It happens to the best in the sports media world. Mistakes are made and then the footage lives on forever on YouTube. ESPN’s Rachel Nichols is one of the best reporters in the business. Nichols, however, can’t fully escape those embarrassing gaffes. She said she’s had quite a few, but her most embarrassing one happened during a football game in Buffalo.

Rachel Nichols is known for her hard-hitting questions

Rachel Nichols has become one of the more familiar faces in the NBA. The host of ESPN’s The Jump, Nichols is always in the middle of a basketball conversation. As a sideline reporter, she’s still talking basketball. Nichols, however, isn’t just basketball.

Two of Nichols’ biggest interviews were outside of basketball. Possibly her biggest interview came in 2015 when she interviewed Floyd Mayweather before his long-awaited fight with Manny Pacquiao. Nichols grilled Mayweather over his previous domestic abuse charges and kept grilling him as he dodged questions.

Nichols also grilled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on the league’s handling of the Ray Rice incident. Rice was shown on video hitting his fiancee in an elevator. Rice initially was given a two-game suspension. The suspension then grew to indefinitely. Rice never played another game in the NFL after the incident.

Nichols is also known for her sports knowledge

Rachel Nichols has had two different stints with ESPN. She has shown her versatility by covering a wide range of sports. Today, she’s known mostly for her basketball work.

Nichols is the host of ESPN’s The Jump. The show is for basketball fans and there’s nothing flashy about it. Nichols sits down with a panel of NBA experts, whether they are former players or coaches, and the topic is basketball. It’s a simple show and Nichols would like to keep it that way.

“We’re not tied to any game, we don’t have to be a pregame show or a postgame show, we can just have a conversation about basketball,” Nichols said, according to Sports Illustrated. “I am never trying to be doing glossy TV. We interrupt each other on our show, we have our warts and all. We are not presentation television.” 

Nichols reveals her most embarrassing sports moment

While Rachel Nichols is widely known for her coverage of the NBA, her most embarrassing moment in the sports world came while she was covering the NFL. During an interview with Molly Knight of MarieClaire.com, Nichols elaborated on that moment.

“We were in Buffalo after an NFL game,” Nichols said. “I was on Sportscenter live and it was one of those terrible winter days in Buffalo, I think gusts were like 65 to 70 miles per hour. It was freezing and I was standing on a riser and my footing was not great, and a gust of wind came while I was giving my report and I just flew off the box.” Nichols said there is no video on YouTube, but “people have looked.

“‘Fall’ isn’t even the right word. I was swept aside by the wind. I was literally moved across the screen. We got disconnected and I’m sure the anchor was like, “Well, we’ve lost Rachel.” But that’s one of 100 things that’s happened. It’s live TV. You learn to roll with it.” Like the true pro she is, Nichols kept on going.