Lisa Guerrero, a reporter who once covered sports for CBS and currently works with Inside Edition, reveals in a new memoir that in 2003, she experienced a miscarriage while covering a Monday Night NFL football game.
In 2003, Guerrero became the first female reporter for “Monday Night Football.” People magazine reported that at the time, Monday night games had an impressive 40 million viewers. Guerrero notes in her memoir “Warrior” that although her career was successful, being a trailblazer was fraught with difficulties.
Guerrero writes of her challenges as a female reporter in the men’s sports world, including the “wealth of misogyny” she experienced from athletes and her executive producer, Freddie Gaudelli. With many hoping she would fail, Guerrero noted it was difficult to disclose and deal with a sensitive medical issue she suffered on air.
People magazine published an excerpt from “Warrior” that recounts the emotional event. Guerrero wrote that she was doing her reports from the sideline when suddenly, she felt intense pain in her abdomen. Moments later, she said, ‘I could feel blood leaking.’
Guerrero recounts in her book. At first, “when I felt a dampness between my legs, I thought, ‘Oh, I got my period.’ And then I remembered I was pregnant. I was having a miscarriage! I could feel blood leaking.”
Guerrero reports telling her assistant she needed to use the restroom, but he informed her she was about to be live.
Guerrero wrote: “I delivered my live report. I was dizzy and nauseated but reminded myself to stand up straight. The pain was excruciating … I finished, I raced off to interview a coach. Then I headed to the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet, I couldn’t believe the blood pouring out of me. It had soaked through my pants.”
Guerrero noted she did not reveal what had happened to anyone at the stadium. She finished her work for the night, then went to the airport and headed home.
“I don’t blame one person for this,” said Guerrero, “the miscarriage wasn’t because of Freddie, and it wasn’t because of one radio talk show host or one bad column. It was a culmination of the entire season of negativity and cruelty. It was really cruel.”
Guerrero’s success allowed her to cover MLB games as well. Guerrero told People: “I wanted to be the Barbara Walters of sports. I was doing these big sit-down interviews with tough, tough athletes who weren’t very open with the media — Barry Bonds, Shaquille O’Neal, Alex Rodriguez — and they were opening up to me.”
CBS fired Guerrero in 2004. She notes in her book that she hopes her story can deter bullying and trolling.
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