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Suzy Kolber was one of ESPN’s most well-known on-air talents during her nearly three decades at the company prior to ESPN letting her go in June 2023 as part of wider company layoffs. Over the past three years, there were moments where it was simply too painful for Kolber to watch ESPN’s NFL studio programming. “I’ve gone through the whole range of emotions,” Kolber said. “Initially, I was engaged with everything the way I’d always been. I think that was just a level of comfort I needed. I love ‘Monday Night Countdown.’ I love everybody on it. This is my family. I’m cheering everybody on. Then maybe it feels like a bad breakup in a relationship. I had a year there where it was sort of, you know what, it just feels kind of painful and I’m not enjoying watching. “I think I’m back now. I will be cheering everyone on who is doing the Super Bowl. But for a chunk there, it was painful.” Next week, Kolber will return to a device near you as both an executive producer and on-air host for a new series on the Scripps Sports Network titled “The Originals,” an interview show featuring people in sports who defy easy explanation. The show’s six-episode run premieres Tuesday at 8pm ET. Interview subjects include Jesse Cole (founder of the Savannah Bananas and the focus of the debut show), Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters, Hilary Knight, Steve Young and star Mexican flag football player Diana Flores. Another former ESPNer, Jim Carr, and longtime media veteran Jon Leiberman are also executive producers. As part of an hour-long discussion on the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast, Kolber discussed her new project and went in-depth for the first time on being let go by ESPN after 27 years of service. Here is a portion of the interview, which has been edited for space. It’s been three years since you got let go by ESPN. Was it something you expected and how cognizant were you of the possibility? Kolber: I’ll say first that never in my whole career did I ever take for granted there would be another contract. That’s the nature of the business, it’s cruel and competitive, and especially for women I believe as they get older ... About three weeks before my layoff, as you know, Steve Young and I were the poster child for that round of layoffs, I kind of poked around a little at ESPN with one of my bosses. The answer wasn’t, “No, you’re safe.” I remember that day sitting next to my daughter in the kitchen, and for years I said you never know. I sat down next to her and I cried. I said, “I think this is really happening.” Then Steve Young called me and he said, “You know, I’m hearing all this stuff. What do you think?” And I said, “Steve, you know our place. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. [The leaks are] coming from inside.” About a week before, I asked [ESPN Chair] Jimmy Pitaro if we could talk. I always thought he was very gracious and he did not BS me. He said, “Suzy, there’s a whiteboard and your name’s on it and I don’t really know for sure right now, but your name is on it.” So, again, not shocked, I tried to prepare myself. The morning of the layoffs I came out of the gym. [Former ESPN exec] Norby Williamson and I go all the way back to the beginning of the launch of ESPN2 and “SportsNight,” and I always thought we had a pretty good relationship. I was glad Norby was the one who was making the call. He texted me and said, “Can we talk?” I texted back because I had one year left to go on my contract and said, “Yes, we can talk a year from now.” And then I said, “Seriously, can you give me a chance to get home and just get myself prepared?” From a legal standpoint, the conversation needed to include certain things and be very black and white. The only part where I lost it a little and may have cursed was when he said, “You know, you may not say anything disparaging about the company or we can take the last year of your contract,” which I had a year to go. That’s when I kind of lost it. I said, “I have been the ultimate good soldier. All the crap I’ve seen, I have never said one negative thing about this company. Like, do you think I’m going to start now?” He was like, “Oh, you know, I had to say that.” The other thing was I [initially] had seven days to clear my email and office. It was a holiday weekend, so I really had four days. But the executives were pretty good about that. They pushed and said let’s give her some more time, which they did. I wound up having a summer to clean out my stuff. The only email I had ever had in my life was my ESPN email because that’s how long ago I started. I had to transition my whole life over. I had never owned my own laptop. My laptop was from ESPN. So even going to Best Buy on July 4 weekend and buying a laptop, it was tough. That weekend was tough. What was the most emotional part of everything for you? Kolber: I talked about this on my show with Lisa. Probably the most emotional thing was Norby saying to me [ESPN was] not going to say anything. I was the first person hired for the launch of ESPN2. I was the first person assigned to the X Games. I was part of Monday Night Football’s move to ESPN. I was part of some pretty big franchises. I was like, “You’re not gonna say a word? Not thanks for 27 years. Just acknowledge it?” I didn’t understand that. So I created a [Twitter] post and alerted Adam Schefter, who has so many followers. I told Adam I’m gonna post this [and asked] “Can you repost for me?” Also Chris LaPlaca, who was a longtime executive at ESPN and in PR, he also knew I was gonna post and said we’ll repost. I crafted it, and as soon as I saw [the post] go live, I had a good three to five minutes of full-on sobbing. It was real. What happened next? Kolber: Well, then I went to work. I went and bought a laptop and created my own email and just started moving ahead with my life. I’m a very positive and optimistic person. I also know it was just business. It was not personal. But one thing I’ve always wanted to clear up was that it was written in the lead-up to the layoff that maybe they’ll offer her less money to do whatever. Or she’s making too much money. The contract prior to the layoff, I took a 39% pay cut. At the time, ESPN was negotiating with a superstar, up-and-coming, younger person and I knew they were offering to triple that person’s salary, and here they were asking me to take a huge cut. I thought about how much I loved what I’m doing. I loved the people I worked with. I took all of that into consideration and said it’s not about the money. I want to keep doing this. But my pushback to the company [on the contract] was I’ve worked year-round my whole career and my daughter is 14 and we’ve never taken a spring break together because I’m prepping the draft and my summer ends at training camp. I wanted my life back, and that’s when my assignments were pulled back to just Monday nights and the NFL Draft and the Super Bowl. Up until then, I was working year-round and full time. I did think the 39% cut was going to get me to the end [of the contract].