Touchdowns and Trailblazers: Jane Skinner Goodell's Journey from the Newsroom to the Stadium Pt. 1
For the first part of a two-part episode, hosts Doro and Tricia warmly welcome Jane Skinner Goodell, co-host of the news-talk program "Happening Now." They celebrate their enduring friendship as Jane recalls Doro's early support during her reporter days. Jane shares her deep love for football, shaped by family traditions, and its role in her journey from journalism to documentary filmmaking.
She reflects on her introduction to the NFL through her husband Roger Goodell, pivotal in creating her inspiring film "A Lifetime of Sundays," celebrating female NFL team owners' lives. This exciting conversation leaves you feeling like you’re catching up with old friends too, as the trio discuss the evolving demographics of football audiences, including the growing presence of women and unexpected influencers.
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Website: http://janeskinner.com
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Quotes:
“There's so much research that shows the majority of women in C-suites played athletics and had team leadership experience in some way.” - Jane Skinner Goodell
“Not that the big interviews aren't important and satisfying, but I got more joy out of talking to everyday people who have done extraordinary things.” - Jane Skinner Goodell
“In a period of only seven or eight years, it's gone from zero to twelve full-time female NFL coaches this year. That was a story I was watching unfold that nobody was telling.” - Jane Skinner Goodell
Show Notes:
JANE SKINNER GOODELL: So I grew up in this very sports heavy family, obviously, but my family is really full of lawyers. And in college I really planned to do that too. I didn't really know what else to think about. And then I watched my older brothers go through law school and they just had so much stuff to read, and it just seemed like, oh, that is not where my skills lie is. I was a good student, but like, I didn't love the idea of piles and piles and piles of paper and sitting in an office that just wasn't for me so much. And my dad had been involved in Chicago politics my entire life. He, my senior year of college, went to work for Doro dad. The luckiest moment, he always says of his life when he was able to work for his administration. As I was graduating from college, he was just arriving in Washington, and he was saying to me, basically, I'm going to go work for the government and not make any money, and you have to go get a job, figure it out. So none of this like, I want to go travel in Europe thing, right? It just kind of hit me. Even on the rides down in the back of a station wagon, rolling around to Soldier Field, we always had the CBS radio news on.
JANE SKINNER GOODELL: Like when I hear the chimes for, you know, still today, they still use some of those like same, you know, sounds. It just reminds me of that. And I thought, well, that's like the perfect mix for me because our dinner table conversations growing up were not like, how was your math test so much as they were? Did you see the governor's new law that he signed? You know something? He just signed into law. We really had my dad and my mom were both very bright, and they really, I don't know, insisted in the nicest way that we be aware of what was going on in our surroundings. He worked for the government a lot over his career, and public service was very important to him, so it just kind of made sense that it might be fun to marry some things. My love of information, news and I always, always, always loved broadcast. Like I thought maybe I'll be a producer of TV commercials or something, but it really needed to be deeper than that, I felt like. So anyhow, I ended up becoming a reporter and anchor for 20 years. I did a very classic pattern where my first job was for $12,000 in Duluth, Minnesota. That's not true, actually. They offered me 12 and I said, I'll come for 13.
JANE SKINNER GOODELL: Yeah, that was my first negotiating. And then I went to Portland, Maine, which is where I met all Doro great friends, Saint Louis, Milwaukee. And then I ended up meeting my husband, Roger Goodell, who in case people don't know, he's the NFL commissioner. So that's kind of where the fun NFL tie comes in. He was working in New York. I was working in Milwaukee. I really, really wanted to get back to Chicago, but I got married to him and ended up in New York, and I worked to meet him for Fox. We met at a wedding. So my next door neighbor, growing up just north of Chicago, was set up on a long distance blind date with Roger's good friend, who grew up in Manhattan, and they have very different personalities, and they got married very quickly. So we all thought, what is this? This is never going to last. They're have been married 30 years. They are so happy and a fun mix. And we met at their wedding and then it took a little while. I have to be honest, I was still on my career path wanting to get back to Chicago.
JANE SKINNER GOODELL: I didn't really have an interest in moving to New York or being in a long distance relationship. But I always say about Roger, he's the middle of five boys in seven years and he's a redhead. So it's he's very determined. The rest is history. But I moved to New York and worked for a brand new organization at the time called the Fox News Channel, and worked there for 12 years, and it was a startup, truly. I remember my first interview, they said, we're not going after the CNN's of the world. We will crush them in ratings soon enough. We're going after the networks and we're going to make a difference and kind of disrupt the landscape of media, which has not been disrupted really before. So it was pretty fascinating to watch that evolve. And nobody watched it. My mom didn't even have it on her cable when I first started. So it was an interesting experience and I got to have a lot of opportunities. And then I retired, maybe 2010. Now I can't even remember. I'm so old.
JANE SKINNER GOODELL: That's funny. I people ask me that a lot and there were a lot of fun. Yeah. You get to interview, um, presidential candidates and. Yes, yes. Bono from U2, who was on a talking about philanthropy and all that kind of stuff. But I kind of always go back to when I was a street reporter and I got more joy kind of out of not that the big interviews aren't important and satisfying, but I get more joy out of doing. I like the everyday person, people who have done extraordinary things, kind of.
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