Several years ago, my mother told me she was impressed by the fact that as the most unathletic person in my family, I had managed to be the one to go the furthest in sports. My dad and brother played baseball in college, and my mom was a physical education teacher for most of her career. She competed in sports in high school. She was the first female president of the P.E. Majors Club at Mississippi State. I’ve always said it was inevitable that I would end up in sports. It’s in my blood.

I was forced to try out for the girls’ basketball team in ninth grade. Me. The person who would rather have her face buried in a book. Uncoordinated and ungraceful doesn’t even begin to describe my accident-proneness. I did not make the team. However, the tryout wasn’t to assess my athletic ability. It was so I could join the team as a manager. I kept the book on the bench or at the scorer’s table for girls’ and boys’ basketball starting in ninth grade. And the rest, they say, is history. 

Dan Stegall and Lewis Lightsey trusted and had a lot of faith in me back then. I added to my knowledge base by writing for The Meridian Star as a sports correspondent my senior year, helping Lightsey with his athletic director administrative tasks, and even taking over the school’s website through iHigh.com. This endeavor led me to Tim Letcher, one of my nearest and dearest friends. 

As editor of the yearbook my senior year, I wrote a note to my classmates as a final parting gift. And it’s the last lines that still resonate with me: “Remember where you came from. Remember those who helped you get to where you are today. Never forget Northeast Lauderdale; never forget the memories and, most of all, never forget each other.” Long before David Rosinski and Mississippi State made me the statistician I am today, Northeast Lauderdale made me dream of what could be. It put me on the path that has allowed me to work with some of the greatest athletes of our generation, travel the country to iconic sports venues, and meet people I’d walk to the ends of the earth for. 

Through the years, I’ve statted or scored in almost every sport (except lacrosse; I refuse to learn lacrosse). I’ve scored games at the home of the Women’s College World Series, Lavietes Pavilion, and even in Hawai’i and Puerto Rico, as well as for schools ranging from junior colleges to the upper echelon of NCAA Division I and the minor leagues. I’ve worked with Naismith winners, Heisman winners, Stanley Cup champions, Olympic medalists, and even the kids just happy to have a chance to continue to do what they love. While my full-time commitment to sports ended years ago, I kept doing what I love: stats. 

By definition, it’s a side hustle. It’s just a fun outlet and stress reliever for me. I have an in-demand skill set that I use to help others because I’ve been there, and I know what it’s like to try to find good statistics help. I pride myself on learning rules changes and new programs and adapting to the changing landscape of sports. But even after (officially) 23 years of doing this, I still find myself eager to accept a new challenge, learn something new, and do something that absolutely terrifies me.

After all, moving to Boston was a jump off the ledge, so why not take one more leap of faith? When Josh Manck reached out to ask if I’d be interested in working with the NFL, I said yes. Always the Nervous Nancy with something new; I’ve spent this past offseason learning the NFL stats entry system and entering the New England Patriots first preseason game of the 2024 season, my anxiety was in overdrive. My first view of Gillette Stadium from the main press box level gave me pause. I snapped the pic below to have this memory of this moment.

I got emotional. 

The move to Boston has been life-changing for many reasons, and now, having the opportunity to work with the NFL is a dream come true for a stats geek from rural Mississippi. It gives new meaning to Mississippi State football’s #StatetoSundays feature, highlighting our alumni in the NFL. It’s hard work. I still have a ways to go, but I have to say, for the first time in my life, my anxiety wasn’t because I felt like I didn’t belong. It was because I wanted to do a good job at this. Being a female working in the sports stats world isn’t easy, but I hope my journey inspires young girls who, like me, want to dream. 

Support women’s sports and women IN sports. We belong, and I’m evidence that if you put your mind to it, you too, can make it to the big leagues.