FOX Sports’ Erin Andrews weighs in on the Dallas Cowboys, reveals one of her career goals

FOX Sports NFL reporter Erin Andrews is looking forward to the upcoming season for several reasons.

Andrews, who has been with Fox Sports since 2012 and has been a lead reporter since 2014, is currently gearing up to cover another NFL season. And with FOX Sports featuring a large number of Dallas Cowboys games on its schedule, there will be no shortage of stories to cover in the 2024 season.

“Some of the guys that we have our eyes on with our broadcast team are — obviously, we have a lot of work on the Dallas Cowboys — they have to work on finishing CeeDee Lamb’s contract,” Andrews said in a one-on-one interview. “I know they will. They have a new defensive coordinator (Mike Zimmer) and the last time I saw Dallas was the last time everybody saw them and that was their home loss to the Packers (in the playoffs).”

The Cowboys will open the 2024 season with a big game against the Cleveland Browns, who were a playoff team last season, on FOX. That doesn’t include other big games on Dallas’ early-season schedule, including the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3 and the Detroit Lions in Week 6, which Andrews and FOX Sports will cover.

“That Dak-CeeDee connection was kind of in trouble that day,” Andrews said of the Cowboys’ 48-32 playoff loss to the Packers last January. “Dak was coming off a huge year. How’s he going to perform this year? There’s a lot of talk. Is he going to re-sign in Dallas? You could turn a blind eye and make up 8,000 stories for the Cowboys, and that’s why we love having them.”

Andrews has worked nationally since landing a job covering NHL broadcasts on ESPN in 2004. Since then, she has covered just about every major sporting event you can think of, from the World Series to the Daytona 500 to the Super Bowl. Not to mention, Andrews has also ventured into the entertainment world, hosting the popular series, Dancing with the stars, along with the CMT Music Awards.

Now covering the NFL exclusively for FOX, the veteran sportscaster breaks down what goes into the build-up before a season begins.

“I read a ton,” Andrews says. “We get clips every day from every team and the league, and every article that’s ever written about them. Then I dive deeper into my research. I look at articles on different websites, I look at team websites, I watch all their locker room interviews. We talk to players and coaches every week, and then I get calls from other players that my group hasn’t heard from. I can suggest different things that might be helpful and useful.”

Andrews also says that every time she prepares for an upcoming game, she watches each team’s last two games to be “up to date” and says that three-quarters of the preparation is not used during the broadcast.

“You never want to be in a situation where you think, ‘I couldn’t have done that,’” Andrews says of his reporting career. “It’s over-preparedness, but I’m so neurotic that it suits me better.”

Andrews — who is also well known for her years as a host Dancing with the stars from 2014 to 2019 — says the main difference between covering a sporting event and hosting a live TV show is that you don’t “know the outcome” of a sporting event. She says her years of experience as an NFL sideline reporter prepared her to host Dancing with the stars and the CMT Music Awards.

While Andrews is obviously gearing up for another season of NFL coverage (FOX’s first NFL broadcast will be during the preseason with the San Francisco 49ers hosting the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 18), she’s currently enjoying the offseason with her dog, Howie, in the meantime. Andrews, who is partnering with Purina Pro Plan on their docuseries “Fueled By,” is extremely close to her seven-year-old golden retriever, whom she’s had since he was eight weeks old.

Purina Pro Plan’s “Fueled By” docuseries, which also features Michael Phelps, Lolo Jones and Livvy Dunne, shares the stories of each individual and how their dogs, fueled by their nutrition, inspire them to lead active lifestyles.

The 46-year-old journalist explains why she partnered with Purina and why this campaign is important to her, detailing how the Purina Pro Plan diet helps her dog, Howie, stay active and “energetic.” Andrews begins each athlete’s “Fueled By” documentary series by narrating the beginning of each video.

“For every view of the ‘Fueled By’ documentary series, Purina Pro Plan will donate between $1 and $150,000 to Athletes for Animals,” Andrews says. “They’re a nonprofit dedicated to protecting homeless animals. Howie eats Purina Pro Plan. He loves it. It always makes him feel good, he’s part of a very active lifestyle with a mom who’s always on the go.”

While Andrews obviously has a long list of accomplishments under her belt, she still has a few things to do in the furtherance of her career.

“I would love to do a morning show like Good Morning America or the Today Show,” Andrews says. “I think Charissa Thompson and I have a good relationship on our podcast. I think it would be fun to host a 9 or 10 o’clock show together. I think we could do an hour-long show and have a good time. We have men who are football fans and women who are football fans.” Dancing with the stars and football and all that in our podcast. I think we’d like a chance to do that.”