Kelly Naqi
(Photo courtesy of The Bob Ley Collection/ESPN)
Where to begin? There’s waaaay too many memories to recount. I was on the first show, as an associate producer before getting the chance to be in front of the camera (late 1990s), and been here ever since. How can I pick one assignment from a show that has defined my career and given me so many personal memories?
We started doing a handful of hour-long specials a few times a year in any time slot that programming couldn’t fill. We pulled all-nighters in the edit rooms before each show aired, begging editors to stay for just a couple more hours (“only ’til 4 a.m., come on, you can do it!”) and they would, too, because they had become invested in the story as they helped put it together.
I’ve slept on the floor in bosses’ offices in Bristol (when they used to leave their doors unlocked!) more often than I care to admit, so I could get that extra sleep I would have missed if I took the time to drive home to sleep. And I remember Bob and Barbara Ley hosting viewing parties when each show aired, even though our small unit had already seen each feature 100 times.
Breaking the story of Michael Vick’s dogfighting operation is my most memorable story because numerous law enforcement personnel and district attorneys have told me it had an impact on breaking up dog fighting rings – particularly in the South.
That’s always the hope for this show: to make some kind of impact or difference.
