Popular sports reporter Charissa Thompson pushed through one of the toughest broadcasts of her career last week. The Amazon Prime Video host got extremely sick during the Steelers-Bengals TNF matchup. But she never left her post.
Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Charissa Thompson hosts the Thursday Night Football pregame show before the game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Oct 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Charissa Thompson hosts the Thursday Night Football pregame show before the game between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Thompson was reportedly throwing up at Paycor Stadium before going on air for the October 17 broadcast. Viewers at home had no clue. She looked sharp, sounded polished, and handled the desk like any other Thursday night.
Charissa Thompson Shares Absolute Horror on Live TV From Steelers-Bengals Game
Her co-host Erin Andrews revealed the brutal details on their “Calm Down” podcast this week. Andrews compared Thompson’s performance to basketball legend Michael Jordan’s iconic “Flu Game” from the 1997 NBA Finals.”
“Even if you’re throwing up the day of your game, which I will tell you, you were and you had a Michael Jordan night,” Andrews said (h/t the New York Post). “You looked spectacular, you handled that desk. You said you were going to die, and I said, ‘If you’re going to die they’re going to bury you in that outfit because you look great.'”
But the real comeback story belonged to Thompson. She gutted out the broadcast despite feeling like death. “I love this job… and I don’t want anyone else to take my job, try to come for my job,” she said.
The NFL reporter continued, “The seat that I’m lucky enough to sit in on Thursday night and on Sunday — even if things happen during the broadcast because its live television, or in studio, nothing would take away my enthusiasm for this job. They will have to drag me off the set and force me to quit this job before I ever do.”
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Michael Jordan’s “Flu Game” occurred on June 11, 1997. It was Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Bulls and the Jazz. He struggled early but came alive in the second quarter, scoring 17 points.
The image of Scottie Pippen helping an exhausted Jordan off the court became one of basketball’s most memorable moments. It was “probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done,” Jordan said after the game. “I almost played myself into passing out just to win a basketball game.”
Jordan later revealed he actually had food poisoning from hotel pizza, not the flu. Either way, he played through hell.
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Thompson’s situation is very similar to Jordan’s. She could have called out sick, and nobody would have blamed her. Instead, she showed up and crushed it.