Jane Skinner Goodell, Roger Goodell at Dia Art Foundation, Fall Night, New York, USA - 05 Nov 2017
Jane Skinner and Roger Goodell at the Dia Art Foundation's Fall Night in New York City on Nov. 5, 2017.
Jane Skinner, wife of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, is a former Fox News anchor and journalist
After retiring from broadcast journalism in 2010, Skinner turned to producing projects about women in the NFL
Skinner and Goodell, married in 1997, have twin daughters who remain out of the public eye
Jane Skinner, wife of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, is also part of the sports world.
Skinner and Goodell have been married for over 25 years, a relationship that all started with a conversation about football.
The pair met through mutual friends, though they lived in different states at the time. Goodell was already working for the NFL in New York, while an ambitious, career-minded Skinner was on track to achieve her "dream job" in Chicago.
Ultimately, Skinner did just that, embarking on a successful career in broadcast journalism as an anchor and co-host for Fox News Channel. Though she admitted to the Los Angeles Times that marrying Goodell "took a little while," she said he was "super patient" before she moved to New York.
Upon retiring from broadcast journalism in 2010, Skinner transitioned to working behind the camera, producing several NFL-related projects that featured female professionals working for the league.
Skinner has accompanied Goodell at various games and events, like the NFL Honors. She told the outlet that the NFL Draft is her husband's "favorite event by far" because "that's when you see these young men's dreams come true and their lives really change for their families."
Read on to learn more about Roger Goodell's wife, Jane Skinner.
Jane Skinner built a successful career in broadcast journalism
Jane Skinner visits "Shepard Smith Reporting" at Fox News Channel Studios on September 17, 2019
Jane Skinner visits "Shepard Smith Reporting" at Fox News Channel Studios on September 17, 2019
Skinner grew up in Chicago and received her bachelor's and master's degrees in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University.
Upon graduating, Skinner began her career as a reporter for television stations in Minnesota, Maine and Missouri before Fox News Channel hired her as a correspondent and weekend anchor.
Skinner co-anchored Happening Now with Jon Scott and held several hosting gigs on shows like Fox News Live and Sunday Best.
In 2010, Skinner announced her retirement from broadcast journalism on air.
Jane Skinner and Roger Goodell married in 1997
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (R) and Jane Goodell attend the 2013 Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence Gala at the Waldorf Astoria on June 13, 2013 in New York City.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (R) and Jane Goodell attend the 2013 Carnegie Hall Medal of Excellence Gala at the Waldorf Astoria on June 13, 2013 in New York City.
Skinner first met Goodell at a mutual friend's wedding. During a conversation with the Los Angeles Times in February 2022, she explained how their love story began.
"I guess his friends would say he was kind of like a confirmed bachelor," she joked of Goodell, noting that her husband is about eight years older than her.
Skinner recalled telling her mother that she was "not really interested" in Goodell at first because at the time, she was "on a career path."
"I'm two years away from my dream job in Chicago," she said of her mindset. Plus, Skinner was still living in Milwaukee, while Goodell was working for the NFL in New York.
Regardless, Skinner thought Goodell "was super nice" when they met and, ironically, their first-ever conversation was about the NFL. Eventually, Skinner moved to New York, and the pair tied the knot in 1997. Goodell was appointed commissioner of the NFL in 2006.
Jane Skinner produces shows highlighting women in sports
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his wife Jane Skinner chat with a staff member before a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers on December 9, 2021
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his wife Jane Skinner chat with a staff member before a game between the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers on December 9, 2021
Skinner served as executive producer on shows that placed emphasis on female professionals in the sports industry, particularly the NFL. Between 2019 and 2022, she produced three projects.
The first project she co-executive-produced was NFL Network’s A Lifetime of Sundays, a documentary that profiled four female trailblazers in the league: owners Norma Hunt, Virginia McCaskey, Martha Firestone Ford and Patricia Rooney.
Norma was referred to as the “First Lady in Football,” and she was the only person to attend every Super Bowl until her death at age 85 in June 2023. Her husband, Lamar Hunt, founded the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, and her son, Clark Hunt, is the current chairman and CEO of the team.
When speaking to Fox News, Skinner described the four women as “good students of the game,” saying, “You know very much at the end of the film what's important to them.”
Skinner also worked on the league-backed podcast Earnin' It: The NFL's Forward Progress and Peacock’s five-part television series of the same name.
Jane Skinner’s father served as White House chief of staff
Skinner is the daughter of Samuel K. Skinner, a lawyer, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and White House chief of staff under President George H. W. Bush.
During her conversation with the L.A. Times, Skinner said her family was "all about politics and sports." In 1972, Skinner's dad was a Chicago Bears season ticket holder.
"We spent a lot of time at Soldier Field," she said of her father and two older brothers. "There were not a lot of little girls at Soldier Field, but it was very much a part of my family and our world."
Jane Skinner and Roger Goodell are parents to twin daughters
Roger Goodell, Jane Skinner Goodell Dia Beacon: 2023 Spring Benefit, Dia Beacon, NYC, New York, United States - 20 May 2023
Roger Goodell, Jane Skinner Goodell Dia Beacon: 2023 Spring Benefit, Dia Beacon, NYC, New York, United States - 20 May 2023
Skinner and Goodell welcomed twin daughters together in 2001. In contrast to their parents’ public lives, the girls stay out of the spotlight.