Meet the new Linda Cohen. Same as Linda Cohen Sr.
Only now has the pioneering sports broadcaster, who has been broadcasting live sports news on ESPN for 34 years, freed himself from corporate shackles. She is completely candid in her recently launched YouTube show of the same name.
“It was the first time the gloves were down,” Cohen told me of her entry into independent opinion journalism. “For the first time, I felt free to talk about how I felt about certain topics involving sports.”
Boy, does she have a lot to say. Cohen, who anchored “SportsCenter” and did play-by-play for the WNBA, retired from the network in June and immediately began her second act.
In late July, the 66-year-old began his twice-weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) Linda Cohn show, commenting on the biggest sports stories, including WNBA controversies (pick one), influencers underperforming at the U.S. Open, Arch Manning mocking Holly Rowe’s AI video and ESPN’s round of layoffs this summer.
Three weeks ago, she added an NFL-focused Sunday show and quickly amassed more than 36,000 subscribers. She also recently signed a deal with the Bleav Podcast Network, which will expand her footprint to other platforms like Spotify and Apple.
The response to her new chapter has been “very empowering” and affirming for the Long Island native, who during her career in traditional media “was trained on how to be a good girl and measured by the words I spoke. It’s been ingrained in me for decades.”
During her tenure, Cohen has shown more self-restraint than some of her colleagues, who have used air time to preach to viewers about their beloved left-wing causes.
Now, she no longer has a suit over her shoulder telling her to delete her tweets or soften her language. Immediately given her newfound freedom, she cast a critical light on her old network.
Her show’s launch coincided with ESPN’s industry-shaking layoffs, which included beloved mainstays such as Karl Ravech and David Lloyd. Cohen didn’t hold back.
“I have many close friends [who were affected]. I spoke about it openly, honestly, and freely. I think people are going to say, ‘Wow, Linda Cohen is very honest about this’. People think the same thing as me, but I’ve been there for 34 years and I say that. “
Cohen said this candor gave her solo performance immediate credibility and brought some momentum to her show.
Under her own banner, Cohen has become a formidable and entertaining presence on X, delivering unvarnished opinions and interacting with critics in a refreshingly polite, professional manner.
But her performance against Caitlin Clark in the WNBA, a self-inflicted transgender controversy and A’ja Wilson’s last-minute withdrawal from the World Cup roster also polarized her among some sports fans who view everything through a partisan lens.
These critics labeled her a “MAGA” and a right-wing liar.
“There are people making assumptions that they don’t know who I really am,” Cohen said.
who is she?
“I’m not a political person,” she said. “I’m a reporter. Guess what a reporter does? We ask questions. We don’t just accept public relations statements from the outside.”
She also received particularly heated criticism for defending Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who said men didn’t belong in women’s sports, a sentiment that would have been considered banal a decade ago. Safe. Ordinary.
“When I was 11 and learning to play tennis, the first athlete I looked up to was Billie Jean King. She fought so hard to create Title IX. It’s a topic that I don’t understand. Why don’t people here use common sense.”
In fact, intervening in public opinion news can mean both praise and ruthless counterattack.
But it encouraged her to develop another layer of thick skin as she entered a male-centric industry and broke into the boys’ club.
“I’m not complaining because I chose to be in this industry,” Cohen said. “It was definitely harder then. Or more challenging.”
As she enters this new phase, the self-proclaimed “Swift of long ago” has repurposed a line from Taylor Swift’s “New Romantic” into her personal mantra.
“I can build a castle with all the bricks they throw at me,” she repeated to me.
“I always come back to this.”
After all, she had years of experience, confidence and independence, “I stayed true to myself.”