Laura Rutledge was terrified getting pregnant meant her broadcasting career was over

Laura Rutledge is at the top of her game. As the host of NFL Live and a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football, not to mention many other roles that come up at ABC and ESPN, she’s seemingly everywhere during football season (and beyond).

The 37-year-old, who re-signed a multi-year deal with ESPN in 2025, has already packed a lot into her broadcasting career, from reporting and hosting at Fox Sports to hosting SEC Nation until recently. She’s seemingly been working nonstop since the early 2010s.

She’s also found time to raise a family with husband Josh Rutledge, a retired MLB infielder. They welcomed their daughter, Reese, in October 2019, and their son, Jack, in May 2023. According to the longtime reporter, it was when she became pregnant with Reese that she experienced the strangest sensation.

She was disappointed.

Rutledge explained what she meant by that during an appearance on The Pivot, where she joined her NFL Live coworker Ryan Clark. As part of a wide-ranging conversation, Clark asked Rutledge what it means to her to “have it all,” and the ESPN host offered a very honest and introspective answer.

“For the woman who has proven to many people, though difficult, you can have it all, what does [Mother’s Day] mean for you and your family?” asked Clark.

“I think there was a long time where I thought it wouldn’t be possible to be a mom and also do this,” said Rutledge. “We were married for seven years, almost, before we even had kids. We kinda trying, and I was like, ‘Alright, well, it’s not happening, so maybe it’s not for me. Maybe we’re gonna try later.’ I’m chasing this career dream. I can’t even visualize how it would be possible to have a child while doing what I was doing at the time in 2019 when I got pregnant with Reese. And I’ll never forget finding out that I was pregnant and being so disappointed, which is, like, the worst thing.

“And I will tell you, Reese will know this, I will tell her when she’s old enough to understand. I was disappointed because I thought that this was gonna end my career. ‘I’m building all this momentum; I can’t get pregnant. I can’t be on TV pregnant.’ And there were other examples of women who had done it, but it did not feel like that was my story and my journey. How am I gonna do this? Even going through the pregnancy, I was, like, ‘Okay, this is it for me. I better do every single event I can possibly do before I have this child because my career is over after that.’

“Fast forward, both of my children have been actually key career moments where things have gotten better afterward. And listen, it is a constant battle every single day of trying to juggle it all, and make sure that they have what they need, and I can be there for them, and I can also be there for this job, and there’s no balance, that doesn’t exist, right? I don’t feel like I have it all because I feel like I could constantly lose it all. That’s actually more what it feels like. So that’s the reality of it.”

Rutledge, who won the Awfulie for best in-game reporter last year, is no stranger to speaking candidly about the struggles she’s faced in her career. Last month, she spoke openly about the intense anxiety she still feels around her MNF sideline reporting role. She’s also admitted she used to defend her husband’s MLB career on social media via a burner account.

She’s also found a way to incorporate her kids into her career from time to time, bringing together the best of both worlds, even if not everyone is a fan.