ESPN’s Molly McGrath Calls Out Fox’s Charissa Thompson for Making Up Sideline Reports

The veteran college football and basketball reporter weighed in with advice to young journalists.

Fox sideline reporter Charissa Thompson made headlines this week for all the wrong reasons when she admitted to making up sideline reports during games in the past.

“I’ve said this before,” Thompson said on Barstool Sports’s Pardon My Take podcast. “I haven’t been fired for saying it, but I’ll say it again. I would make up the report sometimes because A.) the coach wouldn’t come out at halftime, or it was too late and I didn’t want to screw up the report. So I was like, ‘I’m just gonna make this up.’”

Thompson attempted to justify her actions, noting that she he had alluded to embellishing reports previously and questioning whether her inventions were questionable enough to merit disagreement from coaches. However, it was too late as the Thursday Night Football host came under widespread scrutiny from across the sports media landscape.

ESPN’s Molly McGrath criticized Fox’s Charissa Thompson over her admission that she made up some reports when she was unable to interview a coach as a sideline reporter :: Craig Strobeck/USA TODAY Sports

Particularly pointed in her criticism was Molly McGrath, a longtime fixture on the sidelines of ESPN's college football and basketball broadcasts.

“Young reporters: This is not normal or ethical,” McGrath wrote. “Coaches and players trust us with sensitive information, and if they know that you’re dishonest and don’t take your role seriously, you’ve lost all trust and credibility.”

With Thompson seemingly on track to host Thursday Night Football between the Bengals and Ravens Thursday evening, questions over her ethics appear likely to remain in the spotlight.