A few minutes with a college football player can reveal more than his thoughts about an upcoming opponent. Questions about childhood, family influences, and unexpected turns in a player’s journey can help audiences understand the person behind the uniform. Those answers may not affect a game plan, but they can add context to how fans see the athlete on the field.
That kind of reporting came under scrutiny after Notre Dame reporter Talia Baia faced online criticism for asking questions that some viewers considered out of place during football media availability. Baia responded by explaining the assignment behind her questions and why she believes personal stories belong alongside the usual game-week coverage.
“Every week, I produce a player feature for our kickoff show, digging into who these guys are beyond football. I interview their parents, siblings, etc,” Baia wrote on X. She explained that she sometimes asks a player about childhood memories during Tuesday media availability because it may be her only chance to speak with him that week for the feature.
Baia also pointed out that access is limited. She gets two questions, she said, while other reporters are understandably focused on football. Her post included a screenshot of a critical comment calling one of her questions “stupid.” She acknowledged that some viewers might object to her approach, even adding an apology in advance to people watching on YouTube, but she stood by the purpose of the questions.
The criticism centered on whether personal questions were relevant in a football setting. Baia’s explanation drew a distinction between different kinds of reporting. A game-focused reporter may ask why a defensive coverage failed or how a team plans to attack an opponent. A feature reporter is seeking another kind of information: the people, choices, and experiences that helped shape a player before he arrived at a major college program.
Baia covers Notre Dame for South Bend’s ABC57 News and contributes to the station’s ABC57 Kickoff show. Her previous work includes reporting on Florida athletics for ESPN Gainesville and more than three years with WUFT News. The player features she has produced illustrate the stories she hopes to tell.
One profile focused on wide receiver Jordan Faison. Baia spoke with his father, Quincy, about the family’s early uncertainty that football would become Faison’s path to college athletics. Faison was small as a child, and his family had made a significant commitment to lacrosse.
That commitment involved long drives and summers spent living in an RV on Long Island so the boys could train and compete. Faison eventually joined Notre Dame as a walk-on. He later developed into a team captain and one of the team’s leading receivers.
Baia also featured safety Luke Talich, whose family had strong connections to Wyoming. His father attended the university, his older brother played there, and his uncle had played football for the Cowboys. Talich ultimately chose Notre Dame. He arrived as a preferred walk-on, earned a scholarship, and worked his way into the starting lineup.
These details give fans a fuller picture of what can lie behind a player’s development. They show the time, effort, and family support involved, as well as the decisions that shaped a player’s route to college football. A career may include sacrifices and detours that cannot be captured by statistics alone.
That does not make football questions less important. Players and coaches should still be asked about preparation, performance, and results. But sports coverage can be more complete when it also explores the lives and experiences behind the helmets.
Baia’s explanation underscored why she uses her limited access to ask questions that may reach beyond the next Saturday matchup. For her features, the most meaningful part of a player’s story may begin years before he takes the field at Notre Dame.
