Ask Katie Nolan More

A day of “Social Media Minutes” confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in sports television: One of the brightest talents in the business deserves better.

So, uh, well… That was some football game huh?

There’s a lot to unpack from Sunday’s epic overtime comeback classic, and little doubt that we can look forward to plenty of quality #content in the hours, and days ahead. But there’s one thing that’s worth taking a little time to talk about, just so that it doesn’t get buried in the talk of “Brady the GOAT,” “Goodell got owned,” and “have fun in San Fran, Kyle Shanahan.”

I’m speaking, naturally, about the role of one of the most talented people on the Fox Sports roster, the host of Garbage Time, Katie Nolan. For those who might have missed it, Nolan was a recurring presence during Fox’s Super Bowl broadcast, featured in a series of “Social Media Minute” segments throughout the pregame, and one that aired during halftime. Generally, the hits were rather standard sports television fare. Present a series of statistics, as well as some notable/interesting/humorous social media posts, in order to hype the magnitude of the game, and the size of the audience, not just on television, but online.

The segments were, in a word, fine. Perfectly fine. There’s obviously nothing wrong with taking a few minutes out of a monstrously long broadcast to check in on trending topics, share some celebrity messages, and give some perspective on just how far and wide the Super Bowl conversation truly reaches. And Nolan, unsurprisingly, handled the task wonderfully. She was informative, she was smooth, (not missing a beat when a planned piece of tape was unavailable), and she was funny, injecting some humor when it came to her own unapologetic Brady love and New England fandom.

But, ironically enough, while it may not have become a trending topic, or generated thousands of tweets per minute, there was a sentiment that surfaced online, at least in some quarters, when it came to Nolan’s on-air appearances.

Ok, so, full disclosure / cards on the table time. I used to work for Fox Sports 1. It did not end particularly well. But while I did not have the pleasure of meeting or working with Nolan, her work, first on Crowd Goes Wild, and then on Garbage Time, was consistently some of my favorite television at the network, and I’d hoped, for some time, that I might be able to be a part of the team that worked on her weekly show. I am, to put it plainly, an unabashed Katie Nolan fan, and I write from the admittedly biased perspective of someone who wants to see her receive the best opportunities, and biggest spotlight possible.

And, in fairness, there is some rationale for Nolan’s use throughout the Super Bowl broadcast. Social media, is, without question, a major part of her appeal, her expertise, her (oh god no I can’t believe I’m going to use this word) #brand. Her Sports Emmy Award did come, after all, in the category of “Outstanding Social TV Experience.” Anyone familiar with Nolan’s work knows that she is genuine and engaging with fans (and haters) on Twitter, consistently plugged in to the sports conversation, and unceasingly creative when it comes to turning online trends into compelling television and digital segments. In that sense, it’s understandable why a “social media host/presenter” role might have seemed like a logical fit.

The issue, then, isn’t that Katie Nolan isn’t capable of doing a great job presenting internet highlights. It’s that everyone knows, or should, that she’s capable of so much more. Her commentaries, on hot-button issues in football and beyond, never fair to impress for their rigor, perspective, and fearlessness. Here’s Nolan, from October of 2015, on the many issues arising from Greg Hardy’s return to the league following accusations of domestic violence.

Here she is, in August of last year, discussing the Texas A&M “Chalk Talk” scandal and what it said about continuing generalizations regarding women and sports.

And here’s a memorable clip, from April of 2015, of Nolan taking apart the incredibly problematic “How To Land A Husband At The Masters” article that appeared on coworker Clay Travis’ Outkick The Coverage website.

Of course, insightful perspective on some of the serious issues in sports culture is just one of the many muscles Nolan can flex. She’s also, it’s worth noting, quite hilarious and creative when there’s a whole lot less at stake, as demonstrated by her ability to turn the Peyton Manning HGH scandal into an episode of Serial, #DeflateGate into an ode to Beyonce’s Lemonade, crowd-fund a Central Park bench for David Ortiz, and of course, continue an endless love affair with Rob Ryan.

To put it plainly, there’s not a lot Nolan can’t do, and it’s not all that hard to come up with plenty, beyond the “Social Media Minute”, that she could have contributed to Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast. One of the biggest stories heading into the game, for example, was the prospect of Commissioner Roger Goodell being forced to hand trophies to an owner and quarterback that he’s not exactly on the best terms with. I suspect that Nolan might have had something sharp and witty to offer on the subject. Or, perhaps she could have weighed in on Julio’s excellence, Gronk’s future, or the hat that caused just a wee bit of controversy when it appeared in Brady’s locker. These are all off the top of my head, of course, and I have little doubt that Nolan and her talented team, if given the time, the support, and the runway, could have developed something much bigger and better, an innovative place for her in the show, perhaps something different than we’ve ever seen in such a broadcast.

Instead, we got Big Boi’s sneakers, and tweets per minute. Which, again, was fine. But it wasn’t a whole lot more than that. There is no doubt that every second is precious real estate for any sports broadcast, not to mention the most watched game of the year. So there’s something to be said for the fact that a young, unique, gifted woman like Nolan had the role that she did. There are plenty, undoubtedly, who I’m sure would have loved to trade places with her. But for me personally, (and, I suspect, many others), Nolan’s place in the pregame and halftime was a bit unsatisfying, given the range and depth of her television skills.

So who’s to blame? Well, it’s impossible not to feel, at present, like Nolan and Fox are just simply not the right fit. Much has been written about the direction of programming at Fox Sports 1, where the shout-fests and contrived debate shows that Nolan herself has spent plenty of time ridiculing, now rule the day. And while the network pulled out all the stops every Sunday in a major push for Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe’s Undisputed, anecdotally at least, one can’t help but feel like Garbage Time has gotten short shrift. The network’s promotion of Nolan can often feel lacking, as evidenced, in one example, by the fact that her role as the new host of NFL Films Presents received little to no attention whatsoever.

It’s not simply a question of marketing muscle, or place in the pecking order, however. There’s also an inescapable sense that Nolan’s sensibilities, and values, simply don’t fit within the larger Fox package. This is the place, after all, where Colin Cowherd fawns over Donald Trump, Clay Travis ridicules the Women’s March on Washington, and Jason Whitlock consumes himself with settling scores against twoke cripster cyberhuman social justice warriors. (It’s probably worth noting here that one of Whitlock’s most frequent targets, Greg Howard of the New York Times, was a guest on Nolan’s program, following his Deadspin piece, “How Jason Whitlock Is Poisoning ESPN’s Black Grantland.”)

Nolan, herself, is clearly aware of the somewhat uncomfortable fit. Almost exactly one year ago, at last year’s Super Bowl, GQ’s Drew Magary asked Nolan if she still felt like she fit in, given the network’s additions, and change of direction:

“I’ve had this conversation with my bosses, because that was my original thought as well. The benefit of my role at the network is that I’m in New York and they’re in L.A.

I think the vision for FOX is to have a network full of people who have opinions, as opposed to people who say news. If my message doesn’t fit in but I get that platform, then I’m reaching the people who most need to hear it.”

Ultimately, it should go without saying, decisions on Nolan’s career, and her future, are for no-one to make but her. But selfishly, from my own perspective as a viewer and fan, I can’t help but hope that in time, Nolan finds a television and digital home that is more in keeping with her thoughtful, feminist, progressive bonafides. There is at present, I believe, an unshakable sense that at Fox Sports 1, Nolan’s intelligence, righteousness, and wisdom make her the exception, rather than the rule. A part of me can’t help but believe that her star will shine even brighter amidst like-minded company.

That being said, it’s also important to note, in fairness, that part of what needs discussing goes well beyond Fox Sports, or any particular network. This is hardly the first time that a woman in sports media was relegated to a side set, discussing social media, entertainment, fashion, you name it, while the men go about the business of actually taking about the game. There is an unfortunate tendency, one that has been written about extensively, for women in the field to be pigeonholed into certain roles. Chances are, you know the ones: Sideline reporter, debate facilitator, woman in the crowd, and yes, social media host. There’s nothing wrong with these jobs, of course. But they can not be, to steal a phrase from Amy K. Nelson, the “female sports ghetto,” the place where women are, by definition, slotted for the bulk of their careers.

Thankfully, there’s been some slow, but overdue progress on this front in the last few years. Jessica Mendoza’s role on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball has demonstrated, (not that it should have been necessary), that a woman can excel in the role of color commentator, regardless of the sport, and who’s playing it. Anyone familiar with Rebecca Lowe’s work with NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage knows that she is the equal of any lead studio host in the country. And while sports talk radio has been, historically, the definition of a man’s domain, there’s even been the beginnings of some change there, with ESPN’s “The Trifecta” offering a prominent national showcase for Kate Fagan, Jane McManus, and Sarah Spain.

All of this is encouraging, to be sure, but it’s also not nearly enough, and it’s happening far too slowly. There continues to be, within sports media, a clear and present divide between those jobs where you might expect to see a woman, and those where it would come as a major surprise. Wouldn’t you know, nobody knows this better than Katie Nolan herself, who discussed the phenomenon as part of a video commentary that, for many, first put her on the map.

“Women in sports television are allowed to read headlines, patrol sidelines and generally facilitate conversation for their male colleagues. Sometimes, they even let us monitor the Internet from a couch. And while the Stephen A. Smiths, Mike Francesas, Dan Patricks and Keith Olbermanns of the world get to weigh in on the issues of the day, we just smile and throw to commercial. A lot of people like to justify women’s supporting role in sports media by saying, well, they’ve never played the game so they just aren’t qualified to speak about it. Because, God forbid, someone misspeak about the game. But topics like domestic violence and racism and corruption? Let’s let Boomer handle those between downs.

It’s time for the conversation to change, or at least those participating in the conversation. It’s time for women to have a seat at the big boy table, and not where their presence is a gimmick or a concept — just a person who happens to have breasts offering their opinion on the sports they love and the topics they know.

Because, the truth is, the NFL will never respect women and their opinions as long as the media it answers to doesn’t. I’m ready when you are, Fox.”

That video, which has been watched, since we’re talking about social reach, nearly 400,000 times on Youtube, was posted on September 9th of 2014, more than two years ago. In the time since, Katie Nolan has won awards, grown her profile, made some smart, funny, inspired, outstanding television, launched a successful podcast, been called “The Future of Sports TV,” the woman “Who’s Tearing Down Sexism In Sports,” and “The Stephen Colbert the professional sports world desperately needs.” Nolan, and to some extent Fox, deserve all the credit in the world for this.

But Sunday couldn’t help but feel like a slight step back. Here’s hoping those are few and far between.