Rachel Nichols is an American sports journalist, reporter, and TV anchor well known for her fierce reporting and tough questioning of sports stars and administrators. After completing her Journalism degree course in 1995, she started her career as a sportswriter for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper (1995–1996). She then had a long stint with the well-known daily newspaper The Washington Post (1996–2004), where her major role was covering the National Hockey League (NHL) team Washington Capitals. After working in print media for almost a decade, she joined the sports broadcasting giant ESPN in 2004 as a New York City-based reporter. At ESPN, her job description changed from covering 1 hockey team to the entire NFL (National Football League).
Her visibility increased as she became a regular feature of ESPN programs like SportsCenter and Sunday NFL Countdown. She even did live reporting from the sidelines on numerous Monday Night Football broadcasts and also worked as one of the very first correspondents for ESPN’s sports newsmagazine, E60. After a lengthy stint with ESPN, Rachel joined another broadcasting behemoth, CNN in 2013 hosting Unguarded with Rachel Nichols, the network’s first dedicated sports show in more than a decade. She returned to ESPN in 2016, shifting her base to Los Angeles and created a discussion/debate show covering NBA (basketball) entitled The Jump.
Sun Sign
Libra
Residence
Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Dimpled smile
- Long, straight hair
- Has a mole on her chin
Religion
Judaism
Best Known For
- Hosting the NBA (basketball) debate/discussion show, The Jump
- Her uncompromising interviews with sports administrators and athletes
- Her advocacy against the systemic apathy towards domestic violence and s*xual harassment
First TV Show
Rachel made her TV show debut as “Herself” on April 28, 2006, on the sports talk show Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith.
Rachel Nichols Favorite Things
- Sports Event – Wimbledon
- Sports Arenas – Madison Square Garden in New York City, Wrigley Field in Chicago, Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, AT&T Stadium in Arlington
- Basketball Player –
Source – ,
Rachel Nichols Facts
- She knew very early what career she was going to pursue. Her writing was regularly featured in her high school’s magazines and immediately after graduation, she applied for a journalism course. She also played various sports, mainly soccer, as a youngster and always used to think that people getting paid to follow sports was the best job ever.
- Rachels’s grilling interview of the then NFL (National Football League) Commissioner Roger Goodell in the wake of the 2014 Ray Rice assault scandal and her unrelenting questioning of champion boxer on his history of domestic violence have earned her universal praise and acclaim, leading the reputed Sports Illustrated magazine to call her “the country’s most impactful and prominent female sports journalist.”
- She has been a recurring guest-host on the comedic sports podcast Pardon My Take.
- In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter magazine named Rachel in its list of “10 Most Powerful Voices in Sports Media”.
- Rachel has interviewed world-class athletes such as , LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather Jr, , and .
- Rachel is a trustworthy news source for sports fans who often rely on her Twitter handle for breaking news and interviews. She was named twice (2013 and 2014) in Sports Illustrated magazine’s annual list called “Twitter 100”, a compilation of the most widely followed sports-related Twitter accounts.
- Sports Illustrated also placed Rachel in its 2015 list of “MMQB 100”, its compilation of the most influential people in the world of American football. She was placed in the top 100 ahead of many popular players and coaches.
- Her alma mater, Northwestern University, invited Rachel to address its 2018 commencement ceremony where Rachel acknowledged her time at the university as a defining phase in her life.
- Rachel has often used her position as a TV anchor to crusade against the limited action by sports organizations and administrators against sports stars who were accused of s*xual harassment and domestic violence. Notably, in an interview, she took apart , owner of the basketball team Dallas Mavericks, for his tolerance of violence against women by his organization’s players and employees.
- For her hard-hitting interviews and her use of social media, especially Twitter and Instagram, as a means to disseminate the latest news to sports fans, Rachel was nominated in the “Journalism” category at the 11th annual Shorty Awards (2019).
- Follow her on , , and .
Featured Image by Rachel Nichols / Instagram
Facts of Rachel Michele Alexander
- Gender Female
- full nameRachel Michele Alexander
- middle nameMichele
- nicknamesRachel Francis
- birthplacePotomac, Maryland, United States
- Date of Birth October 18, 1973
- Age 50 years 10 months
- Horoscope Libra
- Lucky Number 3
- Lucky Stone Peridot
- Lucky Color Blue
- Best Match for Marriage Gemini
- nationalityAmerican
- religionJudaism
- net worth$10 million
- professionTelevision Host, Sports Journalist
- weight59 kg or 130 lbs
- height5 ft 5 in or 165 cm
- hair colorDark Brown
- eye colorHazel
- body type / buildSlim
- high schoolWinston Churchill High School
- collegeNorthwestern University
- motherJane Jacobs
- fatherRonald Jacobs