How This NFL Sideline Reporter Stays Active Through The Season

For sports fans, Tracy Wolfson is a familiar face delivering the sports world’s biggest news. As the lead sideline reporter for CBS Sports, she spends her days traveling from city to city, covering everything from NFL to NCAA games. 

The schedule is relentless, but despite living out of her suitcase for much of the year, she’s developed a routine that keeps her energized and healthy. It’s one that’s built on consistency and flexibility, of making the most of whatever time and resources she has. 

“I work out every day while I’m home,” Wolfson said. “Because I know there are going to be those times on the road where I’m not able to.” 

That mindset has become the foundation of her philosophy into fitness. Travel days are often packed from start to finish. Between airport delays, team meetings, production calls, and preparation for game days, finding an hour to exercise isn’t always realistic. Wolfson, however, focuses on the opportunities she does have. “If I can go out for a run or a walk, I would prefer to do that,” she said. “You get to check out the city. You can kind of kill two birds with one stone.”

Over the years, she’s memorized which hotels have the best gyms, which cities offer the most scenic running routes, and where she can safely walk before heading to the stadium. During the pandemic, she was in Indianapolis at the NCAA Tournament and spent nearly a month covering college basketball. 

Running became her way of experiencing the city. 

“We weren’t really allowed in the gyms,”  she said. “So I took so many runs. Whether it was to the zoo or to grab a coffee, I explored Indianapolis for a whole month.”

Fitness For You

When Wolfson, 51, is home in New Jersey, she’s intentional about staying active but also keeps variety in her routine. A lifelong tennis player, she recently discovered a love for padel, a fast-growing racket sport that combines elements of tennis and squash. She also practices Pilates four or five times a week and spends plenty of time on the golf course. “People think golf isn’t exercise,” she said. “But when you walk 18 holes, going up and down hills, you get a solid workout.”

No single workout is her go-to. Most of the time, she’ll land on an activity she enjoys.

“For me, I really only have a finite amount of time,” she explains. “A quick 45-minute run or a 45-minute Pilates class is really easy to sneak in.”

Finding What Works 

Maintaining healthy eating habits while traveling presents its own challenges. Postgame meals often happen late at night after long broadcasts, and the options aren’t exactly ideal—airport restaurants, pizza with the production crew, chicken wings after the game. “The joke is I work amongst almost all men,” Wolfson said. “Their eating habits are not the healthiest.”

Wolfson said she’s learned to adjust. Protein bars, nuts, and healthy snacks are staples in every travel bag she packs. During game days, those snacks help bridge the gap until she can sit down for a full meal. 

“I love sitting down and eating wings with the guys,” Wolfson said. “However, you just can’t be doing that all the time.”

Rather than labeling foods as “good” or “bad,” Wolfson focuses on making healthier choices whenever possible. 

Where It All Started

Wolfson’s passion for storytelling began long before she ever stepped onto an NFL sideline. Growing up, she describes herself as a “little tomboy” who wanted to play every sport she could. One day, while watching an NBA television show hosted by Ahmad Rashad and Willow Bay, she had a realization that changed everything. 

“I remember watching the female host and saying, ‘That’s what I want to do. I want to talk about sports for the rest of my life.'”

She never let go of that dream. Years later, there she was at her first Super Bowl, interviewing Peyton Manning after the final game of his Hall of Fame career in 2015. It remains one of the proudest moments of her professional life—not only because of the magnitude of the event, but because it reflected years of service. 

Beyond the Gym

For Wolfson, wellness isn’t limited to exercise or nutrition. Mental health plays an equally important role, too. 

During the busiest parts of her football and basketball seasons, organization becomes one of her greatest stress-management tools. “I write everything down,” she said “I make a checklist and cross things off.” Working out helps clear her mind, but staying organized allows her to focus on what matters most once game day arrives. 

She also has a pregame ritual that’s become second nature after years of broadcasting. Before every game, Wolfson walks the field alone. She rehearses quietly, and during the national anthem pauses to take a deep breath. “I wish for a great game, and for everyone to stay healthy,” she said. 

Just before going live, there’s one more breath, and then she steps in front of the camera. 

Balancing Career and Family

Although broadcasting live to a national audience seems daunting, Wolfson often carries other fears. “The hardest part is leaving my family,” she said. 

As the mother of three boys, she’s missed birthdays, holidays, and their sporting events because of work. Thanksgiving has become one of the biggest sacrifices—it’s one of the NFL’s busiest days of the year. Wolfson’s lucky, though. Her family changed the calendar. For more than 15 years, they’ve celebrated Thanksgiving on the Tuesday before she leaves on assignment. 

“When I’m home, and they’re home, I am ‘mom,’” she said. “When they’re at school, or I’m on the road, that’s when I get all my work done.” 

Wolfson has learned the value of being fully present. When she’s at work, she’s all in. When she’s home, she’s simply ‘mom.’ 

“I think it’s good for my boys to see that you can have both,” she said. “You can have the job of your dreams, and you can have a family.”

The Preparation Nobody Sees

Wolfson may appear on camera for only a few minutes during a game, but what viewers don’t see are the countless hours of work happening behind the scenes. Every free hour is used toward researching, making phone calls, studying rosters, and building relationships with coaches and players. 

That wraparound work, she said, is what makes her reporting possible. That attention to detail has earned her three consecutive Sports Emmy Awards for “Outstanding Sports Personality — Sideline Reporter.”

“The amount of time you spend forming relationships makes you a better reporter,” she said. “You’ll get more information and better answers.”

But Wolfson’s routine is not really the story. The more complex story is how she’s learned to function in a life that rarely pauses. 

Her version of balance exists inside motion. It is not something she achieves before the week begins, but something she practices in real time, inside travel delays, deadlines, and the unpredictability of work and her home colliding.