The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2022 THE WOLVERINE 93 WHERE ARE THEY NOW? held to a high standard reminded me of Michigan in a lot of ways," she said. "They expected your best across the board in all categories every single day. "It helped me maintain that mindset coming out of college thinking you might not be participating in a sport anymore, but you can still bring your best effort to every single day. And I got to meet a ton of great people there. The people at ESPN are the heart and soul of the company." Her two-year run also included a large chunk of the COVID-19 pandemic, which created a new and unique challenge for everyone. The pandemic also taught her a new lesson that she learned while working on "Get Up," ESPN's daily morning show, with one of the network's biggest names. "We never went off air one day during the pandemic," Hendershot said. "Other shows took little breaks here and there. 'Get Up' was on normal schedule every single day. "[Host] Mike Greenberg had to come into the Connecticut studios instead of the New York offices, which were shut down. I learned so much from watching him put on a whole show by himself alone in a studio, which is so hard to do. I didn't know it was hard until I watched him do it for months on end. I learned so much from him and got to grow as an individual in that regard, and he became a really big mentor to me." People like Hendershot are always looking to push the boundaries of their skill set and find something new to tackle. For her, that was a team reporter job with the NFL's New York Jets. She threw a Hail Mary by applying for the gig, and got it in November 2021. Hendershot considers what she does now as a dream position and enjoys feel- ing like she is part of a team again. "It has been a whirlwind since I came in," she said. "I feel like I've already grown so much as an individual, but also watch- ing this team grow within the last five weeks of the season. And it was incred- ible, especially to be a part of a team this season. "We're going to bring it every single day. And we're going to hold ourselves to a high standard and just put our nose to the grindstone. In due time that hard work will pay off. It feels like I have found my people with a culture of hard work being the only way to do things. I can't wait to get a full 18-week season under my belt. It has been great so far." There are certain through lines that serve as parallels for a lot of Michigan alums. For Hendershot, the famed "The Team, The Team, The Team" mantra is one that rubbed off and will affect her for the rest of her career. "There was a sign in our boathouse at Michigan that said, 'Train to win and win for Michigan,'" Hendershot said. "The idea that you're going to come in every day and put in every ounce that you have into whatever you're doing. But you're not just trying to better yourself, you're trying to better everyone around you, and you're trying to bring others along with you. I think that mindset has stuck with me, and I think it will probably stick with me for the rest of my life. "I wouldn't be here without my team- mates, and I wouldn't want to be here without my teammates. When we win, we all win; it doesn't just need to be your success. It can be your coworker's success that you celebrate; it can be your boss' success that you celebrate. Every win is a reflection of the entire group and the en- tire organization. Michigan prepared me to bring that high standard of expectation to everything that I do, but also to bring along the teammates that you have." ❏ Hendershot is currently the New York Jets' team reporter, landing the position in the fall of 2021 after two years at ESPN. PHOTO BY SARAH SNYDER/NEW YORK JETS The Caroline Hendershot File Michigan Accomplishments: First-team All-American (2019) ... Two-time NCAA medalist (bronze, 2017, '19 with the 2V8) ... Big Ten Athlete of the Year in rowing (2019) ... First-team All-Big Ten (2019) ... Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2019) ... Three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree (2017, '18, '19). Professional Accomplishments: Full-time content associate at ESPN from 2019-21 … Currently the team reporter for the NFL's New York Jets. Michigan Memory: "Winning at Big Tens was the first time we had won it in six years. And we had gone in there being the underdogs. Everybody thought Ohio State was going to pull it off again. I remember our whole team saying, 'Absolutely not. If it's the last thing we do, we're going to win this thing.' And we kept true to our promise." Favorite Spot in Ann Arbor: "I still dream about the food at Jerusalem Garden. And it seems like I haven't had it in forever and I genuinely made my sister try it with me one time when she visited. Sometimes randomly she'll text me, 'Oh man, I was just thinking about the rice [there].' I miss it so much. I wish I could mail it to myself directly." Education: Graduated with honors from College of Literature, Science and the Arts with a degree in communications in 2019. Family: Carl (father, Navy football), Marian (mother, Fairfield field hockey), Sarah (sister, Princeton rower), Andrew (brother, Holy Cross lacrosse), Erica (sister, Dartmouth track and field).