Laura Rutledge is one of the most recognizable faces on ESPN, hosting NFL Live and patrolling the sidelines on Monday Night Football. But the woman behind the microphone credits her success to one person: her husband, Josh Rutledge, a former Major League Baseball infielder who walked away from his own career opportunities to make hers possible.
The couple has been married since December 2013, after meeting at an Alabama football tailgate in 2011. They now live in Connecticut with their two children, daughter Reese and son Jack.
Here’s everything you need to know about Josh Rutledge and the partnership that powers one of sports media’s most prominent careers.
Who Is Josh Rutledge?
Josh Rutledge is a former professional baseball player who spent six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox. He attended the University of Alabama, which is how he crossed paths with Laura at a Crimson Tide football tailgate in 2011.
He played multiple infield positions, including shortstop, second base, and third base. Over his career, he batted .258 with 20 home runs and 111 RBIs. His best season came as a rookie with the Rockies in 2012, when he hit .274 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs.
He retired after the 2017 season and transitioned into business and finance.
How They Met
The story of how Laura and Josh met is the kind of thing that sounds made up, except it actually happened.
In 2011, Laura was attending a football game at the University of Alabama. She walked up to a random tailgate and crossed paths with Josh. They dated for nearly two years before marrying on December 7, 2013.
Five years after they met, they returned to the exact same tailgate spot and found the same tent where it all started.
The Sacrifice That Changed Everything
When Laura and Josh got married, she had a plan. She was going to be a baseball wife.
She had a good job at Fox Sports San Diego covering the Padres, but the Padres were in the same division as the Rockies, Josh’s team. So she quit.
“I’m not covering the team that you’re going to be playing. Like, that’s just weird. I want to support you, so I quit that job,” she recalled on The Pivot Podcast. “I gave that job up. And I mean, it was good for a 25-year-old. I was making good money. I was living in San Diego. I was loving it.”
She lasted about eight months as a full-time baseball wife before Josh told her she needed to go back to work.
“I was driving him crazy, and I was driving myself crazy because I realized I’m not, I just have to do more,” she said. “He realized, like, she needs to do what she loves too. And maybe it is possible to do both.”
Laura restarted her career from ground zero, working as a one-woman band covering recruiting and doing radio hits. ESPN hired her in 2014. The rest is history.
The Roles Have Reversed
Today, the dynamic has flipped. Laura is the breadwinner. Josh is the primary parent.
He manages a Ford dealership they own, but he has scaled back on other career opportunities to support his wife’s demanding schedule. When Laura is traveling for NFL Live or Monday Night Football, Josh is home with Reese and Jack.
“It’s because of him that I could even build what’s been built,” Laura said. “It makes me cringe when we’re somewhere, and we’ll be meeting somebody, and they’re like, ‘Well, what do you do?’ And he’s so great about it. He’s like, ‘I stay home. I help out, I support.’ And I hate that for him because I’m so proud of him.”
She calls him her “great encourager” and “a grounding force” who helps her navigate the insecurities of being in the public eye.
The Health Scare That Tested Them
In December 2023, the Rutledges faced every parent’s worst nightmare. Their son Jack, then seven months old, had a minor surgery. Over Christmas, they found a “massive hematoma” where the procedure had taken place.
Jack and Laura were flown by helicopter from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to a hospital in Charleston. Doctors discovered Jack’s body had created a blood clot that stopped blood from spreading to his internal organs.
“I still think it was a miracle. I don’t know how else to describe it,” Laura told Front Office Sports. “The doctors there who were experts on these things were amazed by it, too.”
Jack recovered, and the experience only deepened the family’s bond.
A Marriage Built on Partnership
Laura Rutledge has built one of the most impressive careers in sports broadcasting. She hosts NFL Live, which has won back-to-back Sports Emmys in 2025 and 2026. She signed a multi-year extension with ESPN in 2025. She’s a fixture at the Masters, the NFL Draft, and the Super Bowl.
None of it would have happened without Josh.
“He’s so supportive,” Laura has said. “He’s the great encourager.”
And Josh, for his part, has never seemed to mind stepping into the background. When Laura’s NFL Live won the Sports Emmy in 2025, he posted a simple message on social media: “Congratulations to NFL Live on their well deserved Emmy tonight! So proud of you.”
That’s the partnership. One person in the spotlight. One person holding everything else together. Both knowing the spotlight wouldn’t exist without the other.
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