45. Adrianna Ebron, Black Girls Love Football: Safe Spaces, Group Chats & Eye Cream

0:00I'm Victoria Henderson. I'm Adrianna Ebron. And the game is on.

0:28Welcome back to another episode of The Game, where we interview some of the most incredible woman around the NFL and give you sports takes that you actually want to hear. Before we get into today's interview with Adriana Abron, make sure that you are following us on Substack. We have a ton of great Substack content coming out for you, and that is also where the all-girls group chat is located. So if you want to meet more women, chat with more women who love the NFL, that chat is on Substack at thegamethepodcast.substack.com. We also have a couple of new article formats that I believe that you will absolutely love, including the report, which is coming out on Mondays and is essentially the NFL newsletter I always wish I had when I started watching football.

1:16So go ahead, go to Substack, check that out and join the chat. We love to talk to you. As far as our interview today, we are interviewing Adriana Ebron. She is the founder and creator of Black Girls Love Football, which is a threads page and Instagram, blackgirlslovefootball.com, as well as a close-knit community. Adriana started Black Girls Love Football in 2023 after watching female broadcasters and women in the sports world get ridiculed online. She wanted to create a space where women and Black women specifically could go to talk about football, find community, and create a safe space because safe spaces aren't always as safe as they seem.

1:55We also dive into some fashion, some skincare, notes about being a woman. Adriana is absolutely incredible. She is in progress of getting her PhD. She is a mom and a business owner. She also lets us in to know about all things coming up for Black Girls Love Football this year in 2026. I love this conversation because we cover everything from womanhood to how she has experience being a Black woman who loves the NFL and how the community has helped each other in incredible and trying times. So without further ado, let's get into the interview with Adriana Ebron. Welcome to the game. I am so stoked to have you on.

2:37How are you? You know, I'm a Ravens fan, So I am feeling great. I'm feeling very Beyonce Jay-Z. We don't, you know, we don't need to address rumors. We don't need to address speculations. We just exist. You just let whatever happen happen. And whatever people want to think. No, it's everything doesn't deserve to be addressed. That's the perfect answer. you tweeted or what do you call it when you post on threads you threaded a thread you thread yep thread okay you threaded this morning or last night speaking of not speaking of anything that i'm gonna ask you about it i think we should all pause and consider how max crosby is feeling this impacts his mental and physical health he was so ready for a new chapter and a win big and now this injury has cost him?

3:37I mentioned that because I think it's really important to remember that these are humans that are playing these games that we love. They are not robots. They're not animals. As much as people treat them like it sometimes, they are humans. No matter how much money they're getting paid, no matter how talented they are, they have feelings, they have families, they have wives, they have, they are somebody's sons and babies. They're somebody's baby. And And in the moment when I posted that, I thought about just, you know, his, he just hit six years of sobriety. I didn't realize until his wife posted it that he had to like completely turn himself into, I don't know all of Max Crosby's story.

4:19I know that he's a phenomenal player and I love watching him and I love his attitude. I love how he shows up for his team. I love that he's never afraid to play anybody. And so I don't I didn't know that story about him, which makes me even more of a fan of his because I had family members who have suffered from addiction and didn't have the opportunity to get rehab and passed away from addiction. So my heart just goes out to him because in the moment that he's in right now, it could mean so much and it could impact so much. And yet and still here, he is celebrating and thanking God for sobriety.

4:56And despite no matter what the situation he's in, he's going to be OK. So I just thought it was important to bring the human significance out in this moment. Yeah, I love that. But I think it is so true that especially on the internet and online, in media, people really run with a headline or with a stat even and put a player in an entire bucket that is they are this or they are that. And I've personally been shocked. And I think that Max Crosby is this whole situation is shedding light on the fact that the news drops before the contracts are signed. which is like low-key just bad business. It's bad business.

5:43It shouldn't drop first. Like it's, what is going on? You know? So I'm, I'm surprised that they drop all of this news and allow all of the conversation to happen before there is a conversation to be had. And I know that it gets clicks and it gets views and it gets likes and it gets people talking, but it's bad business. and there is a person and a family on the other side. And interviewing some girls who are in free agency or were going into free agency or who have been in free agency, this is somebody's like entire life. Like not only Max, but also like his wife and the players on the Ravens who are friends with him.

6:24So I just think it's shocking. I do love that women in media are forcing the stories to change a little bit by bringing these up, you know, by putting on threads, hey, we should be considering this. And I love that women in media are giving story-based news instead of just stat based news. I know Lily, founder of Sportsish, was the one who recommended me to you. And she does a lot of the same thing, you know, story-based news, which I think is, it's more fun. And I think it just makes the story more interesting. So Max, yeah, hopefully Max is doing okay. I mean, I think that he is obviously strong on the field, but also just strong, mentally strong with his family watching.

7:11I also have family members who have gone through sobriety and like watching them go through that journey and get sober. You go through so much like internal work that nothing really can permeate you. Nothing can really permeate your peace once you get to this part in life. I agree. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So onto a little bit of a lighter topic. You also posted on threads maybe yesterday, but good morning to Adam Schefter and Rap Sheet. May the best intern who can post the fastest win. And I was cracking up. I literally laughed out loud for like a good two minutes reading that because I always forget that it's just like interns doing the work.

7:51it's always the interns that are making the posts and getting the phone calls you can really tell with Adam because the typos happen often and I know I had a I met Ian in person and like on a call and he mostly posts himself it's not always interns for him yeah he's the guy he's the guy and he stays the guy he is he is And I never want to see them fight again. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've like never loved. I mean, I watch Bravo, so I really shouldn't say this. But like watching people fight like just stresses me out. Like it just makes me a little anxious. And I don't know that I'm into it. No, it's definitely anxious.

8:41It's definitely like you like you like you want to go like this. Yeah. Like I can't stop watching and I'm not watching, but I'm also in a thing. Yeah. Same. Yeah. Okay. So you entertain a lot of people online on, you're the first person that I've ever met who is like threads famous, which is fun because I just am not on threads. Do you just post your threads as they come to you? Like you have a thought about the NFL and you just throw it up there and is that how it goes or do you like plan it out? most of my threads, I used to plan them out and most, but most of the time, my, most of my threads that are most engaging are things that are just on my mind.

9:25Yeah. Just like things that come to you and you're like, oh, I got to say this. Things that come to me. And like, I will say I am a part of the threads, like programs. So I get emails from Meta once a month at the beginning of the month that tell us like what some of the big topics or events are that are coming up. Okay. That's cool. So then you kind of know what to do what most of them are you okay? yeah I think it's raining on me so I'm trying to figure out where I should sit I think I'm gonna back up it's all good I'm like yeah should I back up? my bad we'll cut this out yeah my bad just gonna have to get wet I'm good I'm under the umbrella I'm good I promise if I need to get in my car girl I need to get in my car I will okay I have recorded multiple times for my card every time I look like a gremlin but I'm like in there like with my shoulders all up and my knees up recording like you got to do what you got to do what is this jacket situation you have what is this dress or jacket a shirt what is it oh this is a jacket that is I got this at Paris Zara oh at the one at the outlets or the one in it was just chanzelis okay it was like a totally random it was by like a mall it wasn't the outlet that's an hour outside of paris no it wasn't the girl at the airport told me to go to those when I missed my flight and I had an extra day but I didn't end up going I just went if you would have known me girl if you would have known me back then I would have told you girl hit that outlet Desarva was good probably Desarva you probably went oh I know what genre you went to if it was the mall it was the one that spot I know which one you went to okay yeah yeah it's like the it's like the mall but it's like an open mall yeah I know like the stores there's no doors yeah but it's so cute yeah thank you yeah I was I missed my flight and I was like well I guess we're going shopping because I hadn't really shopped that much.

11:34And then, yeah, I bought this and now I wear it all the time. I went to Paris and you didn't shop. I'm, I'm very concerned.

11:42I know. What did you do? What did I do? Did you go for Olympics or something? No. So I went to the Berlin Falcons Colts game and then I just bopped over to Paris for like three days. And yeah, I just like, I guess I did go shopping. I just didn't buy a lot the first three days. So I like went to, you know, Cezanne. You saved the money, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because I spent my money on the ticket and the hotels in Paris. I'm saying I didn't shop is so wrong though because I spent like$300 at like this handmade pottery store run by sisters that I met. I went to Cezanne and got perfume and a ring. Oh, yeah.

12:28You spent money, girl. girl. You spent the Pilates. You just didn't have the shop like a crazy woman. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't do like a day of shopping. I just like I went to Pilates and I like shopped on the way back and then I went out to lunch and then I shopped on the way back. You had experiences. Yes. Yeah. And it was awesome. Yeah. I am going to Paris to the Paris game on October 26th. So you let me know if you're going to be there too. Oh, they have the date already? That's the only one they have the date for. You like that? Everything else is like TBD. So here's the thing. I want to go, but I want to know if they upgraded their stadium.

13:08Because I went to start the France, and I'm probably standing around because I don't speak French. But I do want to go to the game. The stadium was okay. The stadium reminded me of the black hole in Oakland. What did you what did you go for? Beyonce. Okay. And the stadium was not fit for Beyonce is what I'm hearing. It was okay. You know, it was cute. It was, it was, you know, it was okay. It's okay. It was definitely like, it definitely reminded me of 2017 Oakland Raiders Coliseum. Yeah. Like why does Oakland feel vintage? And it was like five years ago, like Oakland Raiders I know I still say I still it's hard for me not to say Oakland Raiders I really suck at saying it and not saying it well I feel like Oakland the Raiders fit better in Oakland like because they're like kind of grittier and like a little bit harder like they're not like because what's Vegas like I could say the aces in Vegas Vegas aces I could see that like I love the aces by the way I love Asia.

14:20I love Chelsea. I used to, I love Sydney when she was there, when she left, went to Indiana. But anyway, we hear about football. My point, our point is the Raiders belong to Oakland. Yes, agreed. And the Oakland A's baseball team is also getting out of there, so not football. But I'm pretty sure Oakland A's are moving. They had like, they have like some of the worst turnout ever. Like nobody goes to those games. but yeah Oakland is losing like everything but I think Oakland's such a cool spot so I'm like what is happening yeah there's a problem I don't know how to fix it but yeah I don't like that either yeah bring them back bring them back to Oakland also I'm in San Diego and or I know I'm not I live in Denver now oh my god I forgot where I live for a second I just moved like two weeks ago let's talk let's get back to you let's talk about you because that's what we're here for Take me back to where you were when you started Black Girls Love Football.

15:22What was going on? Where were you in life? And what inspired you to start posting on the internet about the NFL? I've always loved the NFL. I've always loved NFL football. I've been in love with football since the Ravens arrived. But what really got me was like, I was nine and the Ravens won the Super Bowl. and I never look back, you know. I was like, oh, like, this is, like, the most fun thing ever to watch. This is, like, Ray Lewis is, like, a god. And, like, you know, that was it. Like, that was all I needed. And we didn't have to wear uniforms when they won. When they won, we got to wear purple at school and we didn't have to wear a uniform.

16:04And when you are a kid that has to wear a uniform, it is the best thing ever. So I'm in. Yeah, I'm in, right? And so I fell in love with the Ravens and I really got more into football when I got into college. And it was just me. Like, I'm the only Ravens fan. I'm the only football fan. I've always been a sports girl. I've always loved playing 2K. I've always loved NBA, also a weekend. I was an Ellen Iverson fan, you know, growing up. But I was always kind of alone in that, like as a girl. I was like a girly girl who also loves sports. And so fast forward, you know, an adult and, you know, I purchased.

16:46I thought I had my right before I had my son. I think it was before I had my son. Must have been like when I signed like my big girl contract at work. I decided to become a PSL owner, which, you know, furthered my investment into the Ravens. And then when Angel Reese pretty much entered the scene of the kind of blew up on the scene, if you will. I just kept seeing women be like trashed in the media. And I would watch like Jamel Hill deal with people online. I would watch, you know, Carrie deal with people on, Carrie Champion deal with people online. I would watch how people spoke about one of my mentors.

17:27Her name is Rita. I would watch how people talk about Rita. And I got so irritated and frustrated. Like, why can't people allow Black women to talk about sports, specifically football, which I love? Why can't they talk about football without being attacked? Or why can't people look at us as, like, just like you look at, I know why they can't, right? All of the isms around Black women and how we show up in the world. But I wanted us to have a place on the internet that just looked like me, sounded like me, and was filled with women who were being celebrated and not tolerated in the sports media space.

18:08But also I found out, oh, there is women's tackle football. There is professional flag football. And now it's going to be in the Olympics. Then you have women like Nicole Lynn, who are women agents who don't get enough shine and light. And so I hit up my I mentor Rita one day and I was like, hey, I really want to start this page called Black Girls Love Football. I see it's a Black women's love football page, but I don't really resonate with them quite yet. And I really want to do this as a way. I don't see it. I didn't see an Instagram page for them. I wanted to do an Instagram page where I would post and repost Black women who are either like speaking about football, whether they're analyzing hot takes going to the game as fans I didn't necessarily look at it as a community I just wanted to make a page where I was sharing info from us you know yeah and then that was in 2023 and it was fun I was just like copying and pasting from like Adam Schefter and the NFL and you know I wasn't really like I was into it but I wasn't like too into it.

19:17The other thing is I am a PhD student and the crisis had just kicked off in the Middle East at that time, like 2023, I think. And my professor said, well, you know, it's always a continued crisis in the Middle East, but something happened when my professor said to me, you have to be careful what you're replying to online if it's not connected to your dissertation. My dissertation is focused on ADHD and black boys and how they experience it. It has nothing to do with football. And so if someone was to Google me, well, now you're going to see both, right? But back then I was like, oh, if someone was to Google me, like, it's going to be like me cursing somebody's dad out about football because they don't want to listen to me.

20:02And then it might like mess up my dissertation stuff. So I was like, oh, you know, I better make another page. And so I hit my mentor and I was like, oh, I want, you know, I want a page where I can talk about football, but also have visibility for other black women like yourself, like Kimberly Martin, Taylor Rooks, all these different women who I see every day who don't get enough credit. But so I made the page. Like I said, I was copying and pasting from the NFL and, you know, making little jokes here and there. But it was never really like a high engagement. I had like 10 followers. Like by the end of the season, it was 100 followers, but it wasn't going anywhere.

20:42And I didn't care that it wasn't going anywhere. I was just still like enjoying writing from it. Yeah. And that was the year that the Ravens should have gone to the Super Bowl. But they decided in the AFC championship game, when I stood out there in a cold, that the defense was going to hold Kansas City to zero points in the second half. But that they were also going to go away from the running game that they had used to get them to the AFC championship game. So anyway, we lost that game. And I no longer became interested in running the page. And I said, I said, F this page. F the Ravens, F football, especially F the Chiefs.

21:24I was done. Do you understand me? I was done. I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I didn't even like Taylor's. I didn't even want to like Tay-Tay anymore. And I've always liked her. But I was like, I don't like Taylor's. I was like, I don't like none of y 'all. And then people were like, oh, you should, you know, after the fact, you know, season, you know, next season, new season comes. People were like, why aren't you doing the page? I'm like, oh, because the Ravens make me mad, you know. but you know just like a toxic relationship I came back around and I found threads and I started posting on threads and I saw it was a safe space and I saw it was a lot of black women on threads and I'm like what what's going on over here let me come see what they talking about you're like are you guys my friends or yeah I like I posted I had like 10 I had 10 followers and I posted I'm like I'm looking for women who love football period within 24 hours they had a thousand followers and I was like whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa then I posted again I had like five thousand followers within like three weeks so it got to the point every Wednesday I would post and say hey hey girl sometimes I would say hey girl hey or hey football or hey girlies I'm looking for the football girlies.

22:38Let me know your team. And other people would copy it and they would like, they didn't understand why they couldn't like get the same response I was getting, but they, and I was like, I don't know. I don't know. What's up with your algorithm, but mine is on point. So I was posted consistently and I also had found other ladies and we ended up forming another group called a ladies football association. And they still have their group as well. I joined them and like, I helped them create a group chat and all that fun stuff. But I still kept, like, Black Girls Love Football. And it has honestly grown into, like, this amazing community of just women who support women.

23:16We have two group chats. So we have, so due to the results of the 2024 election, a lot of Black women, you know, we don't always feel comfortable in safe spaces. We don't think all safe spaces are really safe spaces because of just how the voter turnout worked out and just how it's kind of been so much pushback on us. And so I have a space where it's just for exclusively for African-American women. And what I understand is like my allies that are in my life understand why. And then we also have a group for everyone. So no matter your age, no matter your race, no matter how you identify, whether it's your pronouns are they, she, him, you are allowed to come in.

23:58It's still a safe space where people cannot speak toxically. It is a women's centered space about football. And we are always in that group, just having a good time. And it's been really cool because we have someone who came out to us and they hadn't come out to their family yet. And they cover sports and they don't know how to show up as a trans woman, like, you know, while also covering sports. So like we're their safe space and just one, a great example of something I'm proud of that I created when I think about just like, I don't, I don't take it lightly that people feel that comfortable around me or that comfortable to be like, y 'all, like, I want to, I want to come out to the group.

24:37I want to come out to my family. And y 'all are the first people I ever felt comfortable around doing so. And to, especially just be based off of football is insane, you know? And I just love that, that we get to share our voices and, and opinions without somebody saying, hey, you bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep, you know, or like finger pointing and name callings. None of that is allowed. So that is how I started. And sorry, I think I took 15 minutes to explain that. I loved every second. I took notes so we cannot double tap on some of these things. First of all, you're getting a PhD. Yes. You, one of the through lines of this show that never ceases to amaze me is how incredible women are.

25:26Women are so powerful and dynamic and capable. Just talking to a woman like yourself, you're a mom. You're getting a PhD. You were previously an educator. You've created a space for someone to say, this is the safest place that I feel in the world. And you're doing it all at once with grace and with kindness and amplifying other women. And it's just really incredible. So congratulations. How much longer do you have on your PhD? So because of football, it's kind of like pushing me back some. I'm finished all of my coursework, it's up for one class. And I have an 11 page statistical analysis paper that was due almost two years ago now that is holding me up from doing comps.

26:18So I'm literally at the very end and I just have to do this paper. And I've gotten distracted by going to the Super Bowl twice and then I just kind of forgot about going to finishing the paper. Honestly, I hate stats. I hate stats. And she, my teacher, my professor was like, oh, if you don't do the coding right, like you could fail the class. I'm like, I don't really have time to come in and retake this one class. Like, so the paper's sitting right here on my laptop, y 'all. Right here. And we'll just call it in progress. And it can be in progress for as long as you want or forever. No, this should be a doctor.

26:54I would like to graduate by age 40. I will be 37 in May. So. Okay. Hell yeah. I'm giving myself three years. We love a tangible, reasonable goal. Mm-hmm. Talk it. I can't say. Oh, my gosh. I love it. It's time to thank our sponsor at Cusos. I actually had my first barbecue of the season. It has been in the 70s in the afternoons, a lot of the days here in Denver. So I went over to a friend's house and we had a barbecue. And as we sat down, I said, Hey, have you heard of Cusos? And he said, not yet. So obviously I let him in on the fact that they're an all natural seasoning brand, that the flavors are really bold, that it's super great if you are barbecuing outside of the house so you don't have time to make your own marinade or make your own seasoning.

27:46It is quick. It is delicious. It really enhances any meal that you bring it to. And once you have it, you won't want to get rid of it. It's one of the best additions to my food cabinet. So if you want to get 10 % off your order of seasoning blends and sauces from one of the best spice companies around, head to kusocuts.com slash the game for 10 % off and make your next barbecue more bold, more delicious, and more fun with Kuso Cuts. One of the things that you mentioned is that you have recognized that not that like there are black women who feel like not all safe spaces are actually safe. And I don't think I've ever heard that in those words before, but you also mentioned that the people in your life who truly love you and support you understand why that space is only for black women and not for anyone else.

28:54Can you talk to me about when you started presenting that to your family and friends? Were you nervous to put the cap on it and say, this is only for Black women, it is not for anyone else, and that's what it is? Were you nervous about putting that cap on it, or was it something that just felt right because you wanted to be the safe space that doesn't always exist, even under the guise of safety? The way I presented it was really on threads. It wasn't really to family and friends. to be honest with you, most of my family and friends don't know I even have this page. Most people don't even know who's behind the page.

29:28I kind of keep it to myself. Unless somebody mistakenly finds out. And I'm like, oh yeah, I do do that. But so it actually, it's actually my threads, my threns. We say threns on threads. It was difficult for me. I was nervous to see the reaction from people because of anti-DEI and anti, just feeling honest, like this anti-Black, anti-woke, anti-immigration, I guess ideology that's being pushed. So I was nervous about it. And I've actually had many people, Black women included, disappointingly, who told me I should change my name and like, you're not going to get business or you're not going to ever expand with having the name Black girls love football and I was just like oh okay that's fine you know that's your opinion um and I had this woman that sent me like an essay via dm saying like she didn't quite understand why it had to be two separate groups and she didn't understand why some events would only be for black women and some events would be for others and she said like I think that that's the mistake on your part and I my pushback on that is sometimes people don't even realize the microaggressions and the verbiage that comes out naturally based off their like their environment and I prefer to be around people who know how to see it or know how to check it and say oh shoot like I didn't even realize how I was coming off that way and I think I was obviously I was nervous because I kind of was like, oh, like, what if, what if I turn off, what if it's a big turnoff to, like, people who love and support me who aren't Black women if I, you know, I have two separate groups, but no, like, it's been the opposite, like, no, like, y 'all should have your own, it should be a space for you.

31:24There are topics that, honestly, only we face, and, and we, and we aren't a monolith, right? We have all, we come from all different backgrounds and very diverse as well, just, like, being a Black women like we can be from so many different places and be raised in so many different ways that we bring diversity to the table as well amongst each other the conversations they are always in that group are always dynamic but as far as health issues and racial discrimination and how we show up in the world and learn how to co-switch and conversations about marriage and just things that are only like we can really talk about amongst ourselves and often like we're also taught at home that certain conversations are just not had amongst company.

32:10And so that was why it was really important to have our own space more than anything. Because in the world we live in, white is always the default. White men are always the default. And if we're speaking about women, it's white women are always the default. And so that's why it's important. Another reason why I found it very important to have a space just for Black women, to have conversations amongst ourselves you know everybody can join the conversation on threads everybody is welcome it's just that certain topics we i just prefer for it to just and i've met so many it's 500 women in that group i've met so many women who after the election just have not yet really recovered from what it felt like to i can't even i get emotional talking about november 2024 because it wouldn't that waking up the next day after the election day it just felt like the entire world was anti-Black woman.