Annie Apple, mom of Giants rookie Eli Apple, joins ESPN’s ‘Sunday NFL Countdown’
Apple's mother, Annie Apple, is a bit of a star in her own right. She had more than 4,000 Twitter followers (her handle is @SurvivinAmerica) as of the day after Apple was drafted. She also has a blog, survivinamerica.com, where she writes about everything from sports to relationship advice. Credit: Getty Images / Kena Krutsinger
Eli Apple isn’t the only member of his family who now has to work on Sundays.
His mother, Annie Apple, the prolific social media contributor who has drawn as much attention as her first-round pick of a son since the NFL Draft, has been hired by ESPN as a contributor to the network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” pregame program.
According to a release from the network, Annie Apple will “offer player profiles and other stories” for the show.
“I am beyond excited to be joining the ESPN family and to have the platform to rep sports moms’ perspectives, energy, contributions and fantastic awkwardness to viewers around the world,” Apple said in the release. “Moms are the heart and backbone of all sports. We are our kids’ first coaches, trainers, nutritionists and cheerleaders.”
“Annie caught our attention during the NFL Draft, and when we met with her in-person at ESPN, we were blown away by her relatability, her sense of humor and just how unafraid she is to speak her mind,” said Seth Markman, senior coordinating producer for ESPN’s NFL studio shows. “Annie brings a very unique perspective as the mother of a current NFL player and as a fan, and we look forward to exploring a variety of different story ideas with her on ‘Sunday NFL Countdown.’ ”
It certainly will be a unique perspective to have the mother of an active NFL player in such a role. It might even prove awkward for Eli at some point. He’s used to it, he said on Monday.
“She’s always going to be herself. She’s never going to change no matter what,” Eli said. “She’s just going to be herself. She was like this way back when I was in high school and she was on Twitter. She was like the first person to have Twitter. She was tweeting like this during my high school games and everything, so she’s not going to change.”
She may not, but her exposure certainly has.
“She’s definitely taking it all in,” Eli Apple said. “She’s enjoying it for sure.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
