At 10 years old, Suzy Kolber put on a helmet and pads and made her peewee football team. The coaches knew she could play. The boys knew she could play. But after parents threatened lawsuits, the season was shut down. Suzy walked away so the boys wouldn’t lose their chance to play. She still has that helmet, with her name written on a strip of tape, in her workout room.

On this episode of "Sons & Daughters", Shannon Spake sits down with the ESPN trailblazer to talk about the moment that started it all and the path that took her from a young sports fan outside Philadelphia to nearly 30 years in sports broadcasting.

Growing up in a sports-loving family, Suzy was surrounded by Philly athletes, Motown music and a dad who worked as a DJ and booked some of the biggest names in music. She nearly pursued art before realizing that while her classmates were drawing in their free time, she was watching sports. A college book led her to the University of Miami, where she found herself in the middle of the Hurricanes dynasty.

But getting to ESPN wasn't a straight shot. After being told she looked too young to be on air, Suzy quit her job in Miami without another one lined up. She helped Jerry Jones build Dallas Cowboys television from scratch and even snuck onto a set to film a fake sportscast so she’d have something to send to potential employers. Then, just as she had accepted a job at CNN, ESPN called with an offer she couldn't turn down. She became the first hire for ESPN2 and went on to cover the NFL, NASCAR, the Super Bowl and Monday Night Football.

Suzy also opens up about covering NASCAR and Monday Night Football while secretly pregnant, becoming a single mom, figuring out life after ESPN and what she would tell that 10-year-old girl who just wanted to play football.

From the girl who refused to let the game define her limits to one of the most recognizable faces in sports broadcasting, this is a conversation about breaking barriers, betting on yourself and making your own way.

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