LOS ANGELES (AP) — Melissa Stark has reported from sidelines in 39 stadiums on three networks and in two countries.
The veteran NFL reporter adds another numeric milestone during Saturday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers when she covers her 100th regular-season game.
“I didn’t know who was counting. It’s funny because I turned 50 earlier this year, so I thought it averages out right to two games a year throughout my entire life. But 100 games, I don’t even know how to quantify that,” said Stark, who is in her second season on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”
Stark was the sideline reporter on ABC’s “Monday Night Football” for three seasons (2000-02) before she left to start a family. She spent four years with NBC News (2003-07) and then left the business for a few years when her family grew to four children, including twins.
Stark joined NFL Network in 2011. She mostly hosted Sunday morning coverage during the season, but also did some sideline reporting when the network aired international games.
Her first game was on Sept. 4, 2000, when the St. Louis Rams defeated the Denver Broncos. The 2000 season also included Antonio Freeman’s miraculous overtime catch to help the Green Bay Packers defeat the Minnesota Vikings as well as the New York Jets overcoming a 23-point, fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Miami Dolphins in overtime.
Stark was also part of ABC’s crew for Super Bowl 37 when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won their first championship.
Saturday night’s game will be Stark’s fifth at SoFi Stadium, which is tied for the third most games she has done at one stadium. Lambeau Field in Green Bay is the current leader at seven.
This will mark the sixth Bills game and fifth Chargers contest for Stark, who has seen the Packers the most with 12 games.
Stark joins an accomplished list of female reporters who have done over 100 NFL games on the sidelines. That list includes Fox Sports’ Pam Oliver, Erin Andrews, Laura Okmin and Jennifer Hale, CBS’ Tracy Wolfson and ESPN’s Lisa Salters.
“To be able to come back after having my four kids and resume this career, I just feel incredibly fortunate. I also have a completely different perspective,” Stark said. “I always talk to the parents and the moms and I have them texting me during the games because I’m more their age now. But it really gives a complete story on a lot of these players, you know, to to have that perspective from the mom or the dad.”
Stark also will be able to add covering a game that will be exclusively streamed to her list of outlets. Saturday night’s game will be on Peacock and will be called by the usual Sunday night crew of Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth.
When the schedule was announced in May, it appeared as if it would be a matchup between two of the top quarterbacks in the AFC in Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Los Angeles’ Justin Herbert. But Herbert suffered a broken finger on his throwing hand two weeks ago, which has sidelined him for the rest of the season.
While the Bills remain in postseason contention at 8-6, the Chargers are 5-9. Giff Smith will make his debut as interim coach after Brandon Staley was fired one week ago.
“The Bills are a scary team right now, so I’m excited to have them again,” Stark said. “With the Chargers, it’s a different storyline. Usually you find that the team is pretty energized after a coaching move.”
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