Female ESPN Host: That's It, I'm Done With NFL

Michelle Beadle has some more free time on the weekends—and the ESPN pundit says she has the NFL to thank for it. The co-host of the network's Get Up! program tweeted an image of a cringing Jerry Seinfeld Wednesday along with the line: "Me, pretending to be surprised at each story out of the ol' football world." It was in response to a presser by suspended Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, and on Thursday, she elaborated on Get Up!, announcing she's not watching the NFL, or college football, either. "I believe that the sport of football has set itself up to be in a position where it shows itself in the bigger picture to not really care about women," she said. "As a woman, I feel like a person who has been marginalized. And every single one of these stories that comes out, every single time, pushes me further and further away. I realize that they don't care, but for me, it's opened up my weekends. … I don't care anymore."

Beadle blasted Meyer for his presser touching on domestic abuse, saying he "didn't have the grace enough to at least look over the statement that you were handed seven seconds before and pretend ... you meant a single word in it. The entire thing is a disgrace. I'm just numb to it." One person sniffing at Beadle's boycott: Andrew Marchand, who writes for the New York Post, "If you are a panelist on a sports talk show that is pivoting fully to football … it is hard to see how you can be a regular part of the conversation" if you're not watching. And at Yahoo Sports, Liz Roscher calls Beadle's words "bad timing," as last week ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro said he wanted to smooth over tensions between ESPN and the NFL. In response to online vitriol, Beadle posted a NSFW message she received, noting: "A reminder: (I didn't beat a woman. I didn't lie about someone beating a woman. I didn't claim to be a leader of men and hide behind memory loss.) but I'm the enemy?" (More ESPN stories.)