Erin Andrews: NFL Sidelines, Setbacks, & Surrogacy

25:56It's just the number one thing. I don't know. Look, that's what helped me. And I know that's what impressed the people at ESPN at the time is that I was just like, hey, I'm showing up at a bar. Can I get a job? No, he said I knew where they were. I seek them out. My dad was always on me. Email them. Ask them if they're looking for anybody new. No, dad, I don't want to. I tell young girls that all the time. Send an email. Send a text. Stay on the top of their inbox. Remind them. Show people you want to work. That's like when I said I went to ESPN. I just said yes to everything because I was like, I'm not married.

26:33I don't have kids. I love doing this. But I didn't realize it was helping my stock. I was putting money in the bank in terms of like, oh, she can cover college basketball. She can cover college football. She can do major league baseball. She can do the spelling bee, although she can't spell. Just all that shit. It makes you more valuable. It shows people you want to work. That's all companies want is a hard worker and somebody that'll just be like, I'm here. I can do it. What do you need? Um, when I interviewed Katie Couric, we talked about how women often have to work twice as hard to get just as far.

27:11What has your experience with that been like in your career now in hindsight of where you're sitting? I agree with that, but I agree with it from a standpoint. I feel like I have to work five to six times harder because I didn't play the game I'm reporting on. So I don't know what a team is going through in the locker room when they're down 28 to three in the Super Bowl because I've never done it. I don't know the adjustments to make. I don't know what it's like. I don't even know when those guys go to the bathroom or how much they can eat. So I feel like it is very, very important for me to talk to guys, have guys feel comfortable, players, coaches, owners feel comfortable with me so they can relay that information.

27:55That's why I have to work twice as hard. Now, there was a time that, and I think this has everything to do because I care so much, because I know it is a male populated industry, because I know I feel like I am proving myself. And that's my chip on my shoulder. or you're around these athletes, they always have a chip on their shoulder of like getting taken late in the draft or teams passing up on them. My chip on my shoulder, not that anyone's made me feel that way, is that I didn't play. I got to show people still at the age I am, I belong. I screwed up on air a couple years ago and I had someone pull me aside on the sidelines and say, did you say this?

28:34And I said, oh my God, I miss, not misspoke. I said it wrong. Like I added a word that made it seem something else. I asked my producer if he heard it. He said, I don't think so. Texted my dad on the sideline. And I said, did I say that? And he goes, I don't think so. But he goes, let me go back and watch. And he texted me and he said, you did. The chest tightness and palpitations I had. And I said to my producer, I need to address this. He goes, Erin, we're in the third quarter. I said, I have to. I don't want this coach to look like this. So I came back on air and apologized. I didn't sleep for two weeks.

29:11And that's not because I'm a woman. That is because I care so freaking much. Of course. And I don't want to piss anyone off. No, no, no. Of course. And I think that makes me really happy to hear too, because I have felt like that in my career too. You go between, do you share how much work you put into it? Do you not? Sometimes people don't also want to hear how much work goes into it. And so it's a weird thing, but I do think there's nothing better than feeling so prepared. but you're going to make mistakes. And obviously it is a lot more pressure when you have mistakes where the entire nation is breathing down your throat.

29:45And you're like, I am so sorry. I didn't need to do this. And you just talked about how passionate fan bases are. So I should, as I'm sitting here having like a therapy moment with myself, say, give myself some grace. I'm not performing brain surgery, but these are these men's lives, you know? No, it's true. So I should go easier, but damn. And I do get nervous still. I shake before my first hit. I get 20 seconds, maybe the first hit, maybe 15. And you'll see me on the sidelines. I'm talking to myself and people are staring. I'm like, I'm doing it in my head over and over. And it doesn't come out that way when I do it.

30:22But, and there's thoughts when I'm looking in the camera, I sound possessed right now. I'm like, oh my God, don't mess this up. Get through this, get through this, get through this. Whose ankle am I talking about? Oh my God, yes, I got through. You're like blacking out. Yeah, full blackout. And you're like, and I've done this for 100 years. No, no, no. That's why it's like meeting you where you're at right now. That's why it's so fascinating to talk to you about it because you have hindsight and you have the perspective. But you also, it's so fascinating hearing you still be in this position and being like, oh, I still get stressed.

30:51I still get anxious because it's adrenaline and it's still. You nailed it. I was going to say it's a sick high. Like it is a sick high. I don't know what it is. It's probably not good for my nervous system. but damn it's a sick high you're doing great um you know what i love so much too is you your perspective on this career is so healthy and you're so secure in yourself and how you present is i try you're like i'm showing up because i'm so confident who i am i've got my dad since a young age this is my this is my bread and butter like i'm gonna work my ass off And then there's the sad realities of things that then you couldn't control that happened in your life that came with all of this publicity and just being a woman in this industry.

31:43Early in your career, you faced an unimaginable violation of your privacy when you had a stalker, if you are comfortable, obviously. Can you just explain to the younger women, maybe who aren't as familiar, like what happened? Yeah, I think back in the day, you know, before remember when the Apple phones were getting hacked and people's photos were up and so forth. I had this disgusting person following me around cities. It was very well publicized where college game day was going to be where Thursday night football was going to be. And I didn't have an alias. I didn't think I was a big deal. I didn't you know who wants to who cares about what name I'm checking under.

32:25and that's as you know the sad realities of of what we do for a living there's a lot of amazing things but when you deal with security it's it's a different level so I found out I remember my contract was up no my contract wasn't up I was gonna get a new agent you know when you go to the agent meetings and um dancing with the stars was calling and they wanted me to things were going good you know I was working backstage at the ESPYs I think Justin was hosting like it was just fun. I can already remember the dress I was wearing, dear God. So I came back from a bunch of meetings and I got a call from my friend who was working a blog at the time.

33:05Blogs were the big deal. And he had been calling me all day and he just said, Aaron, I have to talk to you. And I was like, what's up? I'm getting on a red eye to go back to Atlanta. And he's like, there's naked video of you all over the internet. And I said, no, there's not. I don't do that. I just don't. And I didn't, you know, I was like, what are you talking about? This is made up. This is something that's not me. And he got really, really upset. And he goes, Erin, I'm sending it to you. And I looked at it and I said, I have to go. I called my mom and dad right away. I was screaming, crying because it was me.

33:38And it was me naked in a hotel room walking around. And I just, outer body experience, started screaming. My dad said when I called, he thought I was in a car accident because I was screaming so hard. And we talked about how much I love the job, how I like kind of being the girl next door. And I just said to my dad, it's over. My career is over. No one's going to take me seriously ever again. That's all I ever wanted, right, was people to turn me on and just say, oh, my gosh, I would love to have a beer with her and talk football with her. I would love to do a sit-down interview with her. And I just thought, this is so dirty.

34:16No one's going to ever want to work with me again, talk to me again. This is gross. This changes who I am. We didn't know anything at that point. Come to find out after a whole investigation, the FBI gets involved. There's a trial. There was this disgusting person following me around, and he was setting up his cell phone right up to my hotel room. He would take off the peephole at the door. He would ask for a room next to me, and the hotel never alerted me that this was happening. So they would put this person next to me. He would wait and listen, and he could tell when I was getting into the shower because he could hear it.

34:50and he would stand there with a camera and he filmed me getting ready and then he put it on the internet and as you know when something's on the internet it doesn't come down so it was a lot it was a lot that I yeah put my family through with all of it it was a lot legally it was wild I am so sorry oh thank you and I know it's been a long time but I think oh there's parts of it that's still just with me you know I was gonna say because I can like see it in your face it's Like it will never when you are violated that way. Like I've sat with so many women. I just sat with a woman recently who was telling me how, you know, this person was threatening to release these photos.

35:30And it was like you you don't you will never get over it because you're brought right back to that moment. And you can remember how you felt. How did you, though, like handle the violation? Like if you look back, what did you feel within your own body and your own like just gross, gross. Like wishing in my own hotel room I had worn a towel. Like you're getting ready for a game. What are you talking about? Shame. I remember walking around stadiums. This is when I was doing college. So some stadiums have 100 ,000 people thinking everybody in the stadium has seen me naked and I didn't have a choice.

36:14Just if I would talk to people, I feel like in the back of their head, they're thinking about it. But my safe place, and I am so proud of this, was the football field, which is wild because you're sitting there and you're reporting to 20 million people. And how is that your safe place? But it's been for a lot of stuff. I mean, the week I was diagnosed with cervical cancer and then had to have, you know, a pretty evasive surgery, they said, don't go on the field and stand on the field because you're not really capable physically. I was like, this is my safe space. So that's how I dealt. I threw myself right back into work.

36:50Wild conversation. The night he was arrested, I was in a hotel room by myself. I got a call from the gentleman that from the FBI and they said we got him we just got on a plane and got him and my dad and I were like what and they were like unfortunately we have to release this entire document because he's just been arrested and it's going to come out in an hour but we wanted to give you guys a heads up I had a game the following day at noon I think it was like or probably a one o 'clock kick and my dad and I we didn't know the specifics of where he followed me and it all was out on public record in this whole like you know document and I'm like dad I have to go study for the Tennessee Volunteers Auburn Tigers game right now and my dad's like okay okay you know so it's just like god with so much wild stuff with that well it's wild too Erin because I feel like people this wasn't something that was like they weren't almost like familiar with this kind of violation you're right it was starting up with the iPhone myself and that was the biggest part that's what i was going to ask you about because let's talk about the public's perception right because first we there were no laws at the time to protect women from any of this so this was a very new concept to people kind of like now equating it to now is like ai yes there are no laws no laws could not keep up with technology and yeah so take me back what do you remember the public's response at first being?

38:22I did it to myself. I was on the cover of newspapers, just a still frame of the video, My Naked Body, and it said ESPN scandal. People thought I did it to myself for publicity or to help my career, which was the exact opposite of how I was feeling. I was feeling shame, like I would never get work again. I would never be taken seriously and it was perceived which is so sad that's why i was gonna ask like to be so misrepresented and and to have to have the truth be so far from what the public is believing like how did you cope with that when you're reading people be like she did this to advance herself i left my home in atlanta i went to go stay with my mom and dad and i hid in my high school bedroom I thankful at the time I wasn't on air yet I wasn't going back until college football but yeah I hid the crazy part now is just kind of seeing how the world and perception and how people aren't you know judged like this if a crime like this had happened it would have been a totally different situation it's like every era it's somewhat changes but then also I'm like oh like kind of but like sometimes it really is people do not want to believe no and they want to believe that the woman is somehow responsible for leaking this.

39:47What about your employer at the time? Like, were they supportive? How did people that you worked with respond? Yeah, you know, I feel like in any situation, whether it's been me being so public about infertility issues, my cervical cancer, what happened, you know, with my stalking incident, even the trial that I had after that where I went after the hotel, you find out pretty fast who's in your corner and you don't forget the people that reach out and the people that don't. You know that. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It teaches you a lot, though. It really makes you realize who your OGs are. And I will say this.

40:25As difficult as a topic, as those topics are, all being a woman, I have some of the best male, like, friends, coworkers, bosses in my life. And I'm so grateful for that. No, and that makes me so happy because I agree. I think like in all these issues, you don't want to alienate the men. There are so many incredible men that actually can help you in these moments. But when these moments happen to a woman, it's like your entire life felt like it was crumbling from what a man did to you. You did nothing wrong. Yeah. Nothing wrong. Like you said, the fact that you went through, oh, should I have worn maybe a towel in my hotel room?

41:06No. I know. It's crazy, though. It took me a really long time to accept that. I still need to continue therapy over it because little things will happen where like the PTSD of it comes up and you're like, holy shit, that's from all of it. Thank you for sharing. I just think the conversation in general, I just wanted to have and you just so eloquently put all of it of just like we go through these things in life that you in that moment all the way back to saying my career is over. look where you're sitting you have never been more successful you have such a fruitful business and life and family life and you got through all of that and i think in the moment a lot of times especially even we see as kids are growing up right now with the internet and things in revenge porn and whatever it is like you really can believe that your life is over in a moment that feels so much weight and understandably but then it it will pass it will pass you shouldn't have had to go through that.

42:05But the way that you got through it, like you said, you leaned on your family. You had some incredible men in the industry who were there to support you. And you kept doing your fucking job and showing up. Yeah. And look, hotels, I have to go about things differently. Like, you know, I mean, luckily, a lot of hotels had to watch my trial and see changes need to be made in security, you know, measures. And so, yeah, it's amazing.

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44:32Through Michael Strahan. What? I mean, can I do this guy? I mean, add another job to this dude's resume. I mean, this guy, good looking, great friend, you know, so smart, so good at his job, Super Bowl champ, Hall of Famer. Yeah, he's the best. I left ESPN to go work for Fox and I was working the baseball playoffs at the time. And Michael said to me, hey, there's a guy, he's a friend of mine and he wants to meet you. And I was just like, OK, well, is this is this would you recommend or yes or no? And he was like, I would. So I said, OK, like, you know, figure it out. Well, that's fine. If you if you're vetting for me, Michael Strahan, I will accept your suggestion.

45:19So I, you know, touch base, but I'm busy. Girl, I'm busy. I am working the playoffs and it is a good series. It is the San Francisco Giants versus the Detroit Tigers. Let's go. Like, it's good. I'm busy. So it is the World Series. He had just won the Stanley Cup and they are, I guess the NHL was locked out at the time. He told me he was going to be at the game in San Francisco. And I said, cool. Well, I'll see you. Like, whatever. Aaron, you're like, I don't have a hell of a pitching matchup tonight, Jared. Still, I could care less if you're showing up. Let's see if you can do it. And next thing I know, I am in the dugout.

45:59And, you know, I think the I think I was on the giant side. And, you know, here's the Giants and I'm in their dugout. And I hear this guy go, Aaron and like yeah and he got down there um he walked past security I think athletes will tell you any athlete knows how to get and talk their way through any sort of like sporting venue hockey players they all say dress in all black and walk in with a starbucks and loafers like or you know their little cute shoes and all that I don't know how he did it but and I was like okay okay okay And he was like, nice to meet you. Funny story about this. I had had a raging sinus infection at the time.

46:41And it wasn't a booger. It was almost like some sort of sore from blowing my nose was on my nose. And I was kind of like looking over at him, but I was like trying to stay like this. So it was like shielding like the sore covered in like probably some sort of Armani foundation with a powder situation. It's like, great to see you. Great. And he's like, we're going out later if you want to go out? No, because I had like this. So great. But great to meet you. Congrats on the cup. Yeah. And then there you go. Wait. And didn't you like basically turn him down though at first? I was busy. I had the World Series.

47:18I don't know. Like, you know, finally one night I was out and I said, let's go to dinner. We went to dinner and all that. Okay. Met up a few times. Yeah. Fair, fair. I feel like hockey is having such a moment right now. Good for them. I know, right? Like, it's about time. When we know, you know how great it is. But people that don't know, get involved. It is, growing up, it is the number one sport that was played in my household because of my father. And it's just such a good sport. But now seeing it get the praise because of all the television shows that have popped off, it is really fun. But for research purposes only, the girls need to know, Erin, what is it like to date a hockey player?

47:59They are the best. They are the best. And any NFL players, because obviously I'm around a lot of them and friends with some of them, are like hockey guys are the best. They're so laid back, as you know. A comes out of my mouth all the time. They are, I'll be honest, hockey players are good looking. They are. They are gorgeous. Great butts. Yes. Fantastic. Start at their shoulders, some of them, you know. They're just the best. They're so chill. They're great guys to go to the bar with. They're great guys. They're just, they're the best. Yeah, they're like down to earth. down to earth. A lot of them are farm boys.

48:33A lot of them from small, small towns. It's funny to make fun of the stories because they're all the same. My best girlfriends are all the wives that were on the Kings teams while we were together. And, you know, we were weeding out some of our crap in our house and not that this stuff is crap, but he was like going through the other days, sitting on the driveway and like the boxes his mom and dad had saved it for him. And he's like, he pulled this thing out and it looked like a meatloaf or like a pile of bronze poop. And I I was like, what's that? And he goes, it's Buffalo, babe. Won the MVP in 1996 at this Ontario, whatever.

49:07And so I took a video of it and I sent it to my girlfriends that, you know, their husbands played with mine. And I just said, you guys have this stuff at home? And they're like, yeah, we all do. You know, like you're like, oh, great. Are we supposed to put this on the mantle? Like, where am I supposed to put this thing? Oh, my God. Did he have all of his teeth when you met him? No, he still doesn't. Oh, OK. No, they're fake. Perfect. Right. But I mean, my best friends, husbands like have a flipper still some of them if they're still playing the vibe is you know what like I'm gonna get them hit again so I won't get fake teeth that's what a lot of girls ask me they're like well if I date a hockey player they're gonna have teeth no and you know what it's pretty hot it is you know what it is it's part of the charm it's the charm he also has sorry babe I'm telling all your secrets he has this black dot right here it's pretty good size he's like I feel people think it's a blackhead it's a stitch when he got his nose like slashed by a stick he got you know obviously stitched up but one of the stitches didn't dissolve so now it's like a purple black like forever mole i'm like badge of honor do we want to get this taken out at all no if it was me i'm like you know miss like i get in there yeah right and he's just like leaving it yeah that's such a man thing to do you're like you don't want to just he's like no it's fine You're like, okay.

50:20You and your husband seem to be a really great team. You guys obviously work so much. You're traveling. And then your son, Mac, you have together. Let's talk about your journey to motherhood because I know it was a long and challenging one. Can you just share more about that process and what it was like for you? Yeah. So, I mean, look, I got married later on in my life. We tried to have a baby later on in my life. But I kind of knew in my like 35, 36, I should be freezing my eggs. Like, I don't know when I'm getting married. I don't know if this is the guy. Who knows? So I started doing that. And I wasn't having, I'm sure you've heard it over and over when you do IVF.

51:03You're like, I got seven eggs. You think it's so much. And then you're like, wait, only one of these turned into an embryo and they're not okay. What's going on? So I am on because I'm currently still trying, which is Crazy Pants USA, but I do believe my body can do it. I don't take no very well. I'm probably on my ninth to tenth round of IVF. So I have a hard time. I wasn't getting eggs. And then I got cervical cancer. So that was a whole other bag of tricks that came my way. And we just were having such a hard go. But once I had cervical cancer, turns out your cervix doesn't grow back. I was such an idiot when I went to go deal with that and have multiple surgeries.

51:45I looked at my doctor. I'm like, wait, this grows back, right? And they're like, yeah, no, it doesn't. And honestly, because of my age and because I wouldn't have enough cervix to hold a baby and very graphic, let me do a presentation about it. They said a surrogate would be the best way, especially when you've tried this hard to have get eggs and have a baby like you could lose these pretty easily so that wasn't easy um to kind of swallow or take in I remember crying to my husband one day being like but what am I gonna do about a baby shower if we're not even like having the baby we're having a surrogate he goes we're going to napa we're getting drunk like that's what we're doing like that's your baby shower which is kind of what we did shout out Carissa she threw it um so yeah we ended up finding a surrogate.

52:33We put two in. We lost the babies. That was a huge deal. We went into that very, I think, naive as well. We thought, oh my God, we're going to do a surrogate. We're going to have a baby. It's not that easy. None of this shit is easy, which is wild behavior. I need to write a book about like, it ain't easy. Just get ready. It's hard. And people just, and it's like, you think it is until you go through it. And it's almost weird too, because I feel like you hear stories, but until it's happening, you don't really pay attention. At all. You're a hundred percent right it's like i've heard about these like pregnancies or the and and like you know struggling and all this and then it happens to you and you're like wait what and like ivf and you're you have this vision in your head and then you're like oh my god i i think i've seen someone talk about this before but i never listened because because i think a lot of times people weren't comfortable talking about it i remember finally when i was fed up after trial number eight or whatever and i said to my husband i'm gonna somebody came to me and asked me about it and i said i'm gonna talk about this i'm gonna say that this is really hard and this sucks and jared from a small town in Canada was just like, please don't.

53:32Like, I don't want to talk about it. And I did. And we got so much support. People were like, yes, we're struggling too. Players, random friends, we didn't know that were struggling. So once we decided to do the surrogacy route, yeah, it took a while. It was really, really hard. I'm candy coating a lot of it. But we got him and he's here. And I mean, listen, all the things that I thought were such a big deal. And they were. Like, I'm having another woman carry my baby. How am I going to explain it to him? I don't care. He's here now and he's amazing. The delivery room. Oh my gosh, what's that going to be like?

54:07It doesn't matter. It was great. I mean, there were wild stories about it, but he's here now. Isn't that true? And you obviously, I haven't gone through it, but like when you then decide you want to have a child, we grow up and we have this idea of exactly how we would get the child, right? And you're sitting there and you're like, okay, like maybe I'm going to be able to carry. And you're like, okay, pivot. And you're having to pivot. And that I feel like is so much of every woman's experience is we're going to come up against something that is just not what we thought it would be. But you're right.

54:40It doesn't matter. It's like, this is your journey and you're going to figure out how to get through it. Not saying it's not hard, but it's like, you have to accept that so much of what we see and we're told at a young age is not actually what happens. Like all the way down to the movies, you see it's first the water breaks and then the woman goes to hospital. That's also very infrequent that that happens. Like we have a vision in our head and then we have to relive reality, which is most of the time a lot scarier, a lot more complicated and really, really emotionally taxing on a woman. And we don't talk about it that much.

55:16I'm happy though that people are starting to talk about it more, especially IVF because even hearing your experience Erin hearing that other people reached out to you being like wait thank you for admitting this sure it's scary right yeah um I can imagine also like you said you know sugarcoating around you're like nine rounds of IVF at one point um that is a lot on you physically and emotionally and then I can imagine that's also a lot on you in your partnership emotionally. What were some of the conversations between you and Jarrett about like deciding whether like to keep trying or just timing and timelines and all of that?

55:57I mean, there's a lot of guilt on my end. You feel like a failure. You know, we just, we just moved into this new house. It's a lot bigger than what we had before because we thought we were having another baby. We lost a baby last year. Oh, thank you. But it's just, then you're like why are we doing this because we don't have the second but it's like stop like stop blaming yourself take care of yourself take care of your marriage let's see what we can do but it's a lot I mean it weighs on you it still does I you know was hoping to get a round done before football because I'm still trying I really am I I've spoken to a doctor that's like listen women are so close to having and I I didn't listen women are fierce like I know we can do it so it is still something in my head, but the conversations are, he's so supportive.

56:45I'll be here for you. He would like to have another baby. I would too. Um, some days though, walking around with my kid, I'm like, I'm trying to have another, or I pull the Sally, uh, Sally fields from steel magnolias. Do you know what your mother went through to have you? Um, so yeah, but he's very supportive. And I think, listen, when you do this as a couple, I can see why it makes or breaks people. It is such a roller coaster of emotions. When you then did have Mac and he was first born, like, what did that feel like to you after all of this, the process and the process and the process and the hoping and then you get to hold your child?

57:27A lot. Please don't make us leave this hospital. What are we supposed to do? I mean, we didn't want our surrogate to leave. She got to leave before him. And we were like, no, no, go. What do we do? It was a lot. It was overwhelming. I don't think any of it really, really hit me with my connection with this child. Yes, I love him. But I love him so much more. It just grows as you get to know this being, this person, this crazy animal that you have. I say that affectionately. um yeah it was I think we just felt like we were in the twilight zone we had gone through through so much to get there we get him we don't really understand it all the drive home was awful because it was very far from where we were in LA because she had the baby where she wanted to have the baby and I remember my husband just driving you know at 10 o 'clock at night 45 miles per hour and we were chugging Starbucks and stuff.

58:28I feel like, and I'm interested to see if you feel this way. At three years old, I just sit and I stare at my child. Like he is crazy town USA. And I say that with the best, but he is the best. He's just, he is hilarious and the best. But I will tell you, having a kid, and I thought of you yesterday, we went to the doctor for his three-year checkup and then I want to go get it. He loves a green juice. He's got his bougie moments, this kid. Loves a green juice. Three years old hitting the green juice. Loves a green juice. I love that for him. Mommy, I want a green juice. Okay, let's go. And then I, but he's potty trained.

59:04I'm so proud. But, you know, sometimes you got to be like, you got out of the bathroom. No, I want my green juice. Okay, we'll get the green juice after we go potty. Dealing with a toddler is dealing with your drunk 20-year-old girlfriend. Don't touch it. Get over here. No, come here. Come here. No, come on. Let's wash your hands. No, you don't need to. Don't press that. Mac, let's go. Matt don't turn off the lights get your hands off the floor the best is when they take a poop in a public potty and you gotta wipe that bum he is all fours on the ground and that butt in your face and it is I'm sorry it's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life oh my god I love how I'm about to go through the newborn phase but that's what I've understood it's like once you hit like three and they're like a real person you're like get ready to just be running they are your drunk girlfriend in your 20s that's a great are it's no no don't do that come here no sit down hold my hand.

59:52Where are you going? It is your drunk girlfriend in their 20s. How has motherhood changed you? I'm a sap. I like, you know, I everything with my kid I'll cry about. He's now doing the whole thing of like, mommy, don't don't leave me. Don't leave yet. And that's going to be a whole thing during football this year because I'm gone six months out of the year. What are you going to do? Cry. The things he's saying is hysterical. What are you talking about, guys what you talking about guys hey mom what are you doing over there like it's hilarious he has dropped an f-bomb it is a situation where do you think he learned that word from not a not a clue um yep we've had to at first we just ignored it now we're like hey mickey mouse doesn't like doesn't like little kids that say this kind of stuff and mickey will not allow you oh blame it the park if you say this yeah we have you taken him to a game yet no he had he went to he's gone to king's game of course that's no problem there doesn't really get it we did go the dallas cowboys were so sweet enough to allow us to come to oxnard to go to uh training camp he uh walked up to dac entered i'm very big on shaking hands saying what your name is ask what their name is introduce introduce yourself, sir.

1:01:15Told Dak, thanks for being so nice to my mom. And then I think he's going to go. He may go to an Eagles game this year. Mm-hmm. Whoa. On Thanksgiving. You're throwing him in the deep end. Sure are. In Dallas, though. Okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Philly, I was like, oh, damn. Now, what are we going to do if he doesn't like football? Yeah, I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead. Go to a therapist? No, I'm kidding. That's a joke. No, no, no. He's going to love it. He's going to love it. I think so. Yeah. Do you have any message to kind of wrap out the motherhood conversation to anyone listening who maybe is trying to get pregnant and it's not going the way that they have anticipated or wanted?

1:01:57Do you have any advice? Hang in there. And when you feel like all your friends around you have babies and are getting pregnant so easy and everybody's having an easy go of it and you're not and you feel like you can't talk to them, still talk to them. My girlfriends didn't know much about IVF. One of them, you know, did that, had her baby that way, two of her babies that way. But, and my girlfriends hadn't had a surrogate either. But they were so invested. They were so sweet. Shoot, we even had, you know, one of my best girlfriends and her husband, he had a game that week. We went to Dantana's the night we found out that our surrogate was pregnant and they helped me enjoy way too much red wine, you know?

1:02:39Like just even if your friends have not experienced it and you think it's a hard time, you think it's very hard to verbalize how you're feeling, you need to talk to people. You cannot keep this stuff in. It'll eat you alive. It'll ruin your relationship. It'll ruin you. You cannot keep it in. Yeah, it's great advice to like don't just bear the burden between you and your partner. Like let the people around you who also love you guys like help with it because I think a lot of people want to be there for their friends and their family. That's great advice. Just say it's this is so hard and I don't know how to manage this.

1:03:12It's great advice.

1:03:21Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Airbnb. Daddy gang, the bump. I'm kind of hiding it right now. But the bump has it's been bumping recently. OK, I swear every day we're just getting a little bit bigger. And this whole thing, it just keeps starting to feel more and more real. And so I really wanted Matt and I to have just a little time together before our life completely changes in the biggest way. And so we planned a baby moon and booked the most gorgeous beach house on Airbnb. It really was exactly what we needed. We had some slow mornings with coffee on the porch and just we were reading.

1:04:02I was like, who are we? We're reading outside. We were cooking dinner together at night. Obviously, Henry and Bruce were in heaven, just like running around on the beach. And that is what I love about booking a home on Airbnb. You get the privacy and the space to actually just settle in. And the place that you're staying can feel like part of the trip instead of just somewhere that you have to sleep. And September is such a good time to do it. The summer crowds actually finally start dying down. The weather is still amazing and it's perfect excuse to just squeeze in one little getaway. OK, so whether it's a girl's trip, a romantic weekend or a family vacation, Airbnb makes it easy to find a place where everyone can actually be together.

1:04:44And now you can even order groceries for your trip through Airbnb. So they're ready for you right when you arrive, because the last thing I personally want to do after a long day of traveling is immediately go find a grocery store. I'm always looking for little ways to make traveling feel easier. And Airbnb has become one of those things I come back to every time I plan a trip. Call Her Daddy is brought to you by Stouffer's. Let me tell you something. When I am hungry and I am trying to figure out what to eat, sometimes you can just actually become so you're angry. You're like, I am busy. I'm hungry.

1:05:19I'm getting hangry. I'm getting angry. What can I eat? I need something hot and delicious and low maintenance. while introducing Stouffer's dinners are not only delicious, they're done in a flash. Serve up their classic lasagna, chicken pesto, or carbonara for two. Whatever you're craving, Stouffer's is your hot, delicious, easy meal fantasy. When the clock strikes dinner, think Stouffer's. You can see all the delicious options at stouffers.com. You have a podcast too. Oh, hey. Called Calm Down. Do you like being a podcaster? It's interesting. It's so different from what I do in real life. Yeah, because we're so structured um myself and carissa thompson who's also on fox and amazon uh we thought you know what everybody is is is trying this let's let's give it a whirl and it turned into discussing what it's like having to go pee with which by the way i'm gonna say this you know where i have to pee for six months out of the year during football games is is very adventurous oh i can imagine oh yeah so you're just you're kind of telling us everything from like motherhood to like life on and off the field.

1:06:27Like you're just going through everything and being very honest about it. Yeah, being honest. And it's good. You know, there's a lot of times we have a lot of men that listen because they think we're gonna tell deep dark secrets about football. But a lot of women that are interested in juggling motherhood and also interested in getting into the business. But what I was gonna say about the bathroom situation in what I experienced six months out of the year, you're lucky if there's toilet paper. you're lucky if it and it clearly says women but the men go in there a lot yeah um it's hard interesting right because usually it's like the women's line is so long and then the men's but no you're in more and that's why men are going in men are going in it's a little dirtier i will say it's hard when you're doing maybe a jumper situation and it's got to be down on the ground and you got the ifb and you're like oh my god oh my god oh my god i will tell you with all the nasty bathrooms I've been.

1:07:19I go to, I use your bathroom today because it takes an hour to get here from where I was. Can I just say the little treats in there? I mean, forget the, you know, the sanitary products. We got the Listerine packages. We got the dry shampoo. We've got the deodorant. We're the all woman team here. Okay. We, we know what the girls need. And I took a good five minutes in there because I used all the products. You got to pamper yourself. Sure did. I love going to a bathroom that has the thing. Yeah. And I used them. for noticing that. That's the first time anyone's brought up my bathroom here on Call Her Daddy.

1:07:51Oh, I was Listerining it in there. I was like, yeah, rinsing the residue that I left after I Listerined it. I used the dry shampoo. I used the deodorant. I smell fresh. Okay, perfect. Perfect. In kind of, you know, the spirit of calm down, the name of your podcast. Calming down, yes. I want to, the girls need some advice today. Sure. Okay, we're going to wind down with some advice. I'm going to give you a situation, and you're going to tell us if we should calm down or if we can justifiably crash out. Okay. You were banking on your husband to go to a wedding with you, but he last minute has to pull out and now you have to go alone.

1:08:26Yeah, crash out, but make it a minor crash out. It doesn't have to be a full explosion. Yeah, but I'm annoyed. I'm annoyed. You know what he should do? He should calm down and get it together. And get to the wedding. Yeah. When you're at an event like a wedding, do people try to talk sports with you? Yeah, which I would rather do because I don't want to talk about anything else. Oh, so true. Yeah. Don't ask me anything personal. Great. Oh, the Packers this year. Woo! Easy. But don't interject how you feel and what you think is going on. Because you know what, sir? I know what's going on. I know too much.

1:08:55Knock it out. You need to calm down. You need to calm down. Yeah. And listen to what I have to say. Okay, that's interesting. I like that. You ask your eyebrow waxer for a simple cleanup, but she accidentally makes them way too thin. Calm down. Okay. Follow the stencil. Oh, you're saying calm down to the woman, not yourself. Oh, me? Yeah. No, she should calm down and give me my money back. And you're crashing out. Yeah, crashing out. I feel like every woman has gone through a phase of like beauty blindness. Like at one point for me, I had basically my blonde was silver-ish, bluish purple. And I really thought it was just, oh, it was so great.

1:09:34That was full blindness. What have you had in your past where you're like, that was a full beauty blindness moment? What I had two years ago where I knew a girl that had fantastic eyebrows. And it was the kind that you could brush up and so fantastic. So somebody said, use this serum. And I did. And my hair was a lot lighter then. And I was using it. And she was growing in full black mustaches. And you can see it when you go back on our podcast Instagram site and see. It's like, what's happening? and no one in my life decided it would be a good idea to say, hey, what's going on there? What's going on?

1:10:15So your eyebrows were like Bush City. Bush mustache city. Yeah, two years ago. And then it wasn't until I was shooting something that I had another makeup artist go, what's going on? What's going on there? What are we doing? I'm like, it's bad. I got so upset. I thought about bleaching them in the middle of the night. and I was still in season. Thank God. And my girlfriend's like, no, go to like a freaking eyebrow person. It is really, I've had eyebrow blindness before and when you look back at those videos of yourself. What's going on? It's so crazy. Sure is. That we didn't see it right in front of our eyes.

1:10:52Yeah. But you need perspective and you need a little distance. Yeah. Bad extensions too. Bad extensions. Oh, just like the chunk blocky extensions. Yeah. Really bad, really bad. Okay. your kid starts throwing a temper tantrum in public are you calming down or are you crashing out at first i'll calm down a little bit but i will probably crash out in the car with him i my mom was very big on i'm not going to ruin anybody else's time so let's we're going we're going we're done i'm not figuring this out with no judgment what is one of the most unhinged parenting things that you've done to get through a hard moment.

1:11:30It's just what you never thought in a million years, what you would be doing. Like I am such a germaphobe. I'm grossed out by public restrooms. I have to dress in them every week in a, you know, in an airport when I'm trying to get home. The fact I'm like squatted down because my kid, another thing, my kid, when he is going potty, because we're not standing up yet to pee-pee, we are fully sitting on the pot. We don't want our shorts on because he wants to spread them out. So I got to take the shorts off. Then you know what that means? I got to take the shoes and the socks off too because he doesn't want them on.

1:12:01So we are fully. You're in a public restroom. And I am touching the public restroom. I am on the floor looking at the little hairs and the little crumbs. And his shoes are off. And my man's shoes are off. And you want to know what is worse? When it's the automatic one and I'm sitting there and I'm holding him and the automatic flusher goes and there's splatter. There's splatter in my face. These are the things I never. I wouldn't even. I have the flu. No, I've got pink eye. This is horrible. You have full pink eye all season. We're like, now we know why. Oh, Aaron. Okay, this is interesting. You just interviewed a player and overheard him tell his teammate that your breath smelled really bad.

1:12:43That's never going to happen. It's never going to happen because I'm psychotic, because I appreciate somebody like you having the Listerine. I will swallow an entire Listerine stack. No, I would never be calmed down. I'm not calmed down thinking of it. I am crashing out and I'm having chest pains. and I'm going to worry about it for four weeks. You will never have bad breath. I am also going to write him a handwritten note and apologize. I've told this story multiple times on our podcast. Luke Keekly, just inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. He is beautiful. I have male friends that are like, what a good-looking guy.

1:13:20He's Superman. He looks like Superman. I'm working a game. Panthers at Green Bay. It's cold. My nose is running. I go up to talk to him pregame. I come back, talk to my producer, and he's like, hey, look in the mirror. Huge booger. It wasn't just a little one. It was massive. I am so mortified that I cannot see Luke Keekly to this day without being like, I am so sorry about that booger. He's like, it was 10 years ago. You need to get over it. That's a little traumatizing. Like a big booger. Horrible. That's going to stay with you. Yeah. Okay. You got last minute invited to a huge playoff game while you're traveling and you have nothing to wear.

1:13:59I don't calm down about that. I crash out because I'm not good. I would call my girl Daniela or yeah, I would look up what is cool to wear. Yeah, I'm like a robot with that. I would crash out. No, I would go to my office and grab wear by Erin Andrews, Alex. I was going to say plug it. plug it. My people are like, what is wrong with you? That was a good transition though. But a lot of times, here's the thing. I can't wear teams because I can't look like I'm biased. But here's what I'm going to say about a line called wear by Erin Andrews. It doesn't have to be just for games. You can wear it to the dry cleaners.

1:14:40You can wear it to drop off. You can wear it when you're sitting on a public restroom floor waiting for your son to tinkle at Lazy Acres. That's why I was going to ask you. I think it's really impressive of everything you've done in your career, you decide to start this clothing line. Because there was nothing to wear for women. Right. And what a great way to just get in there and be like, I'm going to solve this for everyone. Yeah. Are there any pieces that you are particularly excited about to bring out this season for the women? We, I actually just wore it before I got here. It's kind of like the whole Western-y vibe.

1:15:14Oh. Yeah. And, you know, we have all the teams. We have nine different leagues. We have colleges. I wear the NFL stuff because I'm not showing any bias. I don't want the Philly fans to be mad at me. Yeah, our windbreakers are sick. They're so vintage looking. I love our sweatshirts. They kind of got the like Princess Di vibes when she was in the little spandex shorts. We all know. Love it. Love, love, love. I love a good windbreaker. Oh, you do? Oh, I love it. You're a windbreaker gal. Oh, I just feel like it's, I don't know. I think having been an athlete myself, like I always gravitate towards the type of like athleisure that just really feels like I just came off the field and I couldn't be more retired.

1:15:53It is pathetic. You are also not preparing just for NFL season, but you are also coming back to host the show 99 to Beat. 99 Problems, yeah. With Ken Jeong. Have you been around him? Never met him. Tell me everything because obviously we love him from The Hangover. But like explain to me what the vibe of doing the show with him is. So our show is, like you said, 99 to beat. It starts with 100 people. You don't have to be the best. You don't have to come in first. Whatever you do, you can't finish last. There are the craziest little games for all these people to play. They are, I sit there in real life and I'm like, holy crap, this is like 99 to beat.

1:16:33Like they would have this adorable, by the way, jelly bean bowl. And you'd have to pick it out with tweezers that are plastic and slippery. and the first one, you know, the last person is out. Million dollars on the line. So the stakes are high. There are, you know, people that are not too happy with other people. I love the drama. I love reading the body language. There's people looking to get other people out. There's kind of like, I'll say it, we have a guy that's like kind of like a Bill Belichick vibe. He's very stoic. He's not giving any pointers out to other people. He's like, you know, he's going to win.

1:17:05Oh, he's going to win. So yeah. That is really fun to have because I just feel like that competitive nature. I love competing. I love anything that makes me be so competitive, which I love that for you. I would be crap on that show. Is there any challenge on the show that you actually think you could win? Well, not the golf cart one out of a small space because seeing how I hit somebody's wooden like trash can bin today. So definitely not that. What would I be good at? No, nothing. All of it would give me like raging anxiety. Okay, perfect. So it's better that you're hosting. Yeah. You know what?

1:17:37It would be having a three year old use a public restroom without getting the flu. Anything mom related. You're like, I got this. I'm ready to go. I don't. OK. Everything that we've talked about today from what you've, you know, taken on professionally and publicly and personally, you're so impressive. Oh, gosh. No, truly. Thank you. Like, it's so refreshing to sit with a woman also who is so confident in her own right and not apologetic for her success and is so just truly confident in what she's done and not shying away or not trying to downplay what you've done. Like, you own it. And I love that.

1:18:19What would you say you are the most proud of, though, through all of it?

1:18:28um it's a fault of mine but it's also something that has gotten me to where I am in my job in my family in my um probably my marriage is just I don't take the word no lightly I figure out how can I get around it okay you're saying no this way but what if I try it this way I mean that's how we were able to have our son that's hopefully how I'm able to have another baby that's you know other jobs maybe I'd like to have in my life, how I was able to get to where I am now with this job. Yeah, maybe my persistence. I love it. No, I think that hard headedness. Yeah, but I think it's it's very refreshing, I think, also because I relate to you in a lot of ways.

1:19:11And that specifically resonates with me of like, I work so hard. And I think sometimes it's I don't know why people think it's like embarrassing to admit that you're trying really hard and you're putting so much effort into something. And I've always been someone that's just like, oh, no, I'm working my ass off. I'm not going to hide that. And I love that you've been like, I'm studying. I'm reading everything. I'm coming prepared. And like, that's why then you show up and you are confident and you deserve to be there. And I don't think that we should shy away from that as women. It's like you earned that spot.

1:19:45Now own it and enjoy it and enjoy all the fruits of your labor because you've had such an incredible career and it's only going to continue to prosper. So Erin. Thank you. No, I couldn't. Thank you enough for coming. I think this was like the perfect balance of inspirational and also just honest, like good girl talk conversation that I knew that we would have today. But I love how we went kind of all over the place. Oh, that's me. We did. Me too. Did you get vertigo? Sorry if I did that to you. It's my favorite type of interviews when I dip into like nine different things. because I love hearing your perspective on so many different aspects of life.

1:20:23But thank you so much for your time. I know I got so lucky because girl, you're about to be so busy. So busy. Our lives couldn't be more different. You're going to be running on the sidelines and dealing with all that. And I'm going to be on full maternity leave. We are on opposite planes right now, but I guess we're both going to be in chaos. Yeah, in chaos. Just deal with a little different. And we'll both be in wear because guess what? Your baby has wear gear on its way. It's here. Oh! Because we have a baby line, of course. Of course. What up, Eagles? Oh, my God. Eagles? Oh. Oh, that's coming home with me.

1:20:55And my husband is going to hate me. Full Rams fan. And I'm going to be like, we got Eagles baby merch. Oh, he's going to be pissed. Well, we're tight with the Stafford. So Rams are great to cheer for. Yeah, we do. We love them. The Staffords are the greatest. Erin, thank you so much for coming on Call Her Daddy. It was a pleasure. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I'm going to go back to your bathroom and use all your products. Take it all. Take all the Listerine.

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1:22:47Let me tell you something. When I am hungry and I am trying to figure out what to eat, sometimes you can just actually become so, you're angry. You're like, I am busy, I'm hungry, I'm getting hangry, I'm getting angry, what can I eat? I need something hot and delicious and low maintenance. Well, introducing Stouffer's dinners are not only delicious, They're done in a flash. Serve up their classic lasagna, chicken pesto, or carbonara for two. Whatever you're craving, Stouffer's is your hot, delicious, easy meal fantasy. When the clock strikes dinner, think Stouffer's. You can see all the delicious options at stouffers.com.