So, I landed an interview with ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes.
Yes, the Mina Kimes.
I listen to Mina’s podcast “The Mina Kimes Show ft. Lenny” when I have some downtime in the evenings. Usually, I skip to segments that involve the Buffalo Bills before listening in chronological order.
I originally met Mina in her hometown, Seattle, WA, where she was speaking on the panel of the Asian American Journalist Association convention in Aug. 2025.
During the Q&A, I asked her, “What do you think of the NFL camera angles where the fans cannot see routes and coverages develop on their TV screen? For example, if Josh Allen drops back to pass and throws to Keon Coleman downfield, we don’t get to see how Coleman got open or if the defense was in man or zone coverage.”
With a chuckle, Mina replied, “Are you a Bills fan?”
I said, “Yes, go Bills,” and Mina gave me a candid answer.
Later, I asked her how to stay in touch with her. She said to email her. I had my name tag around my neck, and when I walked up to her, it was cool for her to excitedly say, “Mac Pham! The Buffalo Bills fan!”
So, because I wanted to interview her, I emailed her. She said football season is busy for her (aren’t we all?), so she said to hit her up after football season ended.
Seven months later, her Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl, and here I am, breaking down film with her. She’s in the same room as she does her podcasts — same background with shelves of books behind her.
Film Breakdown: Seahawks Win the Super Bowl
I started by asking Mina to break down Julian Love’s interception in the Super Bowl.
Mina goes through her thought process, “Seattle shows a two-high shell, then they rotated it to cover one. Then Devon Witherspoon passes off Stefon Diggs in the slot. Coby Bryant drops down to take Diggs. Julian Love is playing the post. Maybe Drake Maye thought because they showed a two-high shell that Love was going to stay down and the seam was to be open for post, but it’s a bad decision. Julian Love is looking right at him.”
She credits Seattle’s defense while also pointing out Maye’s weaknesses.
“Drake Maye struggled with the safeties rotating a lot from a split safety to single high structure and vice versa.”
Interviewing Aaron Rodgers in Her House
In 2017, as a senior writer at ESPN magazine, Mina wrote a personality profile story on NFL superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers. It was summer — so the offseason for Rodgers — in Los Angeles, where the two were both based.
Rodgers’ agent suggested that they should meet at either Rodgers’ house or Mina’s for the interview.
The four-time MVP texted her that he would come over the next day.
Rodgers stopped at a cafe by Mina’s house and texted her, asking if she wanted coffee. Mina replied that she would just meet him there, and then they would walk back together to her place.
So, next thing Mina knows — a future HOF quarterback’s arm is resting on her throw pillow.
“I was living in a little, small, rinky-dink kind of apartment at the time,” Mina said. “[I did] a lot of cleaning. It was honestly just surreal to see him in my living room. It took a while to convince him to do the story. Very, very crazy experience.”
Using “We” in Reference to a Favorite Sports Team
While she has had goofy moments on air, Mina Kimes’ funniest story is the first time she met former Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor in 2015.
Chancellor noticed that Mina had a Roman numeral tattoo on her arm and asked her about it.
Mina explained to him that it was for the Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLVIII win.
Mina told Chancellor, “I made a pact with my brother that if we ever won the Super Bowl, we would get this together.”
Chancellor replied, “If we won? Like, you didn’t win the Super Bowl. I won the Super Bowl.”
She said, “[Well], because you know, fans sometimes use ‘we’ to talk about teams.”
Mina said to me, “Then I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I mean, the Seahawks,’ but he was just joking with me. He’s a super nice guy. That was the first time I’d ever been called out by a player for using ‘we’ to talk about a team, which I’m careful not to do when talking about Seattle in my current capacity.”
Calling Preseason Rams Games
Aside from being on NFL Live and having her own podcast, Mina has also served as the Los Angeles Rams’ color commentator for their preseason games since 2019.
“Color commentary is a different thing altogether from giving your opinions on studio television shows,” Mina said. “But you’re just so close to the action. And then the preseason itself is a unique animal because, you know, it’s not like calling a regular season game.”
Mina pinpointed the fact that she’s talking about the players getting what could be their final chance to make it in the NFL.
“They’re all fighting for the opportunity to make a team,” Mina said. “Or in many cases, they’re rookies, and it’s the first time that fans are seeing them. You’re introducing them to the world.”
Kimes’ Intersectional Identity as an Asian American Woman in Sports
With Women’s History Month being honored right now and Asian-American and Pacific-Islander Month in May, I asked Mina about her being an Asian-American Woman working in sports media.
“I’m glad you mentioned Asian American History Month because I often get asked about being the only woman who does what I do at ESPN,” Mina said. “Which is obviously something I’m very proud of, but I’m really equally proud of my Korean heritage. And I love hearing from young Asian American journalists and not just reporters, but podcasters like yourself, people who aspire to be analysts, that it’s meaningful to them to see someone who looks like me doing what I do.”
In her backdrop, she has a small Korean flag stuck on the wall of her bookshelf. It’s at the end of her backdrop, and you can see three-quarters of the flag.
“I think I should probably move it more prominently,” Mina said. “I know I got to move it a little, a little closer now. I’m very proud of my Korean heritage.”
Mina mentioned the increase of Korean players in the NFL.
“One of the cool things about covering the NFL is you’re seeing more Korean players who are proud of that heritage too (like Kyle Hamilton),” Mina said. “I take an immense privilege knowing that there are younger Asian men — not just younger, but Asian American — and female journalists, who perhaps are watching me do what I do and thinking, ‘ah, maybe it’s something that I could do too.’”
The Humbling Part and Stacking the Wins
Throughout her career, just like everyone else, Mina has her highs and lows.
She has had stories that didn’t pan out.
“Players wouldn’t agree to interviews,” Mina said. “Or when I was an investigative reporter, I’d be chasing leads that didn’t go anywhere. And so there were a lot of frustrations in those moments that, when you’re an investigative reporter, you spend a long time working on one project. So when it doesn’t work out, it can be incredibly disappointing, and learning how to pivot [can be hard].”
That explains how surreal it was for her to interview Rodgers in her own house.
She’s most proud of a team win — when NFL Live won the Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Studio Show” in 2024-2025.
“It was kind of the culmination of everything we’ve been working on together for five years,” Mina said. “It’s really unusual for, in our industry, for a television cast to be together for that long in the same show. I think we have the best host of any show in sports television, Laura Rutledge. I was watching at home, and to see her go up and accept the award, it was exciting.”
I Made it Moment
When Mina Kimes was on-camera for NFL Live, she saw the pivotal moment of her career, going from a business journalist to a sports writer to an NFL analyst.
“When I started doing television shows live at NFL stadiums or at the NFL draft, I had a pretty unusual career,” Mina said, “Joining ESPN was definitely a pivotal turning point for me.”
When NFL Live goes on-site to different stadiums, the combine, and the draft, Mina gets the chance to see people who watch her show on television face-to-face.
“When we started doing our show, NFL Live, on site, getting to see the crowds, that was pretty humbling,” Mina said. “And it continues to be humbling.”
Mina Kimes is one of the brightest football minds on TV. She spends hours and hours studying tape and expanding her knowledge of the game. But on top of it all, she takes the time to not only interact with players, but with fans like myself who want to grow the sport and proper coverage of it, just like her.
Thankfully, I had studied plenty of Mina Kimes tape before we sat down for our interview.
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