Michele Tafoya Joins NBC Sports Radio

Michele Tafoya

NBC Sports Radio Thursday announced that Michele Tafoya, NBC Sports’ Emmy Award-winning Sunday Night Football sideline reporter, will be joining the network as its NFL Insider for the upcoming football season. Tafoya, a radio and TV sports veteran, will be a featured contributor across NBC Sports Radio programming and will do interviews with affiliated stations.

Tafoya said, “I began my broadcasting career in radio, and I absolutely love the medium.  Sports talk radio offers a certain freedom to talk more conversationally than most formats.  NBC Sports Radio has been a fun platform for me over the past couple of seasons, so I'm looking forward to this extended role.”

“We are lucky to have someone of Michele’s caliber join us this season in a more permanent role,” said Suzanne Grimes, Westwood One’s President and EVP, Corporate Marketing. “She’s got game, for sure. Her reporter’s eye-view from the sides give her an exceptional take on what’s really happening on the field. Plus, her years of experience and incredible insider’s knowledge make her the perfect asset to our in-depth football coverage on NBC Sports Radio.”

Rob Simmelkjaer, Senior Vice President, NBC Sports Ventures, added "Michele is one of the very best in the sports broadcasting business, and our listeners will love hearing her insights on a regular basis."

Tafoya is the sideline reporter for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, primetime television’s #1 show for five consecutive years (2011-15). She joined NBC Sports Group in 2011, and in her first year with NBC, Tafoya was awarded the Sports Emmy for “Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Reporter.” On December 13, 2015 in Houston, Tafoya worked her milestone 200th game (regular season and playoffs) on the NFL sidelines. She most recently reported on Swimming from The 2016 Rio Olympics.

Prior to joining NBC Sports Group, Tafoya spent more than a decade at ABC/ESPN where she saw her profile rise steadily through a variety of on-air roles, most notably as a reporter for Monday Night Football and ESPN’s NFL studio programs. Before that, she worked for CBS Sports as a game reporter and studio host for NFL, college football, and college basketball telecasts, in addition to other major sporting events. Tafoya previously hosted The Michele Tafoya Show on WCCO/Minneapolis-St. Paul. Early in her career, she worked as a host and Minnesota Vikings sideline reporter for KFAN-AM/Minneapolis and also served as a Minnesota Timberwolves host and sideline reporter for the Midwest Sports Channel.

In 2014, Tafoya won the Gracie Award for “Outstanding On-Air Talent in a Sports Program” for her work on Sunday Night Football. The American Sportscasters Association voted Tafoya among the top female sportscasters (No. 4) in 2009, while the Davie-Brown Index ranked her among the most likeable TV sports personalities in 2006, including “Biggest Trend-Setter.”