Michele Tafoya (born 1964/1965) is an American reporter and retired sports broadcaster for CBS and NBC. Most notably, from 2011 to 2022, she worked primarily as a

sideline reporter In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

for ''

NBC Sunday Night Football ''NBC Sunday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''SNF'') is an American weekly television broadcast of National Football League (NFL) games on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock in the United States. It began airing on August 6, 2006, w ...

''. Over the course of her career, she covered the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

, the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

, and professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. Since Tafoya's departure from sportscasting, she has worked as a conservative political consultant and makes television appearances to discuss the state of American politics and culture.

Early life

Tafoya is the daughter of Wilma (née Conley) and Orlando Tafoya. She is of

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

descent. She has one brother and three sisters. She attended

Mira Costa High School Mira Costa High School (MCHS, "Costa") is a four-year public high school located in Manhattan Beach, California that first opened 1950. It is the only high school in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The school's athletic teams are k ...

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in mass communications from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1988, and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in business administration from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1991.

Career

Tafoya worked as a host and reporter for

KFAN-AM KFAN (1270 kHz) is an AM radio station licensed to Rochester, Minnesota. The station owned by iHeartMedia, and rebroadcasts sister KFXN-FM KFXN-FM (100.3 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, br ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, primarily for

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

women's basketball broadcasts. She worked for WAQS (now WFNZ) in Charlotte, where she went by the name Mickey Conley. Conley is her mother's maiden name. Tafoya also worked for the

Midwest Sports Channel FanDuel Sports Network North is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as a FanDuel Sports Network affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involvin ...

, serving as a

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

host and sideline reporter, as well as a play-by-play commentator for women's Big Ten basketball and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Tafoya then spent three years at

WCCO-TV WCCO-TV (channel 4), branded CBS Minnesota, is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations divisi ...

in Minneapolis as a sports anchor and reporter.

CBS Sports

Tafoya joined CBS Sports in September 1994 as a reporter and host for the CBS Television Network's sports anthology show ''

CBS Sports Spectacular ''CBS Sports Spectacular'' is a sports anthology television program produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. The series began on January 3, 1960, as ''The CBS Sports Spectacular'', and has ...

'' and

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coverage. She served as a host of ''At The Half'' and as a reporter for

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

games. She made her on-air debut at the 1994 U.S. Open Tennis Championships. In 1997, The American Women in Radio and Television honored Tafoya with a

Gracie Award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contr ...

for "Outstanding Achievement by an Individual On-Air TV Personality" for her play-by-play calling of WNBA games on

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

. Tafoya served as a reporter for the network's coverage of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

, college football—including the 1998 National Championship Orange Bowl—and was late-night co-host with

Al Trautwig Alan Trautwig (February 26, 1956 – February 23, 2025) was an American sports commentator who worked with MSG Network, ABC, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and USA Network. He later did pre-game and post-game shows for the New York Knicks and New Yo ...

of the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

in Nagano. In addition to her diverse assignments, Tafoya hosted CBS's NCAA Tournament selection show,

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

and the U.S Open Tennis Championships coverage. She left CBS at the end of 1999, after five years with the network.

ABC Sports and ESPN

Tafoya joined

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...

in January 2000, working as a

for ABC Sports' ''Monday Night Football'' during the

2004 NFL season The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004, to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced ...

and the

2005 NFL season The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). Regular season play was held from September 8, 2005, to January 1, 2006. The regular season also saw the first ever regular season game played outside the ...

before the program shifted to ESPN; she worked the sideline for ''

ESPN Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on ABC from 1970 to 2005, before moving exclusively to sister net ...

'' beginning in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Tafoya was a co-host for the ''

Mike Tirico Michael Todd Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022, and is set to become the lead play-by-play anno ...

Show'' on ESPN radio. She helped ABC in its coverage of

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...

in Detroit as a sideline reporter with

Suzy Kolber Suzy Kolber (; born ) is an American football sideline reporter, co- producer, and a former ESPN sports anchor and reporter. She was one of the original anchors of ESPN2 when it launched in 1993. Three years later, she left ESPN2 to join Fox Sp ...

. She was loaned to

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

for the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

as a Reporter for

Rhythmic Gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop (rhythmic gymnastics), hoop, ball (rhythmic gymnastics), ball, Clubs (rhythmic gymnastics), clubs, ribbon (rhythmic gymnastics), ...

and as the play-by-play woman for

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

. On October 10, 2003, Tafoya poured beer over two fans beneath her luxury box at the Metrodome during a University of Minnesota versus

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

game. Tafoya admitted to losing her composure and said she was embarrassed over the incident. She also issued a public apology. Tafoya formerly worked at

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

games on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

and

. On October 21, 2008, she announced she would be resigning from her duties as head NBA sideline reporter. Tafoya's other previous roles included a stint as the men's and women's NCAA basketball play-by-play and studio host and as a

and

sideline reporter. She also has served as a substitute host on ''

Pardon the Interruption ''Pardon the Interruption'' (abbreviated ''PTI'') is an American sports talk television program, television show that airs weekdays primarily on ESPN but can air on various TV channels in the event of live sports or breaking news. It is hosted by ...

'' and as a panelist on ''

The Sports Reporters ''The Sports Reporters'' is a sports talk show that aired on ESPN at 9:30 a.m. ET every Sunday morning (and replayed at 10:30 a.m. ET the same day on ESPN2 and 11:30 AM on ESPNews). It featured a roundtable discussion among four sports ...

II''. Her other ESPN assignments have included calling WNBA games as well as hosting

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

telecasts and working on ESPN's college basketball selection shows as a reporter. She also was a correspondent for ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'' and ''

Outside the Lines ''Outside the Lines'' is an American sports news and analysis program that was broadcast by ESPN from 1990 to 2022. The series featured segments with discussions and investigative journalism surrounding prominent headlines and topics within spor ...

''. In 2006, the Davie-Brown Index ranked Tafoya among the most likable TV sports personalities, including Biggest Trend-Setter. At the end of the 2010-2011 NFL season, she left ESPN for NBC Sports.

Return to WCCO

Tafoya was announced as the new evening

drive time Drive time is the daypart in which radio broadcasters can reach the most people who listen to car radios while driving, usually to and from work, or on public transportation. Drive-time periods are when the number of radio listeners in this c ...

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

host for

WCCO-AM WCCO (830 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios and offices are located on Second Avenue South in Downtown Minneapolis. WCCO features a news/talk format, with frequent ne ...

on April 19, 2009.Gustafson, Amy Carlson
Michele Tafoya gets WCCO-AM drive-time slot
TwinCities.com Pioneer Press, April 19, 2009 Her show began on June 1, 2009, where she teamed with afternoon host and lead-in

Don Shelby Donald Gilbert Shelby (born May 27, 1947) is a retired American journalist who was a news anchor on WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota for much of his career. He is regarded as an experienced investigative journalist, as his work has earned tw ...

on the schedule from 3-3:30 p.m., with Tafoya taking over from 3:30-6 p.m. Her hosting ended on Friday, January 27, 2012.Michele Tafoya Ending Show On WCCO Radio
CBS News, January 24, 2012 She made the decision ahead of her schedule becoming busier with the Super Bowl and London Olympics.

KQRS Radio

Tafoya joined "The KQ Morning Show" on

KQRS-FM KQRS-FM (92.5 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station City of license, licensed to Golden Valley, Minnesota. Owned by Cumulus Media, it broadcasts a mainstream rock format serving the Minneapolis–Saint Paul market. Its studios are located ...

as co-host with long-time KQ morning personality Tom Barnard on September 8, 2016. She left the KQRS morning show in March 2020. The team dynamics were well received.

NBC Sports

On May 4, 2011, Tafoya was announced as the new sideline reporter for ''

'', replacing

Andrea Kremer Andrea Kremer (born February 25, 1959) is a multi-Emmy Award-winning American television sports journalist. She previously called ''Thursday Night Football'' games for Amazon Prime Video. Kremer is currently the Chief correspondent for the NFL N ...

and rejoining former co-worker and announcer

Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television sin ...

. Tafoya has also covered

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

during the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. Andrew Marchand of the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' reported that Tafoya would leave ''Sunday Night Football'' following the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. On January 11, 2022, NBC confirmed in a press release that Tafoya would depart the network, with

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 NFL season, 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2021 Los Angeles Rams season, Los Angeles ...

as her final assignment, to pursue other opportunities.

Politics

On February 14, 2022, a day after her departure from NBC Sports, Republican Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendall Qualls announced Tafoya would be joining his campaign as co-chair. Qualls later withdrew from the race.

Personal life

Tafoya had three pregnancies of four children end in

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

before carrying her son to term. She and her husband, Mark Vandersall, have a biological son and daughter by adoption. The family lives in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( , ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous ci ...

. In 2007, she told WCCO-TV that she had been struggling with an eating disorder since she was a child. Tafoya describes herself as a "

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

conservative with libertarian leanings".

Career timeline

*1998:

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

Late-Night Host * 1994–1997 & 1999 '' NCAA on CBS'' Sideline Reporter *1998: ''

NFL on CBS ''NFL on CBS'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by CBS. It aired from September 30, 1956 to January 23, 1994. The show returned since September 6, 1998. The branding is used for the presentation of the National Foot ...

'' Sideline Reporter *1999: ''

SEC on CBS ''College Football on CBS Sports'' is the blanket title used for broadcasts of college football games that are produced by CBS Sports, for CBS and CBS Sports Network. CBS first televised regular season college football games in 1950, airing th ...

'' Sideline Reporter *2000–2003: ''

ESPN College Football ''ESPN College Football'' is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN+, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews and ESPN Radio. ''ESPN College Fo ...

'' sideline reporter *2002–2003: ''

Monday Night Countdown ''Monday Night Countdown'' (officially ''Monday Night Countdown presented by ESPN Bet'') is an American Pre-game show, pregame television program that is broadcast on ESPN, preceding its coverage of ''Monday Night Football''. For the network's non ...

'' reporter *2004–2010: ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' Sideline Reporter *2002–2008: ''

NBA on ABC Television broadcasts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) games were first broadcast by American broadcast network ABC from January 3, 1965 to May 10, 1973. Broadcasts produced by ABC Sports (later ESPN on ABC) returned on December 25 ...

'' and ''

NBA on ESPN ''NBA on ESPN'' is an American television sports presentation show broadcast by ESPN. It aired from 1982 to 1984. The show returned since October 30, 2002. It consists of branding used for the presentation of National Basketball Association gam ...

'' Sideline Reporter *2009–2012:

WCCO Radio WCCO (830 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and owned by Audacy, Inc. Its studios and offices are located on Second Avenue South in Downtown Minneapolis. WCCO features a news/talk format, with frequent ne ...

Afternoon Drive Host *2011–2021: ''

'' Sideline Reporter *2016–2020: '' KQRS'' Morning Show Co-host *2022–present: Left ''NBC'' to become a freelance reporter

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tafoya, Michele Living people Mass media people from Minneapolis Mass media people from Greater Los Angeles Marshall School of Business alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni American radio sports announcers American television reporters and correspondents American talk radio hosts American television sports announcers American libertarians American women television journalists College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers ESPN people Radio personalities from Minneapolis NFL announcers NBA broadcasters Olympic Games broadcasters Sports Emmy Award winners American women radio hosts American women sports commentators Women's college basketball announcers in the United States Women's National Basketball Association announcers American tennis commentators Volleyball commentators 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people) Mira Costa High School alumni 1960s births Hispanic and Latino American women journalists Latino conservatism in the United States Minnesota Republicans