MJ Acosta-Ruiz has quickly become one of NFL Network’s brightest stars.
Former Miami Dolphins cheerleader Acosta-Ruiz became NFL Network’s first Afro-Latino host.
Growing up in Washington Heights, New York, Acosta-Ruiz initially grew up as an avid baseball fan.
She also has ties to the basketball world, as her father played professionally in the Dominican Republic.
However, after her family moved to Miami, Florida, it was there that she fell in love with football.
From 2002 to 2005, Acosta-Ruiz attended the University of Miami, where she joined the cheerleading squad.
Performing at US football games helped his love for the sport grow, according to an interview with Hello!
After graduating from Barry University with a bachelor’s degree in communications, she sought out to join the Dolphins cheerleading squad.
“I’ve auditioned for the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders many, many times,” Acosta-Ruiz told New York HER Podcast.
“I’m so happy I bet on myself and tried again, because I will never forget this experience.
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“To this day I carry that with me so closely.”
A member of the Dolphins team in 2012 and 2013, Acosta-Ruiz joined Florida news channel WPLG, spending three years there as a reporter.
In 2016, she moved to San Diego affiliates NBC and Telemundo, where she served as the lead sports anchor.
Then, two years later, Acosta-Ruiz moved to the NFL Network, covering the San Francisco 49ers and then-Oakland Raiders.
It didn’t take long for her to make her mark, becoming a presenter on Total Access in 2020.
That same year, she and U.S. Marine David Ruiz married and moved to Los Angeles.
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“All my life I have looked for this representation and now I have been the representation of so many others,” said Acosta-Ruiz The conversation in 2022.
“I remember talking to my parents and immediately calling them and telling them the news, and my dad said, ‘Wait, was there another Latina or even a black woman who hosted a show on the network?’
“And I said, ‘I don’t believe there was.’ And that was the first moment.
“So they were already thinking about it, right?
“This is what they dreamed of for us, without even knowing it was available to me.”
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story