Michele Tafoya is an American presenter for sports-related shows. She works with NBC Sports and presents the show NBC Sunday Night Football, which she hosts along with Al Michaels. Previously, she has also hosted three seasons of the Army-Navy Game. Apart from NBC Sports, she has also worked with other channels such as CBS Sports, ESPN, and ABC as sportscaster for their various shows.
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This is the biography of the sports presenter. This is not to be confused with another Dr. Michele Tafoya who is a popular dentist based out of Las Vegas in Nevada.
Early Life and Beginning of Career
Michele Tafoya was born as Michele Joan Tafoya on December 17, 1964. Her birthplace is Manhattan Beach in California. She received her education in Berkeley at the University of California, graduating with B.A. in Mass Communications in 1988. She further went on to pursue a Masters in Business Administration in 1991 from the University of Southern California.
She did her initial sports reporting work under the name of Mickey Conley. Her first employer was the Minneapolis channel KFAN-AM. Most of her reports were for the games played by Minnesota Vikings and the women’s basketball team of the University of Minnesota. Later on, she went on to work for WAQS-AM in the city of Charlotte.
Later on, she moved on to sportscast for the Midwest Sports Channel for the team the Minnesota Timberwolves. She became a play-by-play sportscaster for the women’s basketball and volleyball games. For a brief spell, she also worked with WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.
Success as a Sportscaster
It was in September 1994 that Michele Tafoya began her first high-profile sports broadcasting when she was signed on with CBS Sports. The shows she presented there were CBS Sports Spectacular and At the Half. She also presented the 1994 US Open Tennis Championship. She was the first woman to give a television play-by-play of a tournament of the NCAA. Later on, she covered NFL for the National Championship Orange Bowl and the Nagano Olympics.
She then moved on to rival channels ESPN and ABC Sports. With these channels, she has hosted ESPN Monday Night Football and was a co-host at the Mike Tirico Show. She also presented the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Other shows that she has been associated with are Pardon the Interruption, The Sports Reporters, SportsCenter, and Outside the Lines.
Tafoya left ESPN for NBC Sports in 2011, and assumed the reporter duties for NBC Sunday Night Football, which is a soccer show.
Personal Life
Michele Tafoya married Mark Vandersall and became Michele Tafoya Vandersall in 2000. They have a biological child and an adopted child. Today, the family lives in Edina in Minnesota. Tafoya also owns another property in Miami known as the Scarface Mansion.
Tafoya has been adjudged as the best woman presenter on television several times. She has won the Sports Emmy Awards twice, as Outstanding Sports Personality – Sports Reporter. She was also honored with the Gracie Award when she was with CBS.
Tafoya is known to have the highest salary among all sports presenters. She is quite popular on her Facebook and Twitter accounts with a large following. Several vids of her show presentation are popular on YouTube as well. Her net worth is estimated at $2 million.
Last Modified: Apr 7, 2020
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