Longtime ESPN anchor announces departure from network

Longtime ESPN reporter Michele Steele has announced that she is leaving the network.

Steele revealed in a social media post on Thursday that she is “turning the page” after 14 years at ESPN. She reflected on her career and said she has decided to take her own advice by not being “too rigid” with her career.

“I’m turning the page…

“After a 14-year journey at ESPN, spanning assignments in Bristol, Boston, and Chicago, this chapter as a bureau reporter concludes on Aug. 1,” Steele wrote on X.

“My Day 1 assignment in the Boston bureau was the day Aaron Hernandez was arrested – fulfilling my dad’s prophecy that you really will be surprised what you wind up doing in life. Great times with great people covering Monday Night Football on SportsCenter, the women’s hoops juggernaut, the National Spelling Bee and the Warrior Games, which I loved so much because of my family’s military connection. Along the way, there was a heavy dose of SportsCenter anchoring and a little podcasting, too.

“ESPN has some of the best storytellers, producers and editors around, and I’m thankful to have learned so much.

“Recently, I shared advice on a friend’s podcast for those entering the industry: “walk through open doors.” Don’t be too rigid about your career, open yourself to possibilities. It’s that approach that got me from reporting on Wall Street to the anchor chair in Bristol and front and center at championship games. Now, I’m taking my own advice.”