Jen Hale

Jen Hale(Jennifer Hale) is an American journalist who works as an NFL sideline reporter for  Fox Sports. Likewise, Jen Hale also covers the NBA team New Orleans Pelicans. he is an award-winning sports journalist who used to work as a political reporter and news anchor before switching her career to sports.

Early Life

Jen Hale was born on the 28th of  February, 1978 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in Alabama. Likewise, she is 44 years old. She finished her high school at Apple Valley High School. Her father died just a few weeks after she graduated high school. Her father due to heart failure. There isn’t much information on her family, friends, and early childhood.

Initially, Jen wanted to become an attorney so she did her undergrad in political science on full scholarship from Louisiana State University, New Orleans. But Jen fell in love with broadcasting and turned to broadcast after she appeared as a political analyst for Tiger TV, a student-run television program at LSU.

As a sports enthusiast and a ‘competitive gymnast’, Jen was captain of the cheerleading squad, homecoming queen, and Miss LSU. She was also an intern at CNN in their Washington D.C. bureau.

She completed her master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism on partial scholarship in Chicago. Jen spent some time in Germany to study the relationship between US-German after the fall of Communism.

Caption: Jen with her father and mother Source: American Heart Association

Professional Career

Jen started her career as a political reporter working for  KNOE-TV, a station in Monroe, Louisiana. The station then sent her to Baton Rouge as their capital correspondent. Afterward, Jen started working at WAFB in Baton Rogue. She worked as a weekend anchor and reporter for WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama.

In 2009, she also published a book called Historic Plantations of Alabama’s Black Belt. She was a fill-in correspondent with MSNBC. Jen used to be an anchor for WVUE-TV on a morning show. She used to cover different types of themes ranging from politics, and sports to culinary during the morning’s show. 

Fox Sports

Jen got her first break when her LSU friends suggested she interview former athletes and special guests to include them on the LSU  Athletics website. Her work was eventually recommended to Fox Sports but if it wasn’t for her past experiences, she would not have gotten to where she is today. Jen joined NFL on Fox in 2011. As of 2022, she is in her 12th season as a sideline reporter for the network.

She also contributes to FOXSports as a contributor writer. Jen has been awarded a number of awards for her outstanding work from Edward R. Murrow, Associated Press, and Emmy. Jen emcees charity and other local events, as well as leads debate panels when she isn’t covering sports. 

Jen is also the Thibodaux Regional Medical Center’s spokesman for women’s health. She is the founder of Sideline Pass founded in 2015, a non-profit that educates and empowers young women through seminars and community outreach. She started Sideline Pass after recognizing the need for mentors and chances for young women. Besides founding Sideline Pass, Jen is also on the advisory board for the Son of Saint organization and supports Alzheimer’s research and the Speech and Hearing-Impaired Foundation, among other things. 

Her experiences as a political reporter, sports sideline reporter, and now philanthropist prove that you don’t have to limit your interests to achieve professionally.

Caption: Jen interviewing CJ after the game Souce: Instagram

Personal Life

Jen is currently single as she is busy in her career. Jen is a very private person so there’s not much information on her personal life. Even if she is in a relationship, she would keep it away from the spotlight. She spends her spare time with her niece D’Vazny, whom she adores and loves a lot. She resides in a 500-square-foot condominium in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Jen bought the place back in 2006 after visiting New Orleans to cover Hurricane Katrina and falling in love with the city.

Jen also likes to run, cycle, ross-fit, and TRX besides hosting and reporting. She also enjoys skiing and surfing during vacations.

Caption: Jen taking a picture with his niece Source: Instagram

Health Issues

At the age of 38, Jen was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy despite being a health freak, a cross-fit enthusiast, a cyclist, and a non-smoker. Cardiomyopathy is a disease that makes it harder for our hearts to pump blood to the rest of our bodies. Jen started showing the symptoms first in the summer of 2016, she complained of being exhausted all of the time and being short of breath.

She tried to brush off the symptoms thinking it was due to her hectic schedule. Her weariness and shortness of breath started becoming more severe in September. She went to see a doctor after her body started swelling badly. Initially, she thought it was just some kind of allergy but after taking a medical checkup, she found out it was cardiomyopathy. The doctors suggested she take a break from work for 6 months to which she did not agree. After all the efforts to reach where she is today, Jen decided she would keep working.

She wore a LifeVest to work every day for six months in addition to her medicine. The vest would track her heart’s activity and alert her if it slowed down, it would also shock her heart into action if necessary. Jen kept on working wearing LifeVest for six months. The medicine worked like a charm. Her heart was pumping at 50% capacity, she was also removed from the heart transplant list after two years. 

Jen is in the best shape now, she learned to look for herself and take frequent breaks. She is actively involved with the American Heart Association after recovering from cardiomyopathy, raising awareness about heart disease. She urges people not to ignore the early symptoms of the disease. 

Body Measurement

Jen has a height of 5 feet 6 inches and weighs around 50kg. Jen has blonde hair and her eyes are brown in color. She has a body measurement of 34-24-34. She wears a bra size of 32B. Her shoe size is 6(US).

Social Media and Networth

As a reporter, Jen is pretty active on social media. She has an Instagram account @jenhale504 with 50.9k followers. Her Twitter account @JenHale504 has 49.9k followers. She also has a Facebook page named Jennifer Hale with 30k followers. 

Jen earns about $45k yearly from the network which is a decent amount of money. Jen has a net worth of $500k.

Source: Mask