Molly Robinson is the sideline reporter for Hewitt-Trussville High School’s football team.
Q: Where did you grow and from where did you graduate college?
A: I like to tell people that I grew up in a few different places.I was born in Huntsville, Ala. And, when I was seven years old, my family and I, we moved to Detroit, Mich. And then, when I was 12—so about halfway through middle school—my family, we moved to Nashville, Tenn. So, I like to tell people that I mainly grew up between both Detroit and Nashville. So, I lived all over.
And, as for college, I am a graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where I got my degree in both broadcast journalism and sports media and communications.
Q: How did you land the role as the sideline reporter for Huskyfast?
A: I got the role of the Huskyfast Sideline Reporter through Pat Smith. He is the main play-by-play voice for the Huskyfast Network and has been for over a decade now. And, Pat and I, we actually work to getherat WJOX in Homewood. Him and I, we're on the same mid-day show along with Landrum Roberts and Conrad VanOrder.
And, as I graduated college, I knew that sideline reporting was somethingI wanted to try a little bit more because I did a little bit in college, but I knew, postgraduate, was something I wanted to get into and Pat knew that. And, last year during the playoffs, the old sideline reporter couldn't make it for a few games, and so Pat called me and asked me if I could fill in and the rest is history. And, here I am now, covering the regular season. So far, I have absolutely loved it. It has been such a joy to get to know the parents, the coaches and all the players.
Q: What got you interested in sports media?
A: I was interested in working in sports media from a very young age. So, my brother, he is nine years older than me, and I was stuck always doing whatever it was he wanted to do, watching whatever it was he wanted to watch. And, a lot of times, that was college football.
And, then to add to that, my dad, he is an Alabama fan. My mom is an Auburn fan. But, then my brother went to Iowa. So, college football was always our favorite season in my house. And I just remember being a little girl watching college football with my family and feeling so inspired by all the women that I would see on my TV as a kid. And, I've just known from a very young age that that was what I wanted to do and that was what I wanted to be involved with.
Q: What else does the world need to know about you?
A: One thing that the world needs to know about me is I am an extremely competitive person. It all started when I was about five or six years old. I was part of a summer league swim team, and it was during one of my races and I hop out of the pool thinking that I had gotten first place, but I had actually gotten second.
And so, like I said, I get out of the pool and my parents and my brother, they're waiting for me and I'm hopping up and down asking my brother like, "DidI win? Did I win?" And my brother who was, like, 14 or 15 at the time tells me, "No, you got second place, which means you are the first loser."
And then, he pulled a Ricky Bobby on me and he said, "If you ain't first, you're last," and I bawled my eyes out. And from that moment on, I told myself I am not losing another, another race. And, sure enough, that summer, I'd actually made a bet with my dad during one of my swim meets: "If I win all of my races tonight, will you buy me a Nintendo DS?" And he was like, "Yeah, sure," because he was thinking to himself, there's no way she's gonna win all of her races. She's six years old. And guess who won all of her races that night? I did. And so my dad had to buy me Nintendo DS.
But, I've always had this competitive nature. I used that to make my college dance team all four years at Nebraska, and I've even used that in my career today to help me get all of my jobs. So, I am an extremely competitive person and it, honestly, it makes me who I am.
