NBC sideline reporter Melissa Stark went viral during the first half of Super Bowl XL for an unfortunate reason.
Before the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks took the field on Sunday night, Stark spoke to Drake Maye about his first Super Bowl appearance. Most fans thought she'd ask about his shoulder injury, albeit he downplayed the severity of it earlier this week.
“I’m feeling good,” Maye said leading up to the Super Bowl, via Sports Illustrated. “I’m feeling good. We’re gonna get some extra rest, and really I don’t think it’s from the game. I think [it ’s] just a buildup of throwing for, this is what, almost—including training camp—30 weeks straight of throwing and four days a week, it can add up. But no, I think we’ve got some extra rest and I’m feeling good and ready to go for the Super Bowl.”
© Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Even though fans wanted to hear about Maye's status, Stark avoided that topic until after their interview was over. It was a bizarre sequence to say the least.
"Melissa Stark interviewing Drake Maye pregame, not asking him about his shoulder and then adding after he left that he told her that his shoulder was fine," Andrew Marchand of The Athletic said. "That was an odd sequence."
"It’s almost like sideline reporters are useless…. Who knew," one fan wrote.
"Yeah, that was weird," another fan replied.
Who is Melissa Stark?
NBC's "Sunday Night Football" crew has featured Stark for the past four seasons. She previously worked for NFL Network.
"Stark has won three Sports Emmys – as part of NBC Sports’ (Jan. 2025) NFL Playoff coverage and NBCUniversal’s 2024 Paris Olympics coverage, and with NFL Network for NFL 360. She was also nominated for a Sports Emmy following her first season (2022) on the sidelines for Sunday Night Football," her bio for NBC states. "Stark previously served as a host and reporter with NFL Network from 2011-24, with a principal role on the Sports Emmy award-winning NFL 360, a platform for NFL players and coaches to shine a light on the people, places and moments that are important to them through in-depth documentary storytelling. She also served as host of the NFL Draft red carpet, conducted interviews at NFL Honors, and handled sideline duties for NFL Network’s international games."
There's no question Stark has built an impressive résumé over the past decade, but fans believe she ultimately missed the mark with her pregame coverage for Super Bowl LX.