Annabelle Hasselbeck making it big after media passion ignited at BC

The name Hasselbeck is football royalty at BC.

Matt and Tim were both of course stellar quarterbacks during their time as Eagles. Matt’s daughters Mallory and Annabelle continued that legacy as national championship-winning lax players.

Now, while Mallory is finishing her lax career at Stanford, Annabelle is making quite a name for herself in the sports media world. Most recently, Annabelle has been a key face as part of Sports Spectrum’s sudden rise and a host of a weekly Seattle Seahawks show. The God-centric social media platform has began to take off, with Hasselbeck leading most of the charge.

I caught up with her on Friday at Radio Row to talk about her passion for media, working for Sports Spectrum and of course, with allegiances to both places, I had to get her Super Bowl take as well…

Q: Tell me more about Sports Spectrum

Hasselbeck: “We’re a sports and faith-based media outlet, so we share stories on the intersection of sports and faith. We’ve been interviewing both teams, Seahawks and Patriots about just what role Jesus has played in these players’ lives and they’ve been extremely bold in talking about it. Also, the coaches. Like, even the coaches from both sides have been very outspoken about it, so it’s been awesome.”

Q: What made you want to get into media?

Hasselbeck: “You know what? I love sports and I love game day. I realized my lacrosse career isn’t going to last forever. So, I thought, what can I do that aligns with part of game days? I would consider myself shy, but in front of the camera is the opportunity that opened up. Really, I decided – selfishly – senior year at Boston College, I was like, it’s my senior year. I want people to go to the football games. I want it to be fun. So, I thought, how can I encourage the student fan base to get excited about BC football? So, I interviewed a different player every week and I realized through the fall of my senior year, I love the hard work of sports media.

“The part that I don’t love is I’ve got to find an outfit, I’ve got to put on makeup, I’ve got to curl my hair when I’m late for practice. That was the hard part, but I said if that’s the hard part and I still love the hard work of it, then this is what I should do.”

Q: How influential was your dad being a pro athlete and your other siblings being athletes spur the passion as well?

Hasselbeck: “Definitely. I think sports teaches you so many life lessons and it’s bad if you don’t use those life lessons to learn from it, use sports in like a safe and controlled environment to help you with adversity in life. It’s fun. I think sports are fun and we don’t kno how long we’re going to be here, so let’s do what we love.”

Q: How much did being part of the BC women’s lax team also develop your interest for sports media?

Hasselbeck: “I think my experience as an athlete…I don’t know how I would do what I’m doing right now if I didn’t play lacrosse, or if I didn’t play sports growing up. Now, I have the perspective of ‘oh, I know what this player might be feeling,’ or I know what their daily schedule is. I would even say I’m very blessed and thankful for the hard times that sports brought me, because I can now relate to a guest I’m interviewing who has played and is scoring goals, but also the guest that’s hurt and on the sidelines, or the guest who got benched.

“Those are hard times through my career, but it’s really allowed me to be a better host and interviewer because I can put myself in the place of my guests. I can relate to all the situations – winning a national championship, losing a national championship and getting spanked – like, all of those things. I’ve been there, done that. It’s definitely been a gift.”

Q: Who is the biggest guest you’ve interviewed during Super Bowl week?

Hasselbeck: “I got to talk to both (Seattle and New England) head coaches and that was really cool for me. I’ve been wanting to talk to Vrabel personally this season and I was able to do that off of the riser (at Opening Night) and even off the risers, Mike McDonald too. They’ve been out in Seattle, I’ve been in Boston and now Nashville, so just been physically far from them. But yeah, the two head coaches was a target for me and I was able to talk to them.”

Q: In general, how much do you appreciate your time at BC?

Hasselbeck: “I was actually texting my BC lacrosse girls this morning, they open today, they play Northwestern tonight. We were all just texting about the game and getting excited about it. I miss my time at BC so much. Even last night watching NFL Honors, seeing Luke Kuechly up there, you have so much pride for your school. I was like ‘let’s go Luke.’ I’m an Eagle through and through and I will be cheering my sister on at Stanford this season. I’m actually going to her game tomorrow, so I’m super excited about that. But, I’m so thankful for Chestnut Heaven. I miss it every day, but one of my life goals is to make more BC fans.”

Q: What is your ultimate goal career wise moving forward?

Hasselbeck: “I take it day-by-day. This is an intense industry, but it’s also a really cool industry. I think for me, still being pretty young in it, how can you be versatile? You can’t just know how to do a 30-second hit. You’ve got to be able to host an interview for an hour long. Know all sports. Don’t just pigeon hole yourself into one sport. So, I think my goal is to be as versatile as possible because media is changing. Podcasts weren’t a thing three or four years ago. I think my goal is just to be versatile and in the end, I love this career, it’s been awesome, but I hope I can have a family some day and be a mom and coach my kids in lacrosse at some point.”

Q: Patriots or Seahawks?

Hasselbeck: “You know, you’re from New England so I have to be careful with what I say. I have a lot of respect for Drake Maye, Vrabel, TreVeyon Henderson, Hunter Henry, like…those are guys I’m going to be cheering on forever. I will say, because I’ve been hosting the Seahawks show all season as well, I’ve got to go with the Seattle Seahawks. Hometown team, I’ve got to root for them.”