Erin Andrews Talks Top Football Personalities, Her Professional Future and NFL on Fox Chemistry

Erin Andrews was in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon, but soon she’ll be traveling for the Week 6 slate.

The NFL on Fox lead sideline reporter said regular airport and hotel stops throughout her career contributed to dry eyes, which is why she has partnered with Miebo from Bausch + Lomb to spread the word about its ability to target tear evaporation.

Andrews also spoke exclusively with SportsCasting.com about her professional future, helping Tom Brady assimilate to the Fox crew, her favorite NFL personalities, her Mount Rushmore of sportscasters and more. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Key Topics

• How poking fun at Tom Brady has helped improve the chemistry of the FOX broadcast crew
• Why those friendships could play a role in her professional future
• How there is “not enough time” to worry about her expiring contract with the network
• Why Micah Parsons is one of the best interviews in the NFL
• The four broadcasters who have helped her the most

Full Q&A

Q: So were you searching for something to help your dry eyes and found Miebo?

Erin Andrews: “Actually my doctor prescribed Miebo for me. The biggest thing with me is, I’m in two different cities in one week. I’m on an airplane, in hotels, dealing with different air conditioning. One thing I didn’t realize about dry eyes was that looking at your computer screen, which I do all the time to check out the latest news and get my notes ready, looking at your iPhone, all of this causes dry eyes.

“I was always kind of walking around and blinking super hard to try to clear my eyes. They always felt a little gritty, rough and tired, and I had zero clue that that was actually a symptom of dry eyes. So I went to my doctor about it and they prescribed me Miebo. I was actually so excited about dropping them in (Tuesday) morning because I was worrying about what’s going on in Tampa (with the hurricane). My family is out there.

“It is pretty amazing when you’ve dealt with this so long like I have. I’m blinking my eyes because I expect them to feel rough and gritty but they don’t anymore. It’s been very helpful for me.”

Q: Is it important for you to get the word out to people? It’s probably not top of mind for many because it’s more of a minor annoyance, but can it help their quality of life on a daily basis?

EA: “It’s so funny because I was just talking to a co-worker about it as we were leaving San Francisco last weekend. He stopped really quick and put some drops in his eyes. I didn’t mean to be a walking billboard for Miebo but I said, ‘What are you putting in?’ He goes, ‘I have the worst dry eyes.’ Which makes sense because he travels like I do.

“I think so much of us have felt like it’s the new normal to deal with dry eyes and put some random drops in, and not realize that if you go to your eye doctor and actually get a prescription for it, it can actually help you deal with the symptoms. So, yeah, why not talk about it?”

Q: Is your family doing OK in Tampa?

EA: “You know what, we’ll see. I’m very sensitive about the whole thing. I think it’s supposed to hit (Wednesday). Everybody is staying ready and I’m just thinking about everybody out there. The pictures and the coverage are already pretty horrifying. I hope it all works out for everyone.”

Q: Yes, hopefully it does. So you have mentioned recently that your contract with FOX is expiring at the end of the NFL season. What kind of emotions does that bring? Excitement, anxiety?

EA: “Look, I think I’m somebody that always has anxiety no matter what because that’s how I run. I run high like that. I don’t think about it. Charissa (Thompson) and I were just kind of mentioning a lot of things going on this year and I dropped that in.

“So, yeah, I don’t think about it. I’ve got too much going on. I’ve got a great matchup this weekend with the Lions coming into town to take on the Dallas Cowboys. So many fun different angles with that game. And, look, it’s the NFL. It’s the best reality show out there. You see what happened with the Jets (Tuesday). Not enough time to worry about my own storyline. I’ve got other things to worry about.”

Q: What do you think of the Jets going forward? Obviously (the firing of Robert Saleh) surprised a lot of people.

EA: “Yeah, it surprised me. I’m on a text chain with the guys on my crew and someone sent it over. I was shocked. It’s one of the craziest reality shows out there.”

Q: Who is an underrated NFL personality? We see the bombastic ones, but you’ve talked to a lot of people. When you see the schedule, is there someone where you say, ‘I’m going to enjoy talking to this person?’

EA: “I just did a sitdown with George Kittle, who has one of the best personalities out there. Dan Campbell. Micah Parsons. I know those two guys aren’t underrated because people know their personalities, but Micah Parsons is really, really great to talk to.

“I had a couple of great calls with him. I was talking to him about what it’s like to be defended, what it’s like when he has two to three people on him, if he could describe that to someone like me, who has never played a down of football. He said, ‘Imagine having an annoying mosquito coming and taking a bite out of you every two minutes for three-and-a-half hours. It’s annoying as hell and you’ve got to keep your composure.’ He just always has a great way of putting things.”

Q: I write about the Cardinals out here in Arizona and you just saw them. What’s your sense? You’re not around it all the time, but do you feel like it’s a team on the rise?

EA: “I think Tom Brady said it best on our broadcast: What a great display of leadership, and of staying at it. They pitched a shutout in the second half. Whatever was said in the locker room at halftime was a big deal, and Tom is really into building the culture, the leadership. He was really praising Jonathan Gannon and what happened there in the second half of the game. What a comeback.

“That was a wild finish. I was on the 49ers sideline and obviously they were very dejected.”

Q: I read that you felt like in the first week you struggled a little bit. From what I saw, everything went really smoothly on the 49ers-Cardinals broadcast. Is it almost like a football team, where you guys are gaining chemistry as the season goes along?

EA: “Yeah, I would say that. We’ve had the same group behind-the-scenes forever with the ‘A’ crew for the NFL on FOX. I’m grateful for that. Some of my best friends work on that crew. We are super tight. Kevin Burkhardt and myself, we have a very close relationship. We are both out here in Los Angeles, so we travel together and go home together. A lot of bonding there.

“But, yeah, Tom (Brady) is new this year. Although I knew him off the field for many years, it’s trying to integrate him into our family and our friendships – because we very much are (a family) in our crew. We all make fun of each other, we can all take it, we all throw a punch back. It’s a good time.

“So just bringing him in and making everyone feel comfortable, it takes time. That’s something Tom talked about in our 49ers-Cardinals broadcast. It’s something that (Arizona head coach) Jonathan Gannon is trying to do, and I’m trying to do it.

“I have a good time with T.B. just because I’ve known him for awhile off the field, so I can kind of poke fun at him, throw some jabs, where maybe some of my teammates are trying to go easy on him in the beginning. But now we’re all starting to get really comfortable. It’s all about creating the chemistry within the team and building that as we go along.”

Q: You mentioned the behind-the-scenes people, where you have all these friendships. Does that play into what you want to do professionally moving forward?

EA: “Oh my gosh, we are such a special network in the sense that we’re a lot smaller than where I came from at ESPN or other networks. I’ve talked about it a lot on my podcast. Our group is so tight. People think a lot of times it’s just for TV.

“Even the studio guys. I’m super tight with Michael Strahan. He set me up with my husband. Terry (Bradshaw) and Howie (Long). Howie will joke with Charissa (Thompson) and I about how he listens to the podcast, and how he didn’t like what we said here, and watch it here.

“We are such a tight group, and FOX does a great job of bringing us together in the offseason for special events and special trips. We all sit around and we just laugh. It’s pretty cool how close our group is. It’s not fake at all.”

Q: One more if you don’t mind: Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of sportscasters?

EA: “Oh, I love that. Gosh, OK. Let’s see. Melissa Stark was always the sideline reporter that I emulated myself after. She was somebody I very much looked up to when I knew I wanted to do this for a living in high school. She’s become a friend, which is pretty cool.

“I feel like I’m going to do a Mount Rushmore of people I worked with, who helped me along the way. And one of the first people I did college football with was Mike Tirico, and we actually did Thursday Night Football together. That was so much fun, so I’ll put Tirics in there because that was a great time in my life.

“All of this is personally based, not everyone that’s ever done it. Dave O’Brien I did baseball with, and he taught me a lot. I had such a great time.

“OK, who else? Oh, God. OK, I’m going to say Troy Aikman. He was the first analyst I worked with in the NFL. He taught me so much and we had so many great stories. OK, that’s my four.”