‘Rutgers Saved Me’

Memoir by ESPN sideline reporter and Rutgers alumna Lauren Sisler details how she persevered after the death of both her parents to prescription overdoses when she was a student-athlete.

There’s a large box in Lauren Sisler’s home filled with mementos, cherished reminders of when she learned Rutgers University was more than just a school.

Sisler attended Rutgers–New Brunswick on a partial gymnastics scholarship and graduated in 2006 with a communication degree. She collected her share of accolades after executing difficult dismounts and twisting double backs for the Scarlet Knights and was named team captain her senior year. The box, though, is mostly filled with personal cards and letters—physical evidence of the sympathy and support she received during the most difficult period of her life. To Sisler, they are priceless. 

“People like to put a price tag on the college experience,” Sisler says. “They want to know what's the bottom dollar, but at the end of the day, I cannot put a price tag on my experience at Rutgers and the family that I inherited there. But I can tell you right now, I never would have survived this thing had I not gone back to Rutgers.”

On March 24, 2003, Sisler was still adjusting to the large bustling Rutgers campus, a freshman from Virginia navigating pre-med classes and the physical demands of being a D1 athlete. When her phone rang at 3:30 that morning, life began to fall apart at 18.

“Lauren, your mom died,” her father, George “Butch” Sisler, told her.

Lesley Sisler had died of a prescription drug overdose. Hours later, Butch died the same way. 

The Sideline Shimmy

Sisler is an Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster and college football reporter for ESPN whose infectious “sideline shimmy” dance has made her a fan favorite nationwide. In almost every video and every photo of her on the Internet, she’s smiling, almost joyous. But Sisler had to fight her way back to happiness, navigating an impossible grief that nearly derailed her education and a lifelong dream of competing as a college gymnast. She speaks publicly about the experience today and in October published a memoir entitled Shatterproof: How I Overcame the Shame of Losing My Parents to Opioid Addiction (and Found My Sideline Shimmy).

Getting to a place where she could talk about her parents, openly, took time, she told student-athletes gathered at Jersey Mike’s Arena in September. 

“I thought that if people knew my story and knew their story, maybe I wouldn’t be up for awards, maybe I wouldn’t be accepted, maybe if I went for a job interview, that people would think differently of me, think I wasn’t qualified, that I might go down that same road,” Sisler said, pacing back and forth on C. Vivian Stringer Court.

Sisler spent time in Virginia after her parents died and, after their funeral, wasn’t sure if she would, or even could, make the 400-plus mile journey back to her previous life at Rutgers. Her beloved Aunt Linda insisted, though, and had already been in touch with then gymnastics coach Chrystal Chollet-Norton to see what services could be provided at the school. Chollet-Norton, who retired in 2011, recalled those tough days when Sisler needed her to be something more than a coach.

“I’ll tell you, I became her surrogate mother,” Chollet-Norton says. “There was a lot of hugging, a lot of tears, moments when she lost it too.”

Chollet-Norton, who recruited Sisler in high school, said she comforted her and dished out tough love when she had to, like when her grades suffered.

“You’re not broken forever,” she told Sisler.

Studying medicine, Sisler realized, wasn’t a passion, so she took a few personality tests and talked to academic advisers to see what new majors might suit her. In her book, Sister credits a teammate, Dawn Giel, for ultimately setting her on a path that led to sideline shimmies.

“Laurie, I think you would be great at sports broadcasting,” Giel told her. 

Rutgers Deputy Athletic Director Kate Hickey was the associate athletic director for compliance during Sisler’s time at the school and invites her to speak to students whenever she’s available, not just about her career, but her journey through grief too. 

“She is an incredible ambassador of Rutgers and we are lucky to count her among our athlete alumni,” Hickey says.

Sisler, who battled through sprains, back injuries, and even a fractured femur as a gymnast, credits the collective Rutgers experience, from professors to teammates to administrators, for helping her push through. Athletes she never met extended a hand. Those flowers and cards poured in. Even football coach Greg Schiano contacted her.  

“He said, ‘I heard what happened and wanted to reach out,’” Sisler said. “I can’t tell you how many times that happened to me at Rutgers.” 

Chollet-Norton said Sisler experienced the embodiment of a school mantra, one that’s not just lip service to impress recruits and their parents. 

“We are family here,” Chollet-Norton said. 

As a high school gymnast, Sisler had her heart set on the Air Force Academy, but that didn’t work out as she had hoped.

“When the door to Air Force Academy closed, Rutgers was the last man standing,” Sisler said. “I’ll tell you this, had I not been going to Rutgers when my parents died, I wouldn’t have survived this. Rutgers saved me.”

Sisler lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, John, their son, Mason, a yellow lab named Magnolia, and her box of cherished memories from Rutgers. For more information about Sisler, her book, and speaking engagements, visit laurensisler.com.