A little over five years later, Maria Taylor is finally opening up about her departure from ESPN.
Taylor had an excellent run on ESPN, helping out “College GameDay” as a host as well as being part of the “NBA Countdown” crew from 2019-2021. After she left ESPN in July 2021, she joined NBC to cover the Tokyo Olympics. It wasn’t long before she was named the host of “Football Night in America,” a position she still holds to this day.
During a recent interview with Ashley Nicole Moss, the former ESPN star talked about how difficult it was leaving the network.
“I can’t tell you the number of times I thought all I wanted to do was fire off a tweet,” Taylor said. “What I really did want is for my work to speak for itself. I remember being in therapy because I’m like this is a dream taken away. … When I showed up in Tokyo and my first assignment was the Olympics, it was like I already won.”
Taylor added that she cried every day in Tokyo because she wasn’t sure if she made the right career decision.
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She made the best of her career.
In the end, it all worked out for Taylor, who made history this past February by becoming the first Black woman to host a Super Bowl pregame show.
“I will say it’s a tremendous privilege to be the person that is presenting the Lombardi Trophy,” Taylor said. “You know what I mean? How rare [it is]. I mean, working the Super Bowl in general, too, but things like that, those are pinch-me moments outside of the already unbelievable situations that are happening for the entire month of February. But I will say, that’s special.”
Taylor will be back in the spotlight this Sunday night to preview the Colts-Chiefs game.
