By Gil Rudawsky

If USA Today sports reporter Lindsay Jones could pick one professional athlete to have dinner with, it would be the Denver Broncos’ Terrance “Pot Roast” Knighton. “He’s a genuine good guy,” said Jones, speaking Jan. 8 at the Colorado Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Fireside Chat at the Denver Press Club.

SPJ Colorado Pro Chapter treasurer Bob Burdick and USA TODAY NFL reporter Lindsay Jones at the Jan. 8 Fireside Chat at the Denver Press Club.

Jones, who is based in Denver, is one of four national NFL reporters at USA Today. Her job is to look for good story lines, not game coverage. The theory is that readers already will know the game story, but will look to USA Today (and her) for something more.

She files for the print edition as well as the online edition of USA Today. Because the two sides have separate editing staffs, this can create conflicts about what she should file, how much and when. In the end, plans are negotiated and her content goes east for editing and processing. She does not file live for the web site, but rather sends her material to editors who put it online.

At the Fireside Chat, she responded easily to questions. Asked who the Denver Broncos are this year, she replied, “I don’t think the Broncos know who the Broncos are.” (That was three days before the Broncos gave a lackluster effort and were ushered out of the playoffs by Indianapolis.)

She said she had a good working relationship with quarterback Peyton Manning, but pointed out that he usually stayed out of controversy, seldom saying anything without thinking it over first.

She worked her way up the journalism ladder, starting by covering sports at Emory University. Since Emory doesn’t have a football team, she covered a number of other sports.

After leaving Emory, Jones worked for The Palm Beach Post covering education before moving on to preps and then South Florida football. The Fort Collins native eventually moved on to The Denver Post in 2008, and then joined USA Today in 2012.

She said she had not sought out a chance to leave The Denver Post, but was contacted by USA Today. The job sounded good, she could stay in Denver and she knew there was a logjam of people ahead of her at The Post.

She is part of a two-personal journalism family, with her husband, Chris Paul, working as a designer at the Daily Camera in Boulder.

She credits her mentor, veteran sports journalist Vicki Michaelis, with providing her a game plan for her career. Michaelis, who helped establish credibility and opportunities for women sports reporters, also worked at The Denver Post and USA Today. She now is on the faculty of the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia, where she is the John Huland Carmical distinguished professor in sports journalism.

“I’m proud to walk in her footsteps,” said Jones.