ESPN MediaZone

Anchor / Reporter, ESPN’S Monday Night Football

Suzy Kolber

Suzy Kolber has covered a variety of assignments for ESPN from the National Football League to Grand Slam tennis events and X Games.  She is most recognized as an NFL reporter for Monday Night Football and ESPN’s studio programs.

Widely praised for elevating the NFL sideline role to new heights, Kolber joined ESPN’s Monday Night Football team during its inaugural year in 2006 after five previous seasons on ESPN’s Sunday Night Football (2001-05).  On Mondays throughout the NFL season, Kolber and Michele Tafoya provide regular updates on the participating MNF teams during multiple ESPN programs, including SportsCenter and Monday Night Countdown, in addition to reporting during the MNF games.

Kolber was assigned to the Arizona Cardinals throughout Super Bowl XLIII week in 2009, and she worked the ABC Sports broadcast of Super Bowl XL in Detroit in 2006 and contributed to the network’s pre-game show.  Kolber became the first female recipient of the Maxwell Club’s Sports Broadcaster of the Year Award in 2006 and was named to Sports Business Daily’s 2004 list of the 10 favorite sports TV personalities of the past 10 years.

Kolber has been a regular host for NFL Live, ESPN’s year-round news and information show, and she has played a major role in ESPN’s comprehensive coverage of the NFL Draft, hosting the Day 2 telecast (2004-2006) and leading analysis segments on Day 1.  Kolber anchored draft coverage on ESPNEWS in 2009, in addition to co-hosting on ESPN during Day 2. For the 1999 through 2003 NFL seasons, Kolber was the host of NFL Matchup. She also previously contributed “Backstage” segments to Monday Night Countdown.

During the NFL offseason, Kolber serves as an anchor on SportsCenter and as an on-site host for ESPN’s tennis coverage at the French Open (since 2004) and Wimbledon (since 2003).  In 2000 and ’01 she hosted the X Games and Winter X Games, and she co-hosted the event again in Aspen in 2006.  She has also covered Triple Crown horse racing events for ESPN/ESPN2 studio programs, and, in 2007, she hosted ESPN’s pre-race NASCAR Countdown on ABC, often during the same weekends as MNF games in the fall.

Kolber returned to ESPN in August 1999 after originally joining the network in 1993 as co-host for ESPN2’s SportsNight, when the network debuted October 1 of that year.  She later served as an anchor on SportsCenter, a reporter on College GameDay and co-host of the X Games in 1995 and ’96.  Kolber also hosted ESPN2's SportsFigures, which used sports celebrities and analogies to teach math and physics.  She left ESPN for Fox Sports in November 1996, where she anchored a nightly sports news program and reported from NFL games, among other duties.

Kolber came to ESPN from WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she was a weekend sports anchor and weekday feature reporter since December 1991.  In 1991, Kolber's freelance assignments included work as a reporter/producer for Breeders' Cup Newsfeed in Greenwich, Conn.; a field producer for Inside Edition in New York; a sports specials producer for WCIX-TV in Miami, and a producer/director for NFL Films.  From 1989-90, she freelanced as a sports specials producer for WPLG-TV in Miami.  In addition, she produced two magazine shows, Cowboys Special Edition in Irving, Texas (1990-91) and Greyhound Racing America in Miami, Fla. (1988-90). From 1985 to 1989, she produced the 5:30 p.m. sportscast at WTVJ-TV in Miami, winning a local Sports Emmy in 1988.

Kolber graduated from the University of Miami in 1986 with a bachelor of arts degree in telecommunications.  While an undergraduate, she worked at Dynamic Cable in Coral Gables, Fla., as a sports director (1984-86).  After graduation, she worked at CBS Sports in New York as a videotape coordinator (1986).

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