A former reporter for “Monday Night Football” opened up about a heartbreaking secret she has withheld for decades.
Lisa Guerrero shared the details of a tragedy she suffered during the 2003 football season in her memoir, “Warrior,” People reported.
During the season, while she was between eight and 12 weeks pregnant, Guerrero suffered a miscarriage while reporting live on air.
The outlet noted Guerrero has held onto the story for close to 20 years.
“People who knew what was going on with [my boss] Freddie and who read how I was being treated in the media already looked at me with such pity,” Guerrero told People.
She added, “I was a shell of myself. And I felt such shame and embarrassment that the last thing I was going to say is, ‘Oh, and by the way, I just had a miscarriage.’ Most of my best friends will learn about it by reading the book.”
Guerrero made it clear she does not “blame one person for this. The miscarriage wasn’t because of Freddie, and it wasn’t because of one radio talk show host or one bad column. It was a culmination of the entire season of negativity and cruelty. It was really cruel.”
Detailing the event in her memoir, she wrote, “When I felt a dampness between my legs, I thought, ‘Oh, I got my period.’ And then I remembered I was pregnant. I was having a miscarriage! I could feel blood leaking. The officials’ bathroom was in the tunnel behind me. ‘I’m going to the bathroom,’ I told my assistant, whose job was to race around the field with me. He looked at me as if I were insane. ‘They’re about to throw to you.'”
She recalled continuing with her live report.
“I was dizzy and nauseated but reminded myself to stand up straight. During our Wednesday phone calls, Freddie would ream me out for bad posture. The pain was excruciating. I heard myself mispronounce a player’s name and knew I’d hear about it later. As soon as I finished, I raced off to interview a coach,” Guerrero explained.
The reporter continued, “Then I headed to the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet, I couldn’t believe the blood pouring out of me. It had soaked through my pants. I shoved a bunch of paper towels in my underwear.”
Guerrero noted when the game ended, she was supposed to go back to the production truck and talk to her boss.
“Instead, I headed to the plane. In the bathroom [on board], I changed clothes, and dumped my underwear and pants in the garbage can. I looked into the mirror and didn’t recognize the pale, gaunt, scared, and so very tired woman who stared back at me,” she wrote.
Additionally, during her interview with People, Guerrero commented on the challenges she faced with men in sports media.
“I was trying to be Barbara Walters while all these radio sports show guys were trying to be the next Howard Stern,” Guerrero said to the outlet.
She argued “they did it for sport — just eviscerating me constantly and talking about my breasts and sexual acts and how I probably was able to get all these big athletes to talk to me.”
