The Football Girl Podcast

Happy Super Bowl Week! Melissa is thrilled to preview Bengals-Rams with the career leader in passing yards for the Rams, Jim Everett.

Everett delves into what makes Matthew Stafford so special. Plus, the difficulty of building a fanbase in LA, what scares him about the Bengals, and yes, we chat about the famous Jim Rome incident.

Also, Melissa makes her official Super Bowl pick. Jim makes one as well but ... spoiler alert, he's taking the Rams.

Melissa is joined this week by Bengals reporter Lindsay Patterson to preview the AFC Championship!

Are Joe Burrow and co. ready for the biggest Bengals moment in 33 years? How will Burrow be protected? And can Tre Flowers shut down Travis Kelce as he did in Week 17?

Welcome to the Bengals Bandwagon!

Melissa is joined by Yahoo! Sports columnist Shalise Manza Young to take a deep dive into the NFL's horrible track record hiring and retaining Black head coaches. (13:45).

- Has the Rooney Rule been a failure?

- Does Shalise see any hope for this coaching cycle?

- What does real progress look like?

Plus, why How Burrow is so beloved, Divisional round picks and more.

Please leave The Football Girl Podcast a great rating and review. Thank you!! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-football-girl-podcast/id1319547241

The 49ers are in the playoffs! The 49ers are in the playoffs! Melissa Jacobs is joined by fellow 49ers fan Stephania Bell of ESPN to soak in the glory of San Francisco's dramatic 27-24 OT win over Los Angeles.

Melissa and Stephania hand out a million game balls, dissect Kyle Shanahan's coaching performance, gush over Jauan Jennings performance in particular, and look ahead to next week's wildcard match against the Cowboys.

Week 18. Chargers at Raiders. Winner goes to the postseason, loser heads home. NO PRESSURE.

On this episode, Melissa is joined by Los Angeles Chargers Team Reporter Hayley Elwood to look ahead to this pivotal matchup. Hayley also breaks down Justin Herbert's incredible year, explains how Brandon Staley has changed the culture, and walks us through the the team's recent COVID-19 outbreak.

Melissa and Hayley also chat about the Hayley's evolving role as a team reporter and the power of mentorship.

Please leave The Football Girl Podcast a great rating and review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-football-girl-podcast/id1319547241

Good luck to all your teams in the playoffs (or in their new head coach search)!

For over 30 years, Laura Okmin of FOX, Westwood One and GALvanize has carved an incredible career as an elite NFL storyteller. This week Okmin joins host Melissa Jacobs for an honest conversation about finding herself at age 40 and the deeper personal connections she has developed in NFL circles during COVID.

She also talks about growing GALvanize, her company that mentors and connects young women breaking into sports broadcasting.

Please leave The Football Girl Podcast a great rating and review on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-football-girl-podcast/id1319547241

Melissa is thrilled to be joined by former Chiefs GM and Falcons asst GM Scott Pioli who has been a champion of women in football long before it was in style. Scott talks about why he is so passionate about helping minorities carve a path in football, provides an update on Katie Sowers, explains what normalization looks like & much more.

Also, Melissa tries to make sense of the NFL playoff picture, acknowledging that all roads lead to a Pats-Bucs Super Bowl. (Which she is putting in writing so as to look like a genius in mid-February!)

Episode Rundown

5:35: Melissa begs all players to stop mocking the Aaron Rodgers' belt move.

13:35: SCOTT PIOLI JOINS

14:55: Scott on what inspired him to be an ally to women (and other marginalized groups) in football

19:41: Scott talks about giving NFL coach Katie Sowers an opportunity and the difficulty of rising from entry level positions

29:27: Scott on why he started the Pioli Family Fund in conjunction with the Women's Sports Foundation

38:09: Scott on why he believes the NFL is investing in a pipeline to football operations jobs for women

44:50: Scott on whether he expects the upcoming coaching cycle to be more inclusive than in recent years

Please leave The Football Girl Podcast a great rating and review! Thank you! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-football-girl-podcast/id1319547241

Melissa rates a Week 14 slate of NFL matchups that includes everything from the Falcons-Panthers to the Ram-Cardinals. She also makes a pick in each with much confidence.

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Melissa is joined this week by ESPN Injury Analyst and co-host of the Fantasy Focus Podcast, Stephania Bell to gloat all about San Francisco's three-game winning streak! (7:50). Among the many golden nuggets in this episode:

- Stephania on the best version of Jimmy Garoppolo (21:55)

- Melissa recaps George Kittle's amazing post-game presser after beating the Vikings. (28:25)

- Stephania on visiting with Brandon Aiyuk during training camp and what might be behind his early season lack of usage. (30:25)

- Stephania offers a tutorial on hamstring injuries (36:00)

- Melissa and Stephania start game-planning for the 49ers-Patriots Super Bowl (47:40)

Please leave The Football Girl Podcast a good rating and review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-football-girl-podcast/id1319547241

Thanks for listening!

On a TFG Podcast special, Melissa is joined by her husband, Dave the Bears fan for a Football Date Night Reunion.

Melissa lets Dave rejoin over the Bears win over the mighty Lions. He also contemplates the future of Matt Nagy. Plus should Detroit be allowed to continue to play on a national holiday?

Melissa and Dave also ponder the various things they learned from the Thanksgiving slate including that the Bills' offense is kinda sorta maybe back. And crazy but maybe not Super Bowl picks!

Please leave The Football Girl Podcast a great rating and review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-football-girl-podcast/id1319547241