made her debut as a SportsCenter anchor in 2008.
(Source: ESPN Media Zone)
Bill Simmons, ESPN Columnist/Grantland Editor-In-Chief
Simmons graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1992, and earned a master's degree in journalism from Boston University a year later. He began at The Boston Herald covering high school sports and moved on to the Boston Phoenix for a few years.
But Simmons' career launched skyward when he prodded AOL's Digital City Boston website to bring him on as "The Boston Sports Guy" in 1997. His edgy style came to ESPN in 2001, when the network introduced Page 2. He served as lead columnist for ESPN the Magazine from 2002-09.
Now, Simmons' several noteworthy ventures include "The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to the Sports Guy," his podcast, The B.S. Report, and his role as Editor-In-Chief of Grantland.
(Sources: ESPN Media Zone, The New York Times)
Erin Andrews, Fox Sports Reporter
Andrews earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in 2000. She began her career at FOX Sports Florida that same year. Between 2001 and 2002, Andrews covered the Tampa Bay Lightning reporter for the Sunshine Network.
She moved on to Turner Sports in 2002, where she began reporting on college football and covered all major Atlanta sports franchises, with the exception of the Falcons, as a reporter and studio host. She spent eight years at ESPN, beginning in 2004 working mostly in college football and basketball as a sideline reporter.
She joined Fox Sports earlier this year, and is making major contributions in the network's NFL, MLB and college football coverage.
(Source: Fox Sports)
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