Laura Rutledge (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

McKeeman; born October 2, 1988) is an American reporter and host for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and the

SEC Network SEC Network (SECN) is an American multinational sports network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Communications (which hold ...

. She is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

titleholder from

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, who was named

Miss Florida The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated Miss F ...

2012.

Biography

She won the title of

on July 7, 2012, when she received her crown from outgoing titleholder Kristina Janolo. Her competition talent was ballet. Rutledge is a graduate of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, having majored in broadcast journalism. She was also a member of the

Zeta Tau Alpha Zeta Tau Alpha (known as or Zeta) is an international women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Its international office is located in Carmel, Indiana. It ...

sorority. She is currently working for

and is featured in multiple shows, including the

's college football pre-game show, ''

SEC Nation ''SEC Nation'' is an ESPN entertainment show previewing college football games from the Southeastern Conference. Based on the format of '' College Gameday'', the show previews SEC football games from a SEC school each week. The show airs from 10 ...

'', and ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by FanDuel Sportsbook'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN, and ...

''.

Sports journalist

Rutledge worked for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

as a sideline reporter, previously covering Fox broadcasts of

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

games and then

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

games. She also provided on-field reporting for the

Fox College Sports Stadium College Sports (formerly Fox College Sports) was a group of three American sports networks. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Allen Media Group (under the joint venture Diamond Sports Group), the three channels aired college and hig ...

coverage of the NCPA's 2012 National Paintball Championship in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

. She joined ESPN and the SEC Network in summer 2014. In 2014, Rutledge hosted the Coors Light PostGame show on

Fox College Football ''Fox College Football'' is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football games produced by Fox Sports, and broadcast primarily by Fox, FS1, and FS2. Initial college football broadcasts on the Fox network were lim ...

and hosted halftime programming for FSN college football games. Rutledge also hosted ''Chargers Insider'' for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

in 2013 and ''SD Live''. She was the producer and host of ''SDLive'', an original show she started at

Fox Sports San Diego Bally Sports San Diego was an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between Diamond Sports Group (itself a 50-50 joint venture between the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios), and operated as an affiliate of B ...

. On May 16, 2017 she was named host of ''SEC Nation'' on the SEC Network. On August 17, 2020, she became the host of ESPN's premier NFL show, ''NFL Live''.

Personal life

She attended

Celebration High School Celebration High School is a public four year high school located in Celebration, Florida, United States. It is a part of the School District of Osceola County, Florida. Overview Celebration High School was graded a 'B' school by the Florida ...

Celebration, Florida Celebration is a master-planned community (MPC) and census-designated place (CDP) in Osceola County, Florida, United States. A suburb of Orlando, Celebration is located near Walt Disney World Resort and was originally developed by The Walt Dis ...

. She married

Josh Rutledge Joshua Alan Rutledge (born April 21, 1989) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox between 2012 and 2017. Amateur career Josh attended Cullman ...

, a professional baseball player, in 2013. On October 2, 2019, Rutledge gave birth to a daughter, Reese Katherine Rutledge, and revealed that she and her daughter share the same birthday. On May 25, 2023, Rutledge gave birth to their second child and first son, Jack Alexander Rutledge. They live in a log cabin in suburban

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

that was purchased for $1.1M in 2021.

References

External links

Bio
at

's MediaZone * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutledge, Laura 1988 births Living people American beauty pageant winners CNN people College football announcers College basketball announcers in the United States ESPN people Major League Baseball broadcasters Miss America 2013 delegates People from St. Petersburg, Florida Tampa Bay Rays announcers University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications alumni 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists