NBC made it official on Tuesday, announcing that longtime NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya will step away after the Super Bowl.
Last month, the New York Post reported that this would be Tafoya’s final season on Sunday Night Football. In the NBC press release this morning, Tafoya said she was eyeing other areas to “explore both personally and professionally.”
Tafoya, whose sports media career began in 1993, will finish with over 300 games worked on an NFL sideline, including five Super Bowls. Before joining NBC in 2011, she covered the league during stops at CBS and ABC/ESPN.
Tafoya has a lengthy resume, including four Sports Emmy Awards. After today’s news was released, there were plenty of sports media members paying tribute to her on social media.
Noooo 😩 https://t.co/weUatq6ade
— Chierstin Susel (@ChierstinSusel) January 11, 2022
Congrats on a superb run. https://t.co/XFSApUVr55
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) January 11, 2022
▪️ 301 regular season games
▪️ 13 Wild Card games
▪️ 8 Divisional Playoff games
▪️ 5 Super Bowls4-time Sports Emmy Award winner Michele Tafoya will work her final @SNFonNBC game at #SBLVI 🏆 pic.twitter.com/nBCES1NGVF
— Sports Business Journal (@sbjsbd) January 11, 2022
Michele Tafoya will work her last NFL game for NBC at the Super Bowl. She says she wants to explore “other areas.” Is she in contention to succeed Meghan McCain at The View? https://t.co/G86p5dTJdX
— Alex Weprin (@alexweprin) January 11, 2022
Brett Favre quote from this press release: “From Monday nights to Sunday nights, I always enjoyed spending time in the production meetings with Michele. However, my absolute favorite was the postgame interview because we had won the game… https://t.co/7aZy1zMrhU
— Zac Bellman (@ZacBellman_WNY) January 11, 2022
Legend https://t.co/R0XUOTTsGk
— Morgan Adsit (@MorganAdsit) January 11, 2022
I got to work with Michele once during a MNF preseason game and she was awesome. A true pro. https://t.co/1qqfy3nDWT
— Vincenzo (@HeHateV) January 11, 2022
LEGEND. https://t.co/pDXJISwx2v
— Zach Carlyle (@ZCarlyle) January 11, 2022
so bittersweet https://t.co/f8CULkRqii
— Michelle Knezovic (@MichelleKnezov) January 11, 2022
At 57 years old, Tafoya’s television days are probably not over. It will be interesting to see if she pursues opportunities in broadcasting outside of sports.
In the meantime, she has a few more NFL games on her plate, including Super Bowl LVI next month.
The post Sports Media World Reacts To The Michelle Tafoya News appeared first on The Spun.