Melissa Jacobs, TFG Founder and Managing Editor
Melissa Jacobs is the Founder and Managing Editor of TheFootballGirl.com. She started TFG in late 2009 on the belief that female NFL fans deserve a community that goes well beyond Football 101, recipes and pink apparel. She has aimed to provide robust content ranging from fantasy advice to exclusive interviews that appeals to ALL fans of ALL levels. Since launching, TFG has been recognized by Forbes.com as one of the Top 100 Websites for Women for three straight years.
Melissa brings a unique and successful career in the NFL and beyond to TFG. Out of college, she was the youngest executive producer in the history of KNBR Radio in San Francisco, where she produced “The Razor and Mr. T.,” the highest rated show in its time slot, and covered the 49ers and Raiders. She then moved to ESPN in Bristol, CT where she produced national radio shows for Dan Le Batard and the late Dick Schaap before creating the Talent Production department for the television side. In this role, Melissa booked guests and produced segments for SportsCenter, NFL Live, Outside the Lines, and Jim Rome is Burning. She won two Sports Emmys for her work. She went on to be a Talent Manager at the ESPY Awards.
Melissa is also one of the founding contributors to espnW, ESPN.com’s site for female fans.
Her work for both TFG and ESPN has been recognized by CNN, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Pro Football Talk, among a multitude of other media outlets. Melissa has been a featured speaker at events geared towards female fans in Washington D.C. and New York City.
Noopur Bakshi, Contributor
A techie by day, and a football fanatic by night, Noopur Bakshi’’s passion for the game started back in grad school when her understanding of the sport was limited to thinking that a quarterback had something to do with financial gain (albeit a minuscule one!). Ten seasons later, she considers herself a semi-amateur fanatic follower. A Bay Area resident, the 49ers are her favorite team, but she is also a huge Manning family fan. For her, Peyton is God and Eli is a close second.
Whitney Starling, Contributor
Whitney Starling is an assistant account executive at MarketWave, a national integrated marketing communications firm, in Dallas. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. You can follow her on Twitter @Whit_Star and @MarketWaveWS.
Judge Ed, Fantasy Football Ethicist
Judge Ed is our resident fantasy football ethicist. He is veteran of both daytime court shows and fantasy football. He is also a Virginia-based attorney, which he notes is a far less significant qualification. Follow Judge Ed on Twitter @JudgeEd. To submit a query, please send a detailed description of your dilemma, as well as your first name and location, to fantasyethicist@thefootballgirl.com
Dave Emanuelson, Media Columnist
Dave Emanuelson, also known as “The Wise Guy,” is our media columnist with a specialty in all things Jon Gruden. Dave bears no resemblance to the Three Stooges or a mobster, but a Wise Guy he is all the same. He boasts an impressive pedigree as a big-time D.C. lawyer, economics know-it-all, former Division 1 athlete (golf, but still…), and an 82% percent success rate of predicting whether instant replays will be overturned.
Dave never played football, but he’s been to two Super Bowls (ok, just the parties), walked the red carpet at the ESPYs, and once rode in an SUV with Brady Quinn. He is currently a two-time defending champion of his fantasy football league.
