🎙TFG Pod: NFLN’s Aditi Kinkhabwala on Hard Knocks, Le’Veon Bell and More

From The Football Girl Podcast, hosted by Melissa Jacobs. Please subscribe in iTunes to get new episodes of the pod in your feed the second we publish. If you like what you hear, please rate and/or review us! 

Hard Knocks premiered this week which means the NFL season has officially begun! This week we welcome Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network, the brilliant national reporter who specializes in the AFC North, to discuss the first episode, including the deep philosophical differences between Browns head coach Hue Jackson, offensive coordinator Todd Haley and wideout Jarvis Landry. She also answers this week’s burning question: Why didn’t Jackson jump in the lake in February instead of June?  Kinkhabwala also shares the latest on Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell and why she thinks Steelers Nation can breathe a temporary sigh of relief. Most importantly, we dissect Joe Flacco’s sole facial expression. Literally he has one.

Kinkhabwala also takes us through her fascinating journey from probable lawyer to NFL reporter, all under backdrop of a high achieving family who did not at first approve of her risky path. Fun, highly impressive fact: Kinkhadwala was the first-ever female Indian sports reporter on television!

Also in the show, we share the story of free agent wideout Malcolm Mitchell, our Do-Gooder of the Week. Mitchell has long been committed to literacy in children, most notably through his Read With Malcolm foundation.

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

THE RUNDOWN

1:40: Melissa reads a review that perfectly explains the gist of this podcast

6:10: Melissa on our new friends at PosterBurner.com. Get a beautiful custom movie-sized poster for under $20, plus another 10% off for TFG Pod listeners. Go to posterburner/com/footballgirl

8:30: ADITI KINKHABWALA JOINS

9:15: Aditi on the commonality of others overusing the “first female” or “best female” monikers

13:20: Aditi on the premiere of Hard Knocks and conflicting philosophies of Hue Jackson, his OC and star WR.

21:30: Aditi on why Hue Jackson couldn’t technically jump in Lake Erie in February

23:18: Aditi on why the Browns will not be 0-16 again

25:14: Aditi on the lovability of Tyrod Taylor

32:15: Aditi and Melissa dissect Joe Flacco’s lack of emotion

37:05: Aditi on what to expect from Le’Veon this season and in free agency

42:46: Aditi on what she’s hearing from players about the new lowering of the helmet penalty

45:20: Aditi on her fascinating path from pre-law Cornell student to football reporter much to the initial chagrin of her high achieving parents

56:20: Aditi on her husband not properly using his greatest football resource

1:03:25: Melissa on why Malcolm Mitchell is our Do Gooder of the Week

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

Aditi on the Browns obvious need to get tougher

“I didn’t think [RB coach] Freddie Kitchens or [OC]Todd Haley were saying, ‘I want to kill these players.’ They’re saying, ‘We need to build more toughness.’ This is a team that couldn’t win a single game last year. This is a team that did not have the mental fortitude or physical fortitude to gut out a win in the fourth quarter because this is a team that was legitimately in half of their games in the fourth quarter, Melissa. They either had a lead or were within one score in the fourth quarter half of the season and they still couldn’t win one game.”

Aditi on Le’Veon Bell’s unselfishness

“He will never get in the huddle and say, ‘I want it, this is mine.’ He’s a good teammate in that sense. He’s a truly unselfish player and he plays hard. I just cannot see him being the type of guy who slides in stead of running into a guy. I can’r see him looking for the sideline in stead of turning it up and looking for those extra 2 or 3 yards. He’s a very competitive player and takes pride in what he does.”

CUTE KID ALERT

ATTENTION TFG POD LISTENERS

Special shoutout to our friends at PosterBurner.com. Looking for a unique gift or enhancement to your home decor? Want to stare at a movie-sized poster of Alex Smith (or your QB of choice) all football season for only $19.99?  Take any photo and turn it into a beautiful, high quality poster with a quick turnaround time. For a limited time, TFG listeners and readers get an EXTRA 10% OFF. Head to PosterBurner.com/footballgirl

THE MUSIC

Funky Cha Cha – Arturo Sandoval | Such Great Heights – The Postal Service | Black and Yellow – Wiz Khalifa | I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown | Mr. Brightside – The Killers