CBS Sports reporter Lesley Visser has been selected as the first woman ever to be recognized by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. She will receive the 2006 Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, which is given each year to recognize “long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”
Visser has been covering the NFL, along with other sports, as a TV and newspaper reporter for the past 34 years. And this is not the first “first” for her. Other firsts include: She was the first woman sportscaster to carry the Olympic Torch, the first woman to report for Monday Night Football, the first female reporter to be assigned to a Super Bowl sideline, and the first to handle a Super Bowl Trophy presentation. She is also the only sportscaster, male or female, to have reported for the network broadcast of The Final Four, Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, Triple Crown, Olympics, U.S. Open and World Figure Skating Championship.
She has worked for ABC, ESPN and HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.
Visser will return in the fall to her slot as reporter on CBS’ NFL Today and will cover Super Bowl XLI.
