Wide World of Women

What most fans did not know during the NFL Draft is that Laura is nine months pregnant.

She is due to give birth to a son on May 24. She she got her doctor’s approval to cover the draft on both Thursday and Friday nights.

With all of the production meetings, doing lots of prep, a live show, and the draft while doing everything under pressure that is practically unspeakable should be commended.

According to Richard Deitsch, sports media reporter for The Athletic who also does a twice weekly podcast on sports media mentioned in an article on Friday (April 28) about how she persevered and what fellow ESPNer Molly McGrath herself went through similar circumstances during her pregnancy in 2020:

“For me, it was first about making sure I was healthy and everything was fine,” Rutledge said. “I’m just really trying to listen to my body. I will say Thursday took a toll. I feel like I got hit by a truck. There were times last night where I wondered, ‘Is that a contraction? What is that? Is it just pain?’ I totally admire women who say I’m just going to stay home and make sure that I’m healthy and in a good spot. I also admire women who say I’m going to keep going. There’s something inspiring about that.

It’s very special to me to look back one day and say, ‘Wow, I had our son with me on this assignment.’ He’s been with me the entire football season. He covered the College Football Playoff and Super Bowl and all these cool moments. As a woman in this business, it matters to me to try and show our kids that we can do all of this. It’s not going to be easy, and we’ve got to be fighters and really strong. But I am thankful that I’m able to do it.”

Said Molly McGrath: “She’s no doubt feeling exhaustion and probably even contractions at this point, but you would never know watching her on TV. I know from experience she’s definitely feeling some pains. She is the consummate professional. She’s killing it.”

At the end of the day, it is all about having fun both on and off set with the people you work with. Concluded Deitsch:

“It matters to me to be here for the ‘NFL Live’ team because they are truly like a family to me,” Rutledge said. “It would have been really hard for me to sit at home and watch them do this if I wasn’t here. This is my favorite event. It’s where my two worlds finally collide because it’s college football and the NFL. It is something that I look forward to all year and it’s a joy to be here. It doesn’t feel like work.”

Best wishes to Laura as she will bringing a new family member to the world.