11 Quick Questions for Pam Oliver

If you watch football, then you know Pam Oliver. An award-winning journalist, she’s the longest tenured sideline reporter in the NFL. And she’s also an accomplished athlete in her own right. A former college track star, she was inducted into Florida A&M University’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Football is still a man’s world. Truth?

Definitely. It’s been like this for decades. In production meetings, you're the only woman in the room. You try to navigate; you learn to adapt; you learn to go with the flow. It’s a professional environment. I’ve never had any problem to my face. … What people say or do behind your back, that’s a whole different animal.

What’s your football story?

My family, growing up, that was our sport.  It was very common to see us all piled around the TV watching the NFL. My mom led the charge. She was the biggest football fan of the family. I just followed suit. There was nothing unusual about it. I didn’t think, “What is my mom doing watching so much football?”

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Who was your team?

I lived in Dallas until I was about 7 or 8 years old, so the Cowboys were a part of the fabric of our family. That’s who you watched, Sundays and Thanksgiving and all of that. It was really a family affair for football.

How did football become your career?

I was in news for eight or nine years because I couldn’t get a gig in sports. … By the time I did move from news to sports, it was to cover all sports. But when I went from ESPN to Fox, that was when it was solely football, because that was their main product,  that was the property they acquired.

You were an All-American college track star. Was that always your sport?

I did everything. Then, when going through high school, my dad sat me down and said, “You need to pick” between basketball, track and volleyball. I said, “What do you mean I need to pick?” … I gravitated to track and field. It was just something I had done since I was really young, and that turned into not just high school, but a college career as well.

Do you still run? 

My knees and my hip sockets don't really let me run, so I do a combo walk/run. It is definitely a toll paid for all those years of just running and ballistic exercising. At 61, I’m really finding that I have to be gentler on my body but still put it through some sort of paces. I want to do harder workouts, but my body is saying, “Gentle, girl, we can still accomplish things.” That’s something I’m still trying to figure out, what’s best in terms of just keeping yourself fit and strong. Those are the things that are really important to me.

Pam Oliver finds it offensive when people ask her when she's going to retire.

FOX Sports

What interview stands out in your mind?

Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, who played for the [NBA’s] Houston Rockets. I was at ESPN and they sent me to do a story. He was about to become the MVP — he led the Houston Rockets to a couple of championships. They were expecting a basic back-and-forth on these basketball questions, but Hakeem was so deep and engaging. We ended up talking for an hour for a three-minute story.