Mina Kimes has become an "unlikely" star in ESPN's NFL coverage

New York Post

The 36-year-old Kimes, who was working as an investigative business journalist for Fortune magazine a decade ago, "is doing on ESPN is something that hasn’t been done," says the New York Post's Andrew Marchand. "Forget that she is a 'tiny Asian woman' — she is the first successful major NFL TV studio analyst who never played, coached or was in a front office. Male or female. There are plenty of reporters, insiders, hot takers and total fakers on sports television. But Kimes, 36, is analyzing. She’s very good. Her spots have the precision of a Cooper Kupp route. Her opinions — which marry analytics with hours and hours of film study a week — are not hot takes. Instead, they feel as if they are put in an oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, seasoned just right and often topped with a dash of a laugh." In addition to offering her thoughts on the NFL on ESPN and on Twitter, Kimes is known for her in-depth long-form journalism, including a rare revealing profile of Aaron Rodgers in 2017 -- which she recently revisited in wake of Rodgers' recent string of controversies that resulted in him losing popularity.