Sage Steele Became Sportscaster Because ‘Sports Bring People Together’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Former ESPN broadcaster Sage Steele joined comedian John Crist on the “Net Positive” podcast to discuss why she became a sportscaster.
“I wanted to know about their greatness [men and women of sports], and I couldn’t understand how you could work your whole life for this one moment,” Steele said. “You’re at the Olympic Games, it’s the 100-meter dash, and your whole life comes down to these 11 seconds. How do you not crap your pants and run off the line and melt down?”
“The other reason is because even as a kid, I saw sports brought people together. You can be at a giant stadium, and 880,000 [people] who don’t know each other, 99% don’t know each other, and different race, gender politics, socioeconomic status, none of it matters. So, for those three hours, it brings people together.”
In August, Steele left ESPN after settling a lawsuit she filed against the network where she was wrongfully treated after she made comments that related to “vaccine mandates, female sports reporters, and former President Barack Obama’s racial identity.”
Steele wrote on X, “Having successfully settled my case with ESPN/Disney, I have decided to leave so I can exercise my first amendment rights more freely. I am grateful for so many wonderful experiences over the past 16 years and am excited for my next chapter!”
Steele said her decision to leave ESPN was one of the hardest she ever made.
“The hardest thing I’ve done. In my professional career, for sure,” Steele told Fox News Digital after she left ESPN. “And it’s up there probably top two personally because I knew that by truly taking a stand, it was going to mean something with legal action. And once you take legal action, your time at a company is probably not going to last much longer. Just knowing that I was the one who was going to make the decision to end it was very overwhelming.”
Despite how hard it was for her to make the decision, she was content because she knew it wasn’t about her.
“This is so much bigger than me. It would have been so much easier just to shut up and keep working the job that I love with people that I love and get my money and see what happens next,” she expressed. “So much easier and so much safer.
“This is so much bigger than me,” she continued. “And if I really felt that if I didn’t do this, not only could I not look myself in the eye anymore because I had been so silent for so long with all the hypocrisies at my company, but what about all these other people who had come to me and emails and DMs — thousands of them — especially when I got suspended, saying, ‘Please don’t be quiet, please don’t stop.”
Movieguide® previously reported on Steele:
Sage Steel, a Christian ESPN host, has announced that she will leave the Disney-owned network following her recent lawsuit to exercise her “first amendment rights more freely…”
Yahoo Sports reported that the lawsuit was “for what she claims was illegal retaliation against her for comments she made on Jay Cutler’s podcast” in September 2021…
The company quickly retaliated against her comments, and Steel issued an apology, which she said she was “forced” to do.
She then filed a lawsuit, claiming ESPN “violated Connecticut law and Steele’s rights to free speech based upon a faulty understanding of her comments and a nonexistent, unenforced workplace policy that serves as nothing more than pretext,” according to Faithwire.
ESPN attempted to dismiss the case and claimed, “‘removing Steele from broadcasts, allowing her co-workers to forgo appearing with her, and allegedly conditioning her return to those broadcasts on her issuing an apology are casting decisions that are considered conduct furthering ESPN’s protected expression.’”
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
