Rebeca Landa has been surrounded by sports for as long as she can remember. From her mother's background playing tennis to her dad's background playing basketball to her own journey as an athlete—in soccer, boxing, ice skating, tennis, softball, and skateboarding—, there was something unique about the sports world that always caught Rebeca's attention. This was just the beginning. At the age of sixteen, Rebeca started playing flag football—known in Mexico as tochito—and strengthened her passion for football. Little did she know that this decision would lead her on a journey in the years to come to cover the sport at the highest level. As she embarked on her collegiate career, Rebeca tapped into the sports journalism and broadcasting space—working as a game analyst and play-by-play commentator for her college football team. It was only up from there. The more she continued to expand her knowledge of the game, the more she became fascinated by the opportunity to pursue a career in the space upon graduation. Sure enough, she did just that. After graduating from college, Rebeca started her journey as a sports journalist and hasn't looked back since. Currently working as a sports journalist with ESPN and a collaborator for the Denver Broncos, Rebeca has continued to immerse herself in the world of football throughout her career in the industry. As she reflects on her goals for the near future, she is looking forward to growing within her role further while also using her platform to inspire the next generation of young girls and women interested in a career in sports journalism. Amazing!
How was that transition from college into the world of sports journalism and sports media like for you? What were some challenges that you faced early on?
Yeah! It was really hard for me. I got a mentor out of all of this, his name is Raúl and he would do analysis for Monday Night Football in Mexico. The thing that I was struggling (with the) most was doing that transition to the NFL world just because it's such a different universe. Even though it's kind of the same sport, you're treated so differently—the money, the salary gaps, the teams, the rules, the players, how they move from one team to the other, the draft. There's so many things to consider, that I didn't even know where to start. After a couple of years, I found this mentor and I told him I just wanted him to give me books to read on how to prepare to understand the NFL better. He sent me a couple of books and I kind of started getting an understanding. Then, getting to know players because of events that were done in Mexico, that kind of started getting me into this whole environment of the NFL. But, it was hard honestly. We don't have access like you guys do in the U.S. where you might know this player from college or he might be a friend of somebody. We are so far away from that, even though we're like neighbors, that it was a real struggle to get to understand the game at that level. It had more to do with studying, being consistent, and asking the right questions. Once I got to have some of those opportunities to travel to Super Bowls or championship games, that's where you kind of start connecting the dots and understanding how it works. The struggle for me was mostly a knowledge thing. How can I be really good at this and do a good job while I don't have a lot of other women to look up to yet? There had been one woman—which I do look up to—, her name is Georgina Ruiz. She had done play-by-play and she had worked with ESPN, but she was no longer in ESPN; so it wasn't the easiest thing to contact her or get some experience from her. I had really good teammates at ESPN, co-workers that have always been super supportive and have helped me along the way. But yeah, knowledge was the biggest struggle and challenge to get into this other side of journalism.
How did you work to navigate through some of those challenges?
I tried to set some goals and then see what steps would take me there. I was like, “Ok, I wanna do play-by-play. I gotta get better at this, this, and this.” So then, I hired a coach that had been working with NFL coaches and NCAA coaches. He's from Mexico, but he has traveled and met all these people. I started working with him once a week and just trying to understand systems, philosophies, and just really formal stuff from the game. That was something that I had to struggle with, but then that's kind of the solution to all of this. Also, I (learned) a little bit of the boundaries of how to do play-by-play correctly. ESPN hired me a talent coach—he’s Tony Romo’s coach and the one that prepared him to go on air as an analyst. ESPN hired that person for me, and we've been working for over two years. That also helped me grow a lot. But in general, a lot of the struggles are also trying to find my own identity and who I am in this medium of information. What type of information do I want to share? What type of analysis is important to me? What can I offer? Also one of the struggles is sometimes feeling alone. I know there's a lot of women in broadcasting—now even more than before—, but still in a sense sometimes I feel like I'm doing this on my own. I have to remind myself of why I'm doing this, and what my main purpose is. That kind of keeps me alive and with energy to keep on pushing. I think that's the biggest one—more than the technical stuff—, it's trying to find my own voice in all of this.
I also wanted to dive into your journey as an athlete. You play flag football and have had an incredible career in that space. What are some lessons or key takeaways that you have learned as an athlete and have applied to your career as a sports journalist and broadcaster?