Lauren Sisler

Lauren Sisler is a sports broadcaster who joined ESPN and SEC Network in 2016 as a sideline reporter for both college football and gymnastics. In 2017, she became a reporter for SEC Nation. In addition, she continues to serve as a sports reporter and host at AL.com.

Early life and education Sisler is a native of Roanoke, Virginia, she graduated from Giles High School, the same high school where future ESPN co-worker Marty Smith (reporter) attended. She was the captain of her gymnastics team at Rutgers University and graduated in 2006 with a communication degree and honors from the School, Information and Library Studies (SCILS). She worked at the Rutgers University Television Network as a sports reporter and segment producer and had an internship at CNBC. Initially, she majored in Sports Medicine before changing to Communications.

Career Prior to working at ESPN, Sisler returned to her hometown of Roanoke, Virginia to start her career at WDBJ where she worked as a photographer and editor covering local high school and college sports before moving on to WTAP in West Virginia as a weekend sports anchor.

Personal life On March 24, 2003, while a freshman at Rutgers University, Sisler unexpectedly lost both of her parents, Lesley and George Sisler, to prescription drug overdoses within hours of each other. Losing her parents provided a devastating blow to Sisler and she was unsure about the future. Her aunt and uncle convinced her to return to Rutgers, where she struggled before regaining control of her life. She is married to John Willard.

Memoir Released Oct. 1, 2024, Sisler documented the story of her parents' deaths and how sharing her story to help others has helped her in her memoir, Shatterproof: How I Overcame the Shame of Losing My Parents to Opioid Addiction (and Found My Sideline Shimmy). “I realized that holding in their secrets and holding in the shame [they had surrounding their drug use] didn’t serve my parents well,” she said. “And it didn’t serve those around them well. And then, as I started telling more people the truth, I realized that people who loved my parents didn’t think any differently of them. If anything, they found peace in knowing what happened, and they didn’t love them any less, didn’t love me any less.”