Next Woman Up: Jane Skinner Goodell, Co-Executive Producer of ‘Earnin’ It: The NFL’s Forward Progress’

When did your love of football begin?

I grew up in Chicago and my dad purchased Bears season tickets in 1972. He bought four tickets and still has them to this day. I have two older brothers and my dad always took the three of us to games. He was a bit of a tough taskmaster about it. It didn’t matter if the wind chill was 10 degrees below zero or if the Bears weren’t going to make the playoffs, we still went and weren’t really allowed to be fair-weather fans. My mom is probably the most rabid football fan in our family. I think that fourth ticket was for her and not the little girl in our family, but I think – and I should ask her to be sure – she gave that ticket to me, which was lovely.

I laugh about a couple of things when I look back at it now. Just a few weeks ago, we were at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and I told my daughters to look around and notice that women were everywhere. It’s commonplace now; I remember there was a group of women behind us that were on a girl’s night out at the game. In the ’70s, taking a little girl to Solider Field was a bit of an anomaly.

Another thing — and the funniest story to me — is when Roger (Goodell) asked my dad if he could marry me, my dad said, “I’ve prepared her so well for this life.” Roger wasn’t the NFL commissioner then, but he was still working in the league. With Roger being so passionate about his work and the game, along with the amount of time he puts in, it would be hard if I wasn’t a football fan. Thankfully, my dad is right, because he kind of paved the way for me to enjoy and love the game.

Speaking of Roger, what would you say is the most challenging part of being the NFL commissioner’s spouse?

It comes with so many joys and pinch-me experiences that those really outweigh the hard days. Roger is somebody who wakes up in the morning and says, “It’s such a privilege to do what I do.” He approaches challenges like nobody I’ve ever seen; he’s so optimistic. That’s really how I try and my family tries to look at it. There will be hard days no matter what you do, but we get to meet so many extraordinary people and do so many extraordinary things as part of this platform the NFL has.

This also applies to coaches’ wives, players’ wives and any family member of someone who is in a public position, but it’s hard when you see someone you love criticized. It’s not a secret that it took me a while to adjust to that, and I had to adopt his approach to it. He’s always said, “I know who I am and what needs to be done.” He knows he’s in this position temporarily to protect the league. I can remember one of the really rough news days years ago when my daughter was in middle school. She said something to the effect of, “I’m not so worried about it because I know who my dad is.” I thought that was super profound coming from her at that age, and she’s right. We know where his heart is. But that has been a learning process for me.

Now, looking at your career, how did you know you wanted to start producing NFL-related projects like A Lifetime of Sundays and Earnin’ It: The NFL’s Forward Progress?

After I retired from being a news anchor at Fox News, these projects were staring me in the face. For A Lifetime of Sundays, I had the opportunity to sit with Bears owner Virginia McCaskey. Her mind is just like in the film. She’s in her 90s and it’s like talking to somebody in their 30s or 40s. She remembers everything and goes to all of the Chicago Bears games still at 99 years old. I remember asking her what her first football memory was, and it was in 1927! She could tell me where she sat in Wrigley Field and the coat that her mom wore. It’s so remarkable.