Beth Mowins: First Woman To Announce Nationally Televised NFL Game

BRISTOL, CT – Beth Mowins – a longtime play-by-play commentator – will be the first woman to call a nationally televised NFL game when she announces the second game of ESPN's Monday Night Football Week 1 doubleheader, the network announced Tuesday. Mowins will be joined by former coach Rex Ryan in the booth for the Los Angeles Chargers-Denver Broncos game, according to ESPN.

“This is an amazing opportunity and I look forward to working with Rex and our entire ESPN team,” Mowins said in a news release. “As lifelong fans of the NFL ‘Monday Night Football’ franchise, we want to bring the same passion to the broadcast as our predecessors have all done.” (For more information on this story and more national news, subscribe to the Across America Patch.)

Mowins – who has signed a new multiyear extension to remain with ESPN – will become the first female announcer to call a National Football League game since 1987 and the first female broadcaster to call a nationally-televised NFL game, according to an ESPN news release. Gayle Sierens was the last woman to call an NFL game – the regional broadcast of a 1987 regular-season finale game on NBC.

“Beth has been an important voice in our college sports coverage and she has experience calling NFL preseason games. She deserves this opportunity,” said Stephanie Druley, senior vice president, ESPN events and studio production. “ESPN is committed to putting talented women in high-profile positions and we look forward to Beth and Rex’s call of this game on our MNF opening night.”

Mowins joined ESPN as a play-by-play commentator in 1994 and has called college football games since 2005. She is also a staple on ESPN’s regular-season men’s and women’s basketball schedules. Mowins has called NCAA Championships in basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball and has been the voice of the Women’s College World Series for more than 20 years, among other assignments. She has also called Oakland Raiders preseason NFL games in the Bay Area since 2015.

Ryan, the former Buffalo Bills and New York Jets head coach, joined ESPN earlier this year after a guest analyst appearance for Super Bowl LI. Ryan also will make weekly appearances on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown pregame show this fall as a studio analyst. He and Mowins previously worked together on the Florida State Garnet and Gold spring game in April.

Mowins will be in a position that hasn't always been friendly to women, according to CNN, but she says her focus will be her job.

"I understand it's out there and you run into it from time to time, but my focus has always been on I want to do a respectable job," she told CNN. "What I've always tried to do is: Gender is in the backseat, and having the skill of a play-by-play announcer to sort of drive the bus, that's front and center."

The game will air on Sept. 11 at 10:15 p.m. ET

Photo Credit: Ben Margot/Associated Press