Elle Duncan joined ESPN as a relatively unknown sports host out of Boston. As she departs the network this week, Duncan is a media star.

Duncan’s stature was solidified on Tuesday as she hosted her final SportsCenter after a decade at ESPN, with one of the bigger farewell shows you’ll ever see. But before she left, Duncan offered a few pointed words about the perception around the Worldwide Leader, defending the network against the perpetual outside criticism it faces.

“I see the headlines. Some are earned. Some, I believe are not. And anyone in this chair knows that criticism is just part of the job, and you take it. But the faces of this place are not the soul of this place,” she said.

“The soul is the thousands of people who work here. No spotlight, and still all the scrutiny. People from every background, with every kind of belief, and with every zip code. There is no hidden agenda here, folks. Just the kind that many of you have there at home. To put food on the table, maybe to send your kids to college, do some work that matters. Build a life.”

The noise that Duncan described around ESPN comes from every direction. The company gets hit for conflicts of interest, talent moves, programming decisions, and even supposed political bias.

But talent like Duncan that work in Bristol, in particular, get to see a different side of the company. Hosting SportsCenter and College GameDay and the WNBA Finals, Duncan partnered with hundreds of anonymous producers, directors, assistants and technicians who make the company go.

In the final moments of a successful career heading into a high-profile move to become the face of Netflix’s sports properties, Duncan chose to spotlight those people rather than herself or her takes.

“Thank you for the hallway smiles, for the late nights researching, for the very early mornings,” Duncan said. “For saying my name in rooms that I was not in. For trusting me to toe the line and knowing when not to. For pushing me, holding me accountable, making this place feel as close to home as not-home can be. You made this last decade a gift.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be ESPN in 2025 without a curse word thrown in for good measure. Before signing off, Duncan promised that if her alma mater, Georgia, and her beloved Denver Broncos both won championships this winter, she was “breaking into this b*tch” to flaunt her fandom back at ESPN.