Jennifer Hale embarks on her eleventh FOX NFL season in 2021 as a reporter.
Hale is a regular football contributor on Fox & Friends Weekend, along with responsibilities such as covering the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans, the Westminster Kennel Club Best In Show and the WKC Agility Championship for FOX Sports. Additionally, she fills in as host of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed on FS1. Hale also covers the NBA playoffs for TNT and The Basketball Tournament.
Hale has won multiple Emmy, Edward R. Murrow and Associated Press Awards for both her sports and news coverage. In 2018, The Fund for American Studies awarded Hale with the organization’s prestigious Alumni Achievement Award, and in 2020, the New Orleans Touchdown Club presented her with the Bob Roesler Award for excellence in sports journalism. Hale is the first female to receive the Bob Roesler Award.
Hale is a survivor of cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition that often requires a heart transplant or translates to a five year life expectancy. Hale wore a defibrillator vest for much of the 2016 and 2017 seasons, in order to continue working safely while waiting to find out if she would need a heart transplant. Since Hale’s recovery after her initial diagnosis in 2016, she has become a popular spokesperson for the American Heart Association, appearing on numerous national programs to discuss heart disease. The AHA awarded her with the Heart Ball Award in 2019 in recognition of her efforts to bring awareness to cardiovascular health.
A native of New Orleans, Hale received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Louisiana State University, where she captained the school’s cheerleading program. She completed her undergraduate studies at LSU’s Honors College, and was named LSU’s Homecoming Queen and Miss LSU. Hale received her master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and began her journalism career as a political and investigative reporter/anchor. In 2009, the prestigious RIAS Commission chose her as a fellow to travel to Germany and study US-German relations, as well as the evolution of former East German cities since the fall of Communism. After completing the RIAS Fellowship, Hale proceeded to anchor a four-hour morning show for WVUE-TV in New Orleans.
Hale is also the founder and CEO of “All Access Sideline Pass,” an organization that focuses on educating and empowering young women in the New Orleans community through outreaches and scholarships. Sideline Pass now offers educational scholarships to girls and young women in the Greater New Orleans area at every level, from kindergarten through college. Sideline Pass also spearheads a holiday toy drive for children in shelters and group foster care homes throughout Southern Louisiana, in addition to Back To School and Prom shopping trips. For more info, click here: www.sidelinepass.org.
Hale sits on the Board of Directors for LSU’s “L Club” – the university’s athletic letterman’s club. She is also a preservationist of historic architecture: she sits on the Board of Directors for the French Quarter’s commercial economic engine, The French Market, and owns Hale Historic Properties. New Orleans Magazine named Hale a "Top Female Achiever" in 2015 and Gambit Magazine selected her for the "Top 40 Under 40" in 2016.
