Melissa Stark Back on NBC Sunday Night Football After Two Decades: 'Nothing Compares to the Adrenaline'

Michael Ainsworth/AP/Shutterstock Melissa Stark

Sideline reporter Melissa Stark took a major risk when she decided to step away from her Monday Night Football gig in 2003. She was at the height of her career so far, regularly interviewing players like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but wanted to prioritize her new job: being a mom.

"I left Monday Night Football when I was pregnant with my first son because I just didn't know how I'd feel leaving him," Stark tells PEOPLE. "I thought as a mom I'm not going to want to be on the road."

She recalls her colleagues at the time telling her "no one ever really leaves Monday Night Football," but the veteran reporter remembers arguing: "there's a first time for everything, right?"

And now, after two decades away from the field and as a mom of four, Stark is doing what others may have thought to be impossible and is back on the sidelines for NBC's Sunday Night Football.

"For me, sports is the ultimate reality television," she says. "There's nothing that compares to the adrenaline of being on the sideline at the game under the lights," says Stark. "It's just awesome."

Ron Jenkins/AP/Shutterstock Sideline reporter Melissa Stark works from the field during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Following the birth of her son, Stark was interested in trying her hand at news reporting away from sports. "I went to the Today Show at that point, but it was hard to cover. I would co-host the weekend Today Show. I would fill in news read and then I did the Olympics, the Athens Olympics and things like that. But it was hard, it was really hard with kids. Because then I had already had my second child."

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In 2007, Stark gave birth to her third and fourth children, twin girls. "They were born in 2007 and then I did the Beijing Olympics, hosting the daytime coverage from home in New York."

However, the job became too demanding for the mother-of-four, who ultimately wanted to spend more time with her kids. "Four kids under four was a lot. So I basically said, 'I'm going to leave the career, I'll leave this profession to be with my family to be a full-time mom.' And I never really knew at that time if I'd get back."

"It was very important for me to be with my kids and raise them," says Stark, who says she "was okay with" the possibility of leaving her career as a reporter permanently. "I absolutely love being a mom. That's my number one job, number one role."

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This season, Stark and her broadcast crew will report on 22 NFL games, including on holidays. Stark says the average football fan probably doesn't realize how much work goes into her job. "That's the other thing with the kids – it's really hard. We have a Thanksgiving Day game this year. We have a Christmas Day game; we have a New Year's Day game."

And she says that the Stark household is divided regarding football fandom. "It's split. Two of my kids absolutely love football and the other ones don't care that much. My girls were texting me before the game, 'What channel are you on? And what time?' I'm like, 'Oh my God, I work for NBC and it's always going to be the same time. It's 8:15 every Sunday night.' "

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On Sunday, Stark interviewed Green Bay Packers stars Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Jones after their big win at home in Wisconsin, a week after she talked with Brady post-game. Rodgers, who will compete against Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next, told Stark, "Obviously, Tommy's a legend, so we're gonna have to play our best ball."