Erin Andrews had a “horrific” start to her now illustrious broadcast career.
Before she became Fox Sports’ top NFL sideline reporter, the now 44-year-old was “mispronouncing names” on TBS while covering the Atlanta Braves for Turner Sports.
“I was awful, I was horrific,” Andrews said during an appearance on The Post’s “Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast” on Wednesday. “I didn’t know baseball at all to be hosting a desk. I didn’t have the tools to host at that time. I didn’t have the confidence.
“I was a mispronouncing names I wasn’t keeping up with the highlight…everything that could go wrong did go wrong. It was just bad. I appreciate Turner giving me the chance.”
At the time, Andrews’ father, Steven Andrews — who is an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist — was acting as her agent.
“They threw me up on that set and I was horrific. I was awful. I remember going home every night calling my dad from Atlanta just saying I was a joke, I shouldn’t have this gig.”
Andrews’ contract was not renewed after completing her two-year deal.
“I remember Charles Barkley telling the bosses at TBS, ‘You guys are going to regret this,'” she said, adding that Turner “was right to move on from me.”
When asked about her move from ESPN to Fox Sports in 2012, Andrews said she reached out to a number of coaches and fellow broadcasters about the decision.
“I knew I was never going to get ‘Monday Night Football.’ That role was just never offered to me,” she said, adding that she called Duke coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski and UCLA coach Chip Kelly to share the news before it became public.
“I called Mark Shapiro, who had hired me at ESPN, and I just said, ‘What’s next? I have this opportunity at Fox. The NFL seems glamorous, cool, it’s something I haven’t done.'”
Andrews “quietly” re-signed with Fox on a three-year deal after her longtime colleagues, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, left the network for ESPN this offseason. The Post’s Andrew Marchand first reported in February that Aikman was expected to leave Fox Sports.
If Andrews could have a “do over” in her sideline reporting career, she said it would be her infamous interview with Richard Sherman in 2014, when the cornerback began screaming about Michael Crabtree, a former wide receiver, in the microphone.
“I wish I hadn’t had that look on my face… I wish I hadn’t looked like such an amateur. Because I knew it was so cool and I’m such a sports fan and I was like ‘holy sh-t my follow-up better be good because this is going to be everywhere.’ I turned into a 5-year-old,” she said about the pitch of her voice and her composure. “I just turned into a superfan in that moment.”