Her Dazzling Career Began at UF J-School

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before she was a freelance reporter for Fox Sports Florida, before she was a sideline reporter for the Sunshine Network and Tampa Bay Lightning games, before going to Turner South in Atlanta, before ESPN, before "Dancing With the Stars," and before CoverGirl, Erin Andrews was a student at the University of Florida and a rabid Gators fan.

The most famous Dazzler ever, in case you hadn't heard.

On Friday, two weeks shy of her 40th birthday, Andrews will be back on campus to be honored as an Alumni of Distinction by the UF College of Journalism & Communications, a tribute that goes each spring to graduates who have excelled in their careers. Andrews, a member of the UF class of 2000, is one of more than 31,000 to graduate from the college, but one of just 156 to receive the J-School honor since its creation.

Andrews, who next fall will begin her third season alongside Tom Bergeron as co-host of "Dancing With the Stars," recently took a few minutes to talk about the tribute coming her way, as well as her time cheering on the sidelines for the Gators (which she still does, albeit with professional objectivity in mind).

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CH: What does being an 'Alumni of Distinction' mean to you?

EA: "I'm kind of embarrassed about it. It's very special and I'm honored, but I still look at my school and journalism college as a big fan. For them to be able to say that about me, I'm very thankful and appreciate it so much. It's very humbling. It's cool because I'm going to be bringing my family. I'm going to stop by the football program and hope to say 'Hi' to the people there."

CH: What did your time at UF do for you?

EA: "I'm so thankful of what the University of Florida prepared me for. I was just listening on the NFL Network, to a player that played at Alabama and is getting ready for the draft and the NFL, and they were talking about how Alabama preps you for the pros; the program and the coaches there, and all the players that come from Alabama and have succeeded in the NFL. I feel that way about my college and what the journalism college and telecommunication college was able to provide me. I look back and think about it. My parents didn't really laugh, but they were kind of annoyed when they asked me where I wanted to go to school and I told them I wanted to somewhere there was a great football program. I wanted my Saturdays to be a lot of fun. It was such a great mindset to have going into college. I went to football practice and got to interview Steve Spurrier. ESPN was there. Or CBS was going to do the game that weekend. SportsCenter was always covering our school. It really did provide such a great path and kind of got my feet wet and ready for the big time. So when I was listening to this kid today talking about Alabama and what it did for him, it made me think of Florida and what it did to get me ready."

Interviewing then-South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier.

CH: You probably remember the old Sports Information Department on the third floor of the stadium, right? Well, one of the small offices up there is now occupied by the guy I now call the "ABC," as in "Ambassador Ball Coach."

EA: "Awwww. I love it. I've stayed very close to Coach Spurrier throughout my career. He's been so wonderful to me. It's funny. I worked so many Thursday night games with Jesse Palmer. We did a lot of South Carolina games, so we always spent time with Coach, and he was so wonderful and gave me some of the best interviews. My husband [former NHL player Jarret Stoll] was playing in New York at the time when Coach stepped down at South Carolina. I remember we were walking for lunch that day and I was really, really worried because he just retired out of the blue. I didn't know if something was wrong, so I texted and said, 'Just tell me you're OK. I need to know.' And he called me right before his presser at South Carolina. So I'm walking through New York City with my husband and, 'Oh my God! Coach Spurrier is calling me.' My husband said, 'Well, pick it up.' I said to him, 'Don't you have a press conference?' He just said, 'How's my girl?' He's the best. He said it was just time to retire. He's one of my all-time favorites. When Jesse, Kirk Herbstreit and I were all working together, he was one of our favorites. I hope he's in town because I want to give him a huge hug. He's a funny one. He would watch me do NFL games and shoot me a text every now and then. I care about him a lot."

CH: Were you a Gator fan during your time at Bloomingdale High School in Brandon, Fla., or did that come about once you arrived at UF?

EA: "At Bloomingdale High, I was still more of a Celtics and Red Sox fan. I knew I was going to go to school somewhere in Florida, but didn't know where. What I had heard of the journalism program, I knew it was going to be there or somewhere — just not Florida State. Florida was the only one I applied to, so as soon as I got accepted I was like, 'I'm going there.' Honestly, I didn't have good enough grades or test scores to come for the fall, so I got admitted in the summer, but it was the best thing for me and I'm so thankful for it. It all fell into place quickly."

CH: Were you a Dazzler all four years?

EA: "I wasn't. I didn't make it my freshman year. I became a Zeta and all the Zetas were Dazzlers. I tried out the next year and made it my sophomore year. And senior season was the best one, baby!"

CH: What is your best Dazzler story?

EA: "Oh, c'mon! The Butler buzzer-beater, of course. That was best. We thought we were going home first game, then Mike Miller puts it in and saves the day. It was awesome, one of the coolest experiences. And then to be in the national championship game against Michigan State? I've joked with Tom Izzo about that quite a few times. I was the one who could tell all the girls about the opposing team and the players. I knew what the lineups were because I was so into sports. I knew who the star players were. And I was a big heckler. I talked a lot of trash to those opposing players. I've talked to Jason Williams from Duke when we played them in the [Sweet 16 at Syracuse, N.Y.] that year, and talked to Tom Izzo, who has the picture in his office of them winning it that year. I told him, I was talking so much trash to Mo Peterson and absolutely destroying him. There's a picture where Mo Pete is pointing at the scoreboard and yelling back at me — it's fricking awesome! And Jason Williams has this story where I was talking so much garbage to him and Shane Battier and being so nasty. I worked with them at ESPN and he said, 'You were such an [expletive], so lippy, so awful.' But I was so into it. I remember I'd look at Coach Donovan and Coach Pelphrey and Coach Grant and see them go, "thumbs up!' and give the signals to the guys for what play to run. I thought I was part of the coaching staff, so I'd give them the same signals, too. I was such an idiot, but so into it. It was ridiculous."

CH: I'm not sure the Dazzlers are allowed to heckle anymore.

EA: "Well, I'm not sure they'd have a choice if I was still around. I was so into it. Like I said, I knew so much. It was my life, my passion and I knew all their stories. So I guess if I was there now, I'd probably get a technical foul from the officials."

CH: You still maintain an affinity for the Gators. Obviously.

EA: "Absolutely, they're my squad. It's been a tough few years football-wise, and I hear about it on Saturdays from my NFL crew. Troy [Aikman] gets a little lippy, but only when UCLA is doing well. But, yes, always. When I see a guy in the NFL who played at Florida I'll go over and say 'Hi" and maybe get a picture. Trey Burton and I got one at the Super Bowl. I usually give them a hug and say what's up?"

CH: What kinds of projects do you have on the horizon?

EA: "Still have 'Dancing With the Stars.' Still have the NFL, which has been a dream come true. We have the Super Bowl in two years, which is really exciting. Off the field, we're pitching a couple shows for me to be an executive producer of and maybe working on some other things I can't talk about right now. It's cool, though. Over the past few years there have been a lot of things that have happened off-camera to kind of build the brand a little bit. Yeah, it's pretty exciting. I just invested in this company and became something of a strategic advisor and, slash, kind of work a podcast about the religion of sports. The big founders of that are Michael Strahan, Tom Brady and Gotham Chopra. Not sure if you saw the 'Tom vs Time' series on Facebook, but I've kind of become part of that now. So I'm very excited about that and telling stories about why sports has become a religion. For me, that's everything about Florida and the Southeastern Conference. I married a Canadian who doesn't really understand a lot about SEC football, so when I try to talk to him about it I really need to emphasize, 'It's a religion. It's a way of life.' Like Montreal hockey or the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those guys live and breathe those organizations, and that's how the SEC is. Yeah, really a lot of exciting opportunities off the field and off-camera for me. Its cool."

Tom Bergeron (left) has been host of "Dancing With the Stars" since its inception in 2005 and three years ago was paired with co-host Erin Andrews, who as a contestant on the series in placed third in Season 10.

CH: I imagine you do a lot of appearances and such, and obviously, you've been wildly successful, popular, world-renowned for your glamour and professionalism, yet also dealt with a fair share of adversity because you've become such a public figure. When you speak to aspiring journalists — or those who are leaning toward that field — what is your message about the business nowadays? How it's changed? Obviously, it's so different than maybe what you studied and trained for.

EA: "I think the craziest part about how the business has changed — and unfortunately I am a huge victim of it — is just the lack of privacy. When I was in school, I didn't have a camera phone. We still had dial-up Internet, which is hysterical. I'm very embarrassed to say that because people ask me when I graduated and I tell them, 'Oh, last year,' because I don't want to show my age. I went to Indiana about a month ago and spoke to a bunch of women and a lot of them had questions about how to get a career and what they should be doing in college. My biggest thing was to watch what you're putting up on social media. These posts on Facebook and Twitter, everybody may think they're cute at these games and with these outfits on and all the other stuff going on, but they have to be really, really careful. There isn't much privacy anymore and people are really looking at putting their lives out there. It's a cool thing, and social media is great for people in the public eye because it's a way of branding yourself and getting closer to your fans, but you have to be careful. We see it all the time. Goodness gracious, I can't imagine being a college student now with camera phones and all that stuff. And along with that, also, in my industry, you also have to have some thick skin. That goes for athletes and coaches and anyone in the public eye. People can put out there on social media how they feel about you and it's directed right at you so you can see it. Sometimes that is so hard to deal with. Other times it's, 'Oh, forget about it. The person writing this stuff is in his mom's basement.' That world is so different than what I was ever taught in my curriculum at UF. It's insane. I've said this many times. This stuff was never, ever a part of any textbook we read. This is a whole new world."

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