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Lesley Visser, who this summer became the first woman sportscaster to carry the Olympic torch, joins THE NFL ON CBS's No. 1 announce team with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms as the lead sideline reporter, returning to a role she served with both CBS Sports and ABC Sports. Visser was honored by the International Olympic Committee as a "pioneer and standard-bearer." She has been covering sports for more than 30 years, nearly half of them for CBS. One of the most honored and versatile reporters, Visser returned to CBS Sports in August 2000 as a contributor to THE NFL TODAY, college basketball, U.S. Open Tennis Championships, figure skating and horse racing, as well as for special projects with CBS Sports and CBS News.
Visser was a reporter to the CBS Television Network's coverage of Super Bowl XXXV in January 2001 and Super Bowl XXXVIII in February 2004, and covered her 25th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in March 2004. She also serves as a reporter for HBO Sports' "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel." During the 2001 NFL season, Visser marked another first in sports broadcasting, becoming the first woman to be an analyst for NFL broadcasts when she returned to "Monday Night Football" to cover selected games for Westwood One/CBS Radio Sports.
Visser returned to CBS Sports after seven years with ABC Sports. She was the first woman assigned to "Monday Night Football" and the first female sideline reporter for the Super Bowl. While at ABC Sports, Visser was a reporter for college football bowl games and NFL playoff games. She also contributed to the network's coverage of Triple Crown horseracing, "ABC's Wide World of Sports," Major League Baseball (including the World Series), figure skating, the Special Olympics, skiing and the Pro Bowl. Among her additional credits are the ABC series "A Passion to Play" and the "Millennium Tournament of Roses Parade," which she hosted. She also covered the NCAA basketball Final Four and the Super Bowl for ESPN.
Visser first worked at CBS in 1984 and became full-time in 1987, with assignments including "The NBA on CBS," college basketball, Major League Baseball, college football, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships and the Olympic Winter Games. She was also a regular on THE NFL TODAY pre-game show. In 1992, she became the first woman, and currently the only woman, to handle the post-game presentation ceremony at the Super Bowl. In 1989, she covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, focusing on how sports would change in East Germany.
Visser began her career in sports journalism in 1974 as a member of the Boston Globe sports staff on a grant from the prestigious Carnegie Foundation. Two years later, she was assigned to cover the New England Patriots, becoming the first female NFL beat writer. While at the Boston Globe, she covered the NCAA Final Four, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the World Series, Wimbledon, the Olympics and college football.
In 2003, Visser was honored with the Compass Award for "changing the paradigm of her business" and was one of the 100 luminaries commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the CBS Television Network. In addition, Visser was named WISE Woman of the Year in 2002. She was voted the Outstanding Women's Sportswriter in America in 1983 and won the Women's Sports Foundation Award for Journalism in 1992. In 1999, she won the first AWSM Pioneer Award.
Visser graduated cum laude in English from Boston College. She is married to Fox/Turner sportscaster Dick Stockton and lives in Boca Raton, Fla.
See Also
[1] (http://cbs.sportsline.com/)
External Links
link title (http://www.lesleyvisser.com)
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