Suzy Kolber doesn't have a dimmer switch. The host of ESPN's Monday Night Countdown surged with the same energy she brings to television as we talked about her participation in next week's Meet Me at the 50 event at EverBank Field.
"We're going to have so much fun," she said. "It's going to be a lively conversation about football, family and life in the National Football League."
No doubt her passion will be on display as she shares her own personal history with the game she loves and her journey from the football fields of suburban Philadelphia to a chair on the game's signature Monday Night Football pre-game show.
"I want Meet Me at the 50 to be a conversation," Kolber explained. "It won't be as much fun if I am the only one talking. Sure, I'll share my story and some observations from my career but it will be a lot more entertaining for everyone once the guests get involved."
Suzy will share stories with Gus and Michela Bradley, Bob and Nancy Babich, Blake Bortles, Allen Hurns and his mother Erica Wilson, but she also means the guests in the audience who she expects will be as much a part of the program as anyone on stage.
"If we do this right everyone will leave with a smile on their face," she said. "They'll also leave feeling really good about helping the Jaguars Women's Association raise a lot of money in the fight against cancer."
Kolber took the reins of Monday Night Countdown when her friend and co-worker, Stuart Scott, became too ill with cancer to host the show. Scott, who passed away in January of this year, inspired everyone on stage and watching on live TV as he accepted the Jimmy V Award for his perseverance when he said, "When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live."
Kolber will share her experiences with Scott and her moving tribute to him in Green Bay last year as part of the effort to raise money to help In the Pink. In the Pink is a non-profit boutique serving women, men and children with all types of cancer.
"Stuart is with us every show," Suzy offered. "In some ways we're still with him, along for the ride. I love being in the stadium, on the scene for the energy and passion of an NFL game day. It's an honor to take what Stuart did and try to make it even better, the best pregame show on television."
20 minutes on the phone with Suzy made it clear that Meet Me at the 50 is a must for ladies who love football and the people and behind the scenes stories that make the NFL the most popular sport in the world today.
Click here to signup for next Thursday's Meet Me at the 50 event.
