Before Charissa Thompson ever stepped foot onto an NFL sideline, sat behind a studio desk or led a primetime broadcast, the most valuable lesson of her career had already been handed to her. It wasn’t from a high-powered media executive or a hall of fame athlete. It was from her father.
"Do your homework," he told her. It was simple advice, but one that has shaped her approach to sports media for nearly two decades.
Thompson isn’t an ex-athlete, nor does she pretend to be one. She’s not in the business of rattling off stats to prove her knowledge or overcompensating to silence critics. Instead, she’s spent her career mastering her own job — preparing, asking the right questions and helping her audience understand the NFL landscape.
“There are always going to be individuals who think I don't know as much as men do, because I never played the sport,” says the Fox Sports and TNF on Prime Video host. “And there is some truth to that. I'm never going to have the same knowledge of the game of football as Charles Woodson.
“But I'm not hired to be a former athlete. I'm hired to be a host of a television show. So the homework that I need to do is different. And in the words of Bill Belichick, 'Do your job.' My job is to make sure I bring out the best in the guys around me. As it pertains to credibility, I control what I can control. Do my homework and it will show.”
That’s a mindset that has carried her from behind-the-scenes production assistant to one of the most recognizable faces in NFL media.
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Using authenticity to build credibility
Authenticity isn’t just a media and branding buzzword. For Thompson, it’s the foundation of a long career in an industry where perception can often overshadow reality. Luckily, she’s held accountable.
"If I all of a sudden portrayed myself differently on TV or tried to pretend that I'm someone I'm not, I would get a phone call immediately from my father or mother and be like, 'What are we trying to do here? Who do you think you are?'"
Fitting into a mold set by others is a losing battle, something she found early on in her career after dyeing her hair black in an effort to shed the "Barbie sideline reporter" stereotype. Instead, she was met with harsh criticism, including a Deadspin headline that said she was on a “suicidal path to Frumpyville.”
Stop chasing approval — got it. "Who cares if I'm blonde? My credibility and my integrity are going to come from the work that I do and the person that I am, not the color of my hair or what I'm wearing," Thompson says. "I realized very quickly that worrying about the opinions of every anonymous no-face on Twitter was going to get me nowhere."
If you’ve listened to Thompson on any broadcast, whether it’s next to Richard Sherman and Ryan Fitzpatrick on TNF or Michael Strahan, Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long and Jimmy Johnson during Fox’s NFL coverage, you’ll also know that with authenticity comes humility. Whether it's self-deprecating humor or admitting she messed up on air, Thompson is nothing if not real with her audience. "I like people who don’t try to be perfect, and when they mess up, they say, ‘Hey, my bad.’ To humanize yourself is to endear yourself to the audience.”
It was part of the reason she took to the recording studio to develop the Calm Down Podcast with Erin Andrews in 2021, giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at sports media and their very candid friendship. “I’m almost too comfortable with sharing, saying I've been divorced twice or I did this or I have a zit or whatever. It's my defense mechanism to just be so overly honest.”
That transparency has sometimes gotten her into trouble, she says, but it’s the vulnerability that has resonated with audiences. "People have told me, ‘I didn’t realize Erin was so funny or self-deprecating.’ And I love that the podcast has allowed people to see that side of her too." The two have built a loyal following, proving that authenticity — flaws and all — is what resonates.
Keeping the door open
There’s some responsibility that comes with being a visible figure in a historically male-dominated industry, and for Thompson it’s recognizing that she’s not the first, nor the last.
"I get asked all the time, ‘Is it hard being a woman in a man’s world?’ And the truth is, it’s much easier because of the women who came before me," she says. "The path I’m on was paved by others, and it’s my job to make sure I reach back and help lift up the next generation of women who want to do this." Hannah Storm and Linda Cohn provided the representation Thompson needed to see growing up, and embracing that role for young women considering careers in sports media is important.
"When you see someone who looks like you in a role you want, it makes it real — it makes it possible. That’s a huge responsibility, and I don’t take it lightly."
Is there still progress that needs to be made in diversifying sports media? Absolutely. But for Thompson, her biggest contribution at the moment is to simply lead by example — staying prepared, professional and true to herself in every opportunity she’s given.