Lead MNF reporter Laura Rutledge rushes from sideline interviews to host Sugar Bowl halftime show within seconds

Laura Rutledge, a full-time sideline reporter for Monday Night Football was filmed running from one end of the gridiron to the other. Sports media personality Dov Kleiman shared a video clip with the caption: “𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚: In just 45 seconds, Laura Rutledge wrapped up her sideline interviews at the Sugar Bowl, sprinted across the entire field, and then hosted the halftime show. People don't realize what it takes to be at this level of the media.“There is probably two minutes to get to the set,” Rutledge said in a phone call with The Athletic. “It’s super-fast. The point of getting there as quickly as possible is not just because we’re going to be live on TV, but also because I have to figure out exactly what we’re doing.”The producer is in Bristol,” Rutledge explained. “So, we had been texting throughout the day about the nuts and bolts of what we do. You come right out with some sort of highlight from the first half and go into a quick discussion. But until you know exactly what happens, you can’t necessarily do that.”The ESPN reporter added, “Our plan was for me to get Kirby Smart first to make it go a little faster, but we didn’t have a camera. Kirby was talking to another player and wouldn’t have been ready for the interview.We always try to stand back and let them have their time, then get them quickly because we have to hit our marks and go off air. Molly McGrath got [Ole Miss coach] Pete Golding, then they tossed to me with Kirby. It added probably 45 seconds of time. I had to go even faster to get to the other side of the field.”Once she reached the desk to host the Sugar Bowl halftime show, Rutledge changed mics and looked at the show rundown prepared by an ESPN researcher on an iPad.Why didn’t she choose a golf cart on the sideline to save time and avoid running? She said she would be faster!“Just to rely on my wheels,” Rutledge said with a chuckle. “I was mad last night because I was kind of wearing a little heel on my shoe. It was making me go a little slower than I wanted to.”She could have gone even faster…She was running during a cold game. It must have made her shiver. “That was a cold game,” Laura shared. “I had a thick jacket on by the time I got to the top. We had a minute to spare while I was getting wired up. I had taken my jacket off. That was like a full workout here.[Tim] Tebow was giving me some crap: ‘You started off really fast on that one, but then you, kind of, like, pulled up and slowed.’ I was like, ‘Tim, first of all, I’m not an athlete like these people, and I cannot claim to be one.’ I also started to run into some people. So, I don’t want to run anybody over. ‘Tim, you did not see me climb those stairs…’” “Whoever said ‘what a man can do, a woman has already done’ had her in mind,” wrote one X user after watching ESPN reporter Laura Rutledge sprint across the gridiron to host the Sugar Bowl’s halftime show.“You should see what the players have to do,” retorted one X user. Another speculated, “She’s a semi elite athlete!” A third wondered about her breath after rushing across the gridiron: “How is she not completely out of breath when they start the show That’s wild.” A fourth complimented her, saying, “That’s why we all tune in. For Laura Rutledge.”Also Read: Justin Herbert pressured into a postgame interview by the enthusiastic new NFL sideline reporter Laura Rutledge