TRUST ME I KNOW WHAT I'm DOING

Hey friends, this is Abhay Dhandekar. Before we get started, don't forget to subscribe to Trust Me I Know What I'm Doing on YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen or watch. That way you never miss our show celebrating the vibrant Indian and South Asian global experience. Thanks.

Hi there, this is Aditi Kinkhabwalla, an NFL sideline reporter for CBS. This is Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing.

My name is Abhay Dandekar and I share conversations with talented and interesting individuals linked to the global Indian and South Asian community. It's informal and informative, adding insights to our evolving cultural expressions, where each person can proudly say, trust me, I know what I'm doing.

Hi everybody on this episode of Trust Me I Know What I'm Doing we chat with sports journalist and NFL on CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala. Stay tuned.

Abhay (01:05.453)
I guess I've been watching the NFL and the LA Rams since I was about six years old. And as close as I might feel as a fan over the years, I bet there are few who have had the kind of front row seat to professional football and that experience as the terrific Aditi Kinkabwala. Aditi is a sports journalist and a reporter for the NFL on CBS and a veteran of her craft who's connected the dots, let's see, from the San Antonio Express News to the Wall Street Journal.

to many years with the NFL Network and really thoughtful contributions across so many media platforms locally in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, and of course nationally on CBS. And most importantly, we're grateful for her making some time to join us. Aditi, such a real treat and a great pleasure to have you on Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing. Thank you so much for joining.

I so appreciate that you're asking me to join you and that you are choosing me as opposed to the dozen doctors in the King of Wallop overlay.

I weirdly I haven't had like a big spread of doctors on this show but you

I can offer you some if you need some really interesting ones. I have a whole gamut. There's a whole roster in the Kinkabwella family.

Abhay (02:16.576)
I appreciate that you have people on that 52 man roster, right? So and woman roster. But no, you know, I was sharing how like I've been a fan of the NFL for so long. And my first memory definitely is just watching a Dallas Denver Super Bowl in 1977. And somehow, that's the one that sticks in my head. Maybe there's ones before that. But I'm just curious for you as someone who's been entrenched in the NFL for so long. Do you have a first NFL memory?

Oh, goodness, no, I don't know that I've ever been asked that. I have a first NFL memory as a journalist. was 22 years old. I was at the San Antonio Express News. The Minnesota Vikings were I don't even remember if it was a training camp or playing a preseason game. They were playing a preseason game in San Antonio. And I remember that I was sent there to write a sidebar and I had never been.

in a professional locker room. I had just graduated college. I'd never been in a professional sports locker room. And when I'm nervous, I laugh. And I remember walking into that locker room and seeing all these big, enormous men in various states of undress and thinking, you better not laugh now. You don't want to appear to be laughing at...

This is not the time,

Aditi (03:39.456)
a man who is not fully clothed. So I remember that. Although this sounds like the worst possible memory ever.

Hey, but it is what it is,

I thought about that in 20 years, but there you go. Did you go up? Well, interestingly enough, my parents are Indian immigrants, so they loved tennis. And I have so many memories of watching Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and Ulan Lendl, and Stefan Edberg, and John McEnroe. I remember all that. My parents were enormous Knicks fans.

grow up watching football. your family watch?

Aditi (04:17.814)
I have absolutely zero desire to talk about Michael Jordan and Scottie Hibbing. I remember all of that. My father was a huge baseball fan, took me to Yankee Stadium before I was, I think, even two years old. Although he was a huge Mets fan, I can remember a million baseball memories. My parents were not big football people. Now, I do remember liking the Giants.

I do remember loving great defense. The Giants did win two Super Bowls when I was young. The Giants were my first NFL beat. But football, kind of really didn't get into until I was in college. And I went to Cornell, of all places, which is certainly not known for football. But I worked in the sports information department. And I loved as a journalist that

It wasn't only about games that you had all week to build up to the game. So all week gave you an opportunity to really delve into stories, the why's, the what's, the how's, the behind the scenes, the who's, the people. And I've always loved that so many different body types and skill sets are necessary to make a football team. Yeah. In a lot of ways. Yes, sure. There's some variance in basketball, but

the five foot seven spud web is the anomaly. Right. Right. That's largely a sport that's isolated to a certain size and shape. The other three main sports, baseball, hockey, basketball, just has so many games. But you think about an offensive lineman versus a slot receiver versus a safety versus a defense bend. many, there's room for so many different people and you need all those skills to come together.

all those personalities, all those body types to come together. And I've always loved that.

Abhay (06:12.91)
Did, know, when you think about that and your parents and your family had this love of sport, but then your first experiences, you know, were more, again, locker room based or like, you know, behind the scenes and really thinking about that a little bit more cerebrally or thoughtfully about like what it takes to actually, you know, put together a team and then all the other personnel that's involved in preparing and coaching and front office and all that, you know, for you as someone who has definitely lived

in front of the camera, but then also really synthesizing all of that, you know, together has the game as you've known it ever since that first locker room moment and how the game sort of evolved and how you presented it has your preparation in that way, knowing all of that, has that changed and evolved also in like how you have to now think about the game, especially before you are meeting with somebody or interviewing someone on the sidelines or elsewhere.

I think preparation is preparation, right? It's the same as if you're preparing for an exam. You're reading as much as you can, you're researching, you're calling who you can, you're using your resources. So whether I'm writing a newspaper story or I'm doing a live shot on television, in a lot of ways...

That's how I've always been. I've always loved research. Even as a student at Cornell when I was pre-law, I would love to sit in the law library and read through briefs and take notes. I take copious notes and I still handwrite notes because I find that when I write something, I remember it better than if I type it. But my knowledge and you hit on it, you you can find so many people that can diagram a corner blitz for you.

or can talk about why this shape safety is clouding one way. The piece of the game that has always been the most interesting to me has been the team part, the personality part, what is the ecosystem of a locker room? How do certain things work where team X may have an excess of talent?

Aditi (08:26.926)
but Team Y that has inferior talent for some reason is the one winning the Super Bowls. Why? What are they doing? What is the buy-in? What is the makeup of that team? Why are they executing those blitzes, those plays in a way that the team with all the talent isn't? That piece has always been fascinating to me. And the older I get, the longer that I'm in this business, I'm almost at two decades now of studying or of

being involved in the NFL game, you learn so much more. And so when you ask how the preparation changes, well, I ask smarter questions. I have more contacts. I have a greater network. I can call upon so much previous experience. Hey, this is reminding me of this. And there you go.

Michael Wilbon on PTI always talks about like, you know, the data geeks that are out there and they're driven by all this data and it informs them, but that there is nothing like the experience and the wisdom that you get from the eye test. And so, you know, with data driving all kinds of things, right? Like you mentioned, like, hey, this data is really driving the notion that that team should be either outperforming some other team every day. And yet...

Sometimes the data just, you know, doesn't play out on the field that way.

And so much of it is about instinct and about your gut. I remember covering a Titans game a few years ago when Mike Vrabel was the head coach and his team had won this massive Monday night game. It was this huge thing. And then they came out the next week against the Texans and a backup quarterback and were a little bit flat. And early in that game, he went for it on fourth down deep in his own territory when every piece of data.

Aditi (10:12.984)
would have said, is not a place to go for it. He was looking at a sideline and he knew he needed to juice those guys up. And he felt like this was an attainable fourth down. They got it. And the energy on that sideline completely changed. It was like, hey, here's my wake up moment.

And Mike Frable, someone who, know, that experience right there. And then I think I saw an interview that you had with him before first game of the season, this season, back with the Patriots. And I mean, now that you've been able to combine a lot of that sort of synthesizing of the experience of the game, of the aha moments that, you know, someone going for it on fourth down and like why that's so important. And then also cultivating the relationships you have over the years. You know, how has that.

trust been built for you now in seeing people over and over again and they're knowing that like, know, hey, Aditi knows what she's talking about.

You know my dad my father is a graduate of Bombay IIT and is one of the most brilliant people that I know and for any of your listeners who don't know Bombay IIT it's 60 minutes once did a feature on it and said take I don't know Harvard MIT and Caltech put them together It might have been Harvard Princeton and MIT whatever put them all together and you get Bombay IIT and all of his best friends are guys that he went to college with and that's the ivory tower I grew up in

But my father, who is literally one of the most brilliant people I've ever met in my life, always says, if you're smart, you don't need to tell people you're smart. Essentially, they'll figure it out on their own. You show them. the best football player, heck, I just talked to Nick Chubb last week, and he always said, I want my play to do the talking. so I think that if you are able to demonstrate that you've put in the work,

Aditi (12:05.422)
And by demonstrate, I don't mean, hey, let me show you all the notes I've taken. But by being smart in your questions, by listening, you said you yourself feel so strongly about active listening. By actively listening, I think that's a big piece of how you prove yourself. And then I think the second thing is you have to be your authentic self. I am who I am. I'm not a supermodel. I am not a former player.

I am the daughter of Indian immigrants who, yes, is a good student and approaches everything the way that a student does.

someone who's been told you smile too much.

Right. You heard that. I have been told that. I'm living my best life. What is there? You know, and it's funny because I always say, well, football is fun. Football is meant to be fun. I'm a mom. can't, you know, even so much of my business is about the visual. I can't undergo all this plastic surgery. It's just, it's not who I am.

The way that I look is my heritage and I own who I am. If I were to pretend that I was still in my 20s, then I couldn't sit here and say, well, I have this almost two decades of experience covering this league. And I think that that experience is a piece of credibility as well.

Abhay (13:34.946)
You're listening to Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing. After a quick break, let's come back to our conversation with Aditi Kingkabwala. Stay tuned.

Abhay (13:50.36)
Conversation. It's the antidote to apathy and the catalyst for relationships. I'm Abhay Dhandekar and I share conversations with global Indians and South Asians so everyone can say, me, I know what I'm doing. New episodes weekly wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Abhay (14:12.782)
Hi, I'm Vivek Murthy. I'm the 21st Surgeon General of the United States, and you're listening to Trust Me.

know what I'm doing.

Aditi (14:27.694)
Hey everyone, this is Arjun Malla, professional baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays.

did them.

Hi, this is Farhan Zahidi. Hi, I'm Saurabh Mehta. Welcome to

I'm Praag Marathe, president of 49ers Enterprises and EBP

beautiful operations listening to Trust Me.

Abhay (14:50.456)
Welcome back to Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing. Let's rejoin our conversation now with NFL on CBS sideline reporter Aditi King-Khabwala. Doing a diaspora show here and you know, does that make you then an NFL pundit? Does for you, like the journalistic aspect of this and the knowledge aspect of this and the wisdom aspect of this, is there a line between sort of being someone who is agnostic?

to the world of football versus someone who's an analyst and can actually thoughtfully share opinions and kind of posit themselves on what's going on in the game. I mean, like you're someone who's had this front row seat for so long and there's not many surprises in that way, but at the same time, like people would look to you for that knowledge and that experience to give your opinions on things.

I think that you, you know, it's funny, just yesterday I was in the grocery store and somebody stopped me to talk about the Steelers and the Patriots and what to take away from winning so ugly and how alarming that is. I think that when you demonstrate knowledge and confidence in what you know, then whatever your field is, that translates. But again, whatever your field is, I think you need to be authentically you.

And I tell this to young students all the time. Be curious. Whatever it is that you're doing in life, be curious. Whether you are a physician, a financial analyst, or a reporter, don't be afraid to ask questions and don't be afraid to call in resources. Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know something. just, those are the things that sometimes I feel we as a society feel like it's a...

mark of insecurity or it's a mark of lack of ability to acknowledge that you don't know something. I will openly on the radio, people will ask me something and I'll say, you know what, I don't know the answer to that.

Abhay (16:55.042)
Yeah, yeah. Which is, I mean, great, right? I mean, like it takes a lot of important confidence just to be able to say that and self-assuredness in a way, rather than the easy route and the path of least resistance, which is just to go ahead and say something. And I'm really curious about one thing in an era of media where controversial takes and just spewing stuff out that's sort of on the edges.

Sports are otherwise, but particularly in the NFL, mean, those kinds of opinions, those kinds of takes actually sell and they draw eyeballs and they draw audiences and they go viral and they get high traction, but they also feel that they're on the border of just like incomplete analysis or even just poor journalism for that matter. And you're not really being authentic a lot of the times. How does that resonate for someone who has had the backdrop and the experience and the sort of

two decades plus of being in this profession where you know what authenticity and real journalism is supposed to be about.

It devastates me. It disgusts me. And I will not play that game. And I continue to have faith, whether that faith is misplaced or not, that the cream will rise. And I pray and hope that this is just a phase. I'll give you a parallel. So a lot of women in my industry, way back in the day, in the day, I shouldn't say way back. That sounds a little

Right, anachronistic there, right? Back in the day.

Aditi (18:31.374)
Leslie Visser, Andrew Kramer, icons, the goats of our business. It was about doing the work. It was about being smart. It was writing the stories, asking the questions, all of that. And then our industry shifted somewhere in the last, I don't know, 10 years or so. appearance became a really big deal and celebrity became a very big deal. when I was actually first on television, so when I was a newspaper writer,

I've always felt in my life that I'm leading with my brain. I'm not leading with how I look. I'm not leading with anything other than what's up here. And then I went to television and it was very jarring. It was very different. For the first time in my life, I had to think about makeup and hair and things like that. And it was a time period, or it is a time, whatever, where a lot of female...

journalists, also courted celebrity, and would showcase how beautiful they are. And these are beautiful people. They can be journalists and can be beautiful. These are not mutually exclusive things. I was raised by strict Indian parents. I have a certain feeling about what is public and what is private. I'm a mom. And that just wasn't me.

I'm not someone who, mean, quite frankly, on my honeymoon when I was still a newspaper writer, was I a newspaper? No, I was at the NFL Network there. But even on my honeymoon, it's not like I was taking pictures of myself in a bathing suit. Sure. So it's just not my style. And I remember Andrea Kramer, who is a mentor of mine, and I having many conversations about the world that we're in right now is the way to move forward to play this game.

Whereas you may not like this game, do you play this game? And Andrea, with her counsel, she and I settled on, you have to be true to yourself. And you can't do something that is inauthentic to who you are. And you have to believe in the way you do what you do. And fast forward five years after, six years after that conversation, and I'm offered a job as a sideline reporter on CBS. And right now I do a job.

Aditi (20:55.372)
I don't know, there are maybe only 13 or 14 people in the country that are on the sideline of an NFL broadcast every single week of the NFL season. And I remember when I got the job, Andrea, of all people who is as tough as they come, was very emotional that the advice had held true that being yourself would win out eventually. And so similarly,

The hot takes, the outlandish thoughts, the reveal every dirty, awful thing that you know about someone generates a lot of attention. And sure, would I like my profile to be higher to therefore lead to more opportunity? Yes, but I don't want it to be higher for those reasons. And you don't want to be irresponsible. going to sit here and continue to do the work and hope that that's what counts in the end.

Yeah, yeah. mean, you know, that's a really important thing to remind everyone on, right? That like, you know, there's this fine line between irresponsibility and, you know, authentically being yourself and just sort of spewing stuff out there just for the sake of it. Now, you know, some of those hot takes are outrageous and they're interesting to sort of pontificate about, but it doesn't sound like that, you know, really spells really good journalism and being true to yourself.

Speaking of being a sideline reporter, have to tell you probably the most squeamish or even awkward that I've felt in even watching some of these things has to be that halftime coaches interview when you're right there in the mix of things. And it seems like it is the hardest squeeze of the day. Have you had to practice some of these sometimes where you're just kind of like, all right, know, someone's down by like, I don't know, like 30 points or something, or it's been a really, really rough game or a great game so far, but they,

you know, I would imagine that the last thing they want to do sometimes is talk to a reporter.

Aditi (22:56.162)
Well, you know what, on camera and off camera are two totally different things. So last year it started where every coach now has to be on camera. And we at CBS believe in doing this because it shows access. It's definitely harder. I only get one question because we're immediately going to break the coach that's going in and the coach that's coming out. You can't bleed over a play to show it. can't hold off kickoff. So.

You don't necessarily get as much as when it was off camera, but to be able to hear directly from the coach, as opposed to me regurgitating is obviously the win for the television networks and what the league. Right. But yeah, I remember having a game a few years ago, Bill Belichick was the head coach of the Patriots. They were at Miami. The Patriots were just about as sloppy and messy as could be. They were down. Belichick was furious at the referees.

for the viewer.

Aditi (23:51.022)
He spent about five minutes before halftime and I was supposed to walk into the locker room with him berating the refs. And I remember saying to my producer on my IFB, on my headset, should we like pass on this? I don't know, but I really need to talk to him. And then he comes off and he's ready to talk to me and I'm walking into the locker room and he basically yells at me. I asked a question about fourth down. had given up three.

consecutive fourth downs. And he said, it's about third down. Your question doesn't make sense. Do better. I mean, he was right. He was completely right. But yeah, it's all part of the process of growing up made me better. That's for sure.

one.

Abhay (24:32.034)
to Cincinnati, right?

Abhay (24:39.31)
mean, do those moments stick out in your head where there are like these growth opportunities and, yes, you kind of get better at it and better at it. yet there's the, you know, there's the, the inevitability that there's going to always be that one sort of surprise where you're just like, okay, well that just happened. And, do you have to also have a thick skin about this and really, you know, move on as best as you

Oh my goodness, you absolutely 100 % need to have a thick skin in this business, please. You know, I used to say this all the time. If you were a rocket scientist and you went to a bar, nobody would argue with you about rocket science. But when you're a sports reporter and you're the one that's actually inside the locker rooms, on the sideline, having the conversations with the coaches, well, that doesn't mean anything.

Fans are more than you, of course. Forget whether they've actually met an athlete or not, whether they've actually talked to a coach, whether they've been on a sideline, which you know they haven't, they always know more than you do.

Yeah, of course, right? You get your armchair fan and the person who's got to take about their team, right? You'll never be able to beat them. And yet you're supposed to sort of like have this public persona and try and get that out there. Is that something that for you, you've had to really grow into? is this a different Aditi in 2025 than, you know, for when you were first starting out?

Oh, 100%. Absolutely. And the world has changed too. When I started as a newspaper writer, if people wanted to interact with me, they'd have to write me an email. And if someone was going to make the effort to write an email, in general, that already sort of cut off a big piece of the population. You could have someone who was making an effort to find your email address and to write you. And I say this without hubris, but the vast majority of males

Aditi (26:31.522)
that I got at the San Antonio Express News, the Bergen Record and the Wall Street Journal was glowingly positive. I mean, I should be embarrassed to admit it, but somewhere in this office, somewhere, I've saved emails that just actually moved the needle in a certain way for me. And it was lovely to get that sort of feedback. But then came Twitter. Then came Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter.

The world has changed and you hear from trolls who have absolutely no compunction about bringing up your race, your ethnicity, your nose, your looks, your gender in every single insult. It's not enough to say, I disagree with your take on this. It's also tied to something else. And I will say, I largely would ignore all of that because why engage?

why let anybody see that it gets to you, then it wasn't even the birth of my son, it was the birth of my daughter that I felt, if you don't speak up, then why will anything ever change? So I would respond a little bit, but then I felt like there's no win in doing that.

You're listening to Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing. After a quick break, let's come back to our conversation with Aditi Kingkabwala. Stay tuned.

Abhay (28:01.792)
Every story told is a lesson learned and every lesson learned is a story waiting to be told. I'm Abhay Dhandekar and I share conversations with global Indians and South Asians so everyone can say, me, I know what I'm doing. New episodes weekly wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Abhay (28:26.476)
Hi, this is Madhuri Dixit and you are listening to Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing with Abhay Dhandekar.

Aditi (28:40.61)
Hi, this is Farhan Aqsaid. Hi, guys. I'm Ananya Pandey. Hi, guys. I'm Indra Nooyi. Hi, everyone. This is Shafiq Askarna. Hi, I'm Lilly Singh, and you're listening to Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing.

Hi there, I'm Abhay Dandekar and you're listening to Trust Me, I Know What I'm Doing. Let's rejoin our conversation now with sports journalist and NFL on CBS sideline reporter, Aditi Kinkaballa. Let me ask you a question. I mean, you mentioned that the parent, the parenting experience here and that of course, you know, impacts so much everywhere, right? I mean, personally, professionally, you know, our past, our future, but I'm just curious, like how is parenting informed or accelerated your work?

on the sideline as an NFL reporter, as someone who's deeply involved with the NFL and CBS.

Contrary to what I was told by many people who did not think that I would still want to work once I had a child. If anything, it's heightened my ambition and my drive. I want my son to go to the school bus stop and say, my mommy kicks butt and takes names. So there's certainly that piece. Relatability. The Steelers have a star defensive lineman named Cam Hayward, and he and I became.

friendly, professionally friendly, or our relationship was fostered while talking about potty training our sons. We were potty training our sons at the same time. And that's another thing that I often counsel or advise young reporters is you find something to relate to people. Everybody has some piece of relatability. And for a former athlete, it might seem easy. he was an NFL player and he's talking to an NFL player. But we can all find something.

Aditi (30:28.462)
Juju Smith Schuster is Samoan. And one day we had a conversation about how Indian families are so similar to Samoan families. The way that we have joint families, the way we respect our elders, the way that everything is about our elders' approval. Five years after Juju and I had talked about Samoan families and Indian families, I was in a room with Tuatanga Wailoa, and I'm suddenly recognizing a piece of myself in him.

and the way that you want your elders' approval. And that ultimately led to my asking a question that turned into a viral report from the sideline of a game about how Mike McDaniel had rebuilt his confidence after what he had been through when Brian Flores was his head coach. That doesn't come about if I don't have this conversation about Indians and Samoans with Juju.

They're all accelerators of trust, right? Exactly. Let me ask you this, would you let either your son or daughter play tackle football?

My son knows that he is not allowed to do so until the ninth grade. my son, both of my children love sports. My son is a dabbler. He does flag football, lacrosse, soccer, golf, tennis, basketball, whatever he's doing at the time, he's very much into. And then he moves on. My daughter is a soccer player. She's six. She's just started lacrosse, but she will take a soccer ball and dribble by herself in the backyard.

She is very focused and driven. I just think that in flag football, Nico is learning a ton of applicable skills. He is my child. He is not going to be a defensive or offensive lineman. I don't think it's necessary for him to tackle just yet.

Abhay (32:14.882)
Yeah. interesting. mean, like, you know, when, certainly I was in that space of like, you know, thinking about like, okay, like I played pop Warner football, but knowing what I know about concussions and all the injuries and, know, certainly would would have second thoughts about my own kids playing tackle football. But it's interesting to hear that from someone who sees this so intimately as well. I'm curious about one part of this. mean, I've heard you share how important the quality

of your work is. Like you said, the work speeds for itself, right? I mean, that's the sort of mantra of all of this. And with that content being so important, your identity, the representation as an Indian American, as a woman, it's critical to building those ladders of trust and demonstrating the empathy as a parent, so powerful as an Indian American and among the few, if not the only national sports television reporters.

As a woman working in the NFL, how do all those descriptors in a way sort of accelerate to that quality?

I was just actually sharing this with someone this past weekend on my crew. When I first went to the NFL Network, there were no women that looked like me on national sports television, meaning no women of Indian descent. There are still no women of Indian descent on national sports television. I looked, the vast majority of the women at the NFL Network at the time were also blonde.

And so not only was I not blonde, but I was Indian and there was no one that looked like me on TV. And I remember someone telling me to prove that you belong. You not only need to be smarter and work harder, you also have to be likable. And sometimes a journalist who is smarter and works harder does not necessarily espouse the most likable traits.

Aditi (34:19.022)
Because those are people that will stand up for themselves. Those are people that will be dogged. Those are people that will expose inequities. But that's not always what a boss wants. it was a little bit of a balancing act. I will say this. I have never, ever, ever thought that I should get a job because of my gender or how I look or my ethnicity. I have never gone into something and said, well, you should hire me. I'm a girl.

or you should hire me because I have brown skin or you should allow me to be this voice. I've always wanted to have the job because I thought I was the best at the job. Especially in the last, I don't know, five, six, seven years, we as an American people have become very conscious and very proud of our identities and our cultural identities. And so for me,

I don't want a job because I'm Indian or Asian American. I don't want anyone to give me an opportunity because of that. But yes, I am proud. And yes, I recognize there is still no one behind me that looks like me. So there is a responsibility in continuing to prove every single day that you belong. So that perhaps the next time...

a young Indian American woman walks into a TV executive, a sports TV executive's office, no one thinks, gosh, she doesn't look like anybody else on TV. And she was judged solely on her merits. I also think it's really important for parents to see that young Indian Americans can succeed in a variety of different ways. I mean, my parents wanted me to be a doctor.

Like it was a given. still remember my 11th grade English teacher, who was also my 10th grade English teacher, telling me after parent teacher conferences in 11th grade, I think your dad has finally gotten okay with the fact that you're not going to be a doctor. But I was still supposed to be a lawyer. So for the first seven or eight years of my newspaper writing career, I kept being asked, so when are you going to law school? Because this was supposed to just be a little detour along the way.

Abhay (36:29.571)
score.

Abhay (36:35.426)
love the fact that you mentioned the pride part because it does actually feel different when you see someone who looks like you. I was joking with Sean Desai, who we had on the podcast a couple of years ago, that like, I'm still waiting for the game show safety blitz from the weak side. Like, I want to see a defensive play. I want Dak Prescott to go to the line and instead of saying, okay, here we go. I want to hear, okay, Kem Cho. I want to see something like that.

Chalo, chalo!

I don't know, maybe Aaron Rodgers.

I just saw the Texans and Sanjay Lal is the tight ends coach there. There you go. Yeah, I do. You know, it's fun. And the Panthers have a coach of Indian American descent as well. It's always fun. It's fun to even Shad Khan, who of course is the Jaguars owner, has told me how fun it is to see someone of South Asian descent in this world where there aren't as many of us. So it's coming. It's coming.

coming. Let's go to it. We're almost done. Let's do a little rapid fire here. What is your favorite stadium or fan base?

Aditi (37:41.742)
Goodness. I love the fan bases that have been loyal through everything. The Bills, the Lions, the Browns. Give me, mean, those Bills fans, those Lions fans, those Browns fans. I was there when the Browns made the playoffs in the COVID year and there were only, I don't know, 16,000 fans allowed in the stadium and people were crying in the stands. Gosh, those people sticking with their teams through thick and thin.

Those are the fan bases I love.

Do you have an NFL highlight that you were present for that sticks out the most?

There are too many. I mean, I really, you referenced it earlier that I smile too much. I love what I do. I could probably give you a highlight from every single weekend. And then it would be like asking me to rank my children.

being a Giants beat reporter and them going on a four game losing streak and my insisting to my editor, no, no, no, no, I think this team really has it. This team has it. And he thought I was drinking blue Kool-Aid, but I was like, no, no, no. And then they ended up winning with Super Bowl. Russ Wilson, mean, just now today, Jackson Dard is starting over Russ and Wilson. And I was incredibly outspoken with multiple NFL executives.

Aditi (39:02.318)
why Russell Wilson was not the answer and the joy, the being on the field when Russell Wilson threw the interception against the Patriots and the entire bench is screaming, feed the beast and Marshawn Lynch doesn't get the ball. It's the up close seat. It's the great stories. It's telling the story of a giant linebacker who was adopted and how we found his biological dad. There's just

telling the silly stories of all of it, all of it.

Sounds like it for sure. The last one is if you have the Aditi's power rankings, who's your AFC Super Bowl rep and who's your NFC Super Bowl rep?

It's so early. I'm never in the prediction game, but I just told you I would love to see fan bases that haven't been there be there. I had a conversation with Mike Turrico at the Super Bowl last year and he was like, the Lions and the Bills.

How can it not be, right?

Aditi (40:10.062)
That doesn't mean that that's necessarily what I'm picking. don't, you know, this is also part of the problem. You never want to be on the record picking because I don't want to go to John Harbaugh and the Ravens and have him somewhere say, what do you mean the Yeah, wait. The Browns preseason sideline reporters, so you certainly don't want them saying, what do you mean? You don't think that we have a chance. I just call it like it is. I don't predict. And I don't, as my son constantly used to ask me.

See you.

Aditi (40:38.04)
who's your favorite team, but he now will tell you, I root for good people. So I don't have favorites other than people.

Let me get out of here on this one. We talked about so much of your background and so much about the quality and the content and of course, just the real pure joy and passion of good stories and good people that are out there. For those who tune into the NFL and CBS and they might be catching you on screen for the first time or they might be meeting you for the first time, what do you hope they...

those folks who are really getting to know you now and meet you for the first time, even though you've had decades of experience and this whole front row seat, what do you hope they're taking away?

If you're meeting me, I hope you say, gosh, she was really sincere and friendly. And she is who she comes across as. And if you're watching me, I hope you come away saying, that was smart. She was smart. She gave me a piece of information I didn't know. She taught me something. She made me look at something in a different way.

Well, looking at things in all kinds of ways, being smart, being engaging, being authentic, and most importantly, being so sincere with all of this. Aditi, thank you so much. This was such a treat to catch up with you and I hope we can do this again down the line.

Aditi (41:59.19)
Anytime, feel free to call and thank you so much for having me.

Thanks so much Aditi and catch her every Sunday on CBS reporting from the NFL sidelines. Remember to please subscribe wherever you're catching this, a review or rate the show and share with your friends or family. Shout out to anyone who may be facing an upswing of Indian American hate right now. You are not alone and check out some of the resources in the show notes. Till next time, I'm Abaidandegar.