If you were a football fan between 2016 and 2022, your mornings probably started with a specific kind of caffeinated energy that didn't come from a mug. It came from a small desk in New York City where Kay Adams of Good Morning Football basically reinvented how we talk about the NFL. She wasn't just a host. She was the "glue" for a show that felt less like a stiff corporate broadcast and more like a breakfast hang with your smartest, most obsessed football friends.
Then, she left.
The departure felt sudden to some, but for anyone watching the trajectory of sports media, it was a move that had been brewing for a long time. Fans were gutted. People were Googling "Why did Kay Adams leave GMFB?" for months. Honestly, the answer wasn't some dramatic behind-the-scenes feud or a secret scandal. It was much more about the changing landscape of how sports personalities want to own their own "stuff."
Why Kay Adams Left Good Morning Football
Kay didn't just walk away because she was tired of the 4:00 AM alarms, though let's be real—waking up in the middle of the night for six years is a grind that would break most people. In a 2025 interview on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast, Kay finally got candid about the whole thing. She admitted that she actually had an offer on the table to stay at NFL Network for another four years.
She turned it down.
"I knew that I didn't want to stay," she told hosts Will Compton and Taylor Lewan. It wasn't about the show being bad; she still speaks about the GMFB crew with a massive amount of love. It was about the future. Kay saw the "creator-led" era coming. She wanted to build something she actually owned, rather than being a cog—even a very important one—in the NFL’s massive corporate machine.
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The FanDuel Pivot
When she launched Up & Adams on FanDuel TV in late 2022, people were skeptical. Why leave the "mothership" of NFL Network for a gambling-adjacent platform?
But Kay was playing the long game.
By moving to FanDuel, she gained creative freedom that doesn't exist on league-owned networks. She could talk about betting (obviously), she could swear a little more, and she could take the show on the road whenever she wanted. By 2026, Up & Adams has expanded its distribution to truTV, MSG Network, and even Max (the streaming service). She’s no longer just a host; she’s a brand.
The Secret Sauce of the GMFB Era
To understand why her absence was such a big deal, you have to look at what Good Morning Football was before she left. When it launched in 2016, sports morning shows were mostly "shouting matches." You had guys in suits yelling about Tom Brady.
Kay, along with Kyle Brandt, Peter Schrager, and Nate Burleson, did something different. They "broke the fourth wall." If a microphone fell off or a segment went off the rails, they didn't cut to a commercial. They laughed about it.
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Kay was the conductor of that chaos. She has this unique ability to pivot from a deep-dive analysis of a Cover 2 defense to a segment about which NFL quarterback is most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse without missing a beat. That versatility is rare. Most "serious" analysts can't do the fun stuff, and most "fun" hosts don't actually know the playbook. She did both.
What Most People Get Wrong About Her Career
A common misconception is that GMFB was her first big break.
Not even close.
Kay’s "overnight success" took about a decade of grinding. She was an in-game host for the St. Louis Cardinals. She did fantasy football shows for SiriusXM and DirecTV when fantasy was still considered a "nerdy" niche. She even hosted People (the TV show!) for a couple of years while simultaneously doing the morning NFL grind.
She’s always been a workaholic.
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The move to FanDuel wasn't a "step down" or a "retirement" from the big leagues. It was a calculated business move. If you look at the industry now, everyone is trying to do what she did—Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith, even Kelce with his podcast. They want to own their audience. Kay just got there a few years earlier than the rest of the pack.
The "Moments" That Defined Her
Whether it was her strangely intense (and hilarious) interviews with players like Daniel Jones or her "Kay's Takes" segments where she’d defend an underdog team with the passion of a die-hard fan, she built a level of trust.
- The Bengals Connection: Fans still associate her with the Cincinnati Bengals' 2021 Super Bowl run. She was one of the few national voices "pumping the breaks" on the haters and believing in Joe Burrow early on.
- The Training Camp Tours: One of the reasons she’s still so relevant in 2026 is her 20-city training camp tour. She gets access that standard reporters don't because players actually like talking to her. She doesn't ask the "generic" questions.
Where is Kay Adams in 2026?
If you're looking for her today, you won't find her on NFL Network, but she's arguably more visible than ever. Up & Adams airs daily at 11:00 AM ET. The show has become a mandatory stop for any player or coach doing a media tour.
She’s also branched out way beyond just the gridiron. You might see her hosting the red carpet at the NFL Honors, appearing on Netflix’s live sporting events (like the Netflix Cup), or even popping up in the world of boxing with DAZN.
Actionable Ways to Follow Her Now
If you miss that GMFB vibe and want to catch up with her current work, here is how you actually find her:
- YouTube: The Up & Adams channel is the best place for the "viral" clips and full-length interviews. It’s where she’s most unfiltered.
- Streaming: If you have Max or FanDuel TV+, you can stream her daily show live or on-demand.
- Social Media: She’s extremely active on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram (@heykayadams), often sharing "behind the scenes" looks at her travels to different NFL cities.
The reality is that Kay Adams didn't just leave a show; she outgrew it. While Good Morning Football continues on with a new cast (and moved its production to Los Angeles in 2024), Kay has proved that in the modern media world, you don't need a specific network to be the "Queen of the NFL." You just need a camera, a platform, and the same relentless energy that made people fall in love with her in the first place.
Watch the Up & Adams daily show for a few days, and you'll see it—the same "gluing" of the football world she’s been doing for years, just on her own terms now.