It's football season once more, and Loyola grad Michael Smith ('01) is covering the NFL for ESPN as a reporter for the TV sports network. A graduate of Loyola's School of Mass Communication, Smith started out covering sports for the Times-Picayune before heading north.

Smith found work as a reporter for the Boston Globe covering the NFL and the New England Patriots for the first two of their three Super Bowl victories – 2002 (XXXVI) and 2004 (XXXVIII). Next came ESPN and the job of National Football League senior writer for ESPN.com. He covered the NFL Draft, NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl, and continues to write breaking news stories. He is also a correspondent for ESPN's news magazine program E:60, and regularly appears on ESPN studio programs such as SportsCenter and NFL Live.