Born outside Chicago, Ill., sports were simply omnipresent in Carmen Vitali’s life. They are ingrained in the very fiber of the city and environment in which she grew up. From a very early age, she recalls sitting in a living room full of family members, watching grown men yell at athletes on a screen who would never even hear them. She was mesmerized, not only by the game, but by the reaction and emotion it evoked. It was love at first sight in its truest form.

She told herself that one day she would work in professional sports. And so she did.

Currently, Vitali works for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While her title may be a bit of a mouthful (Staff Writer/Sr. Coordinator of Digital Content), it means that she’s fulfilling a dream she’s had since she was nine years old: to be a sports writer. You can find her articles on Buccaneers.com.

Vitali attended Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in her undergraduate years. She interned for Sun Devil Athletics in their sports information department, gathering facts, stats and figures for the majority of her time in school.

Vitali also holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University in Sports Administration. She graduated in 2016, right before taking her job with the Buccaneers, originally as the team’s copywriter.

Any down time Vitali does have, you can find her with her nose in a book and mug of tea in her hand or at a spin class blaring gangster rap. She’s always been somewhat of a contradiction to the expected – and wouldn’t have it any other way.