Tafoya attended Mira Costa High School. She received a B.A. in mass communications from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988, and a masters in business administration from the University of Southern California in 1991. On the KQRS Morning Show on November 6, 2018, Michele said she was born Michele Joan Tafoya. Her parents were expecting a boy since she kicked so hard in her mother's womb. They were going to name the boy Michael John, but went with the name Michele Joan when they had a girl. Tafoya worked as a host and reporter for KFAN-AM in Minneapolis, primarily for Minnesota Vikings and University of Minnesota women's basketball broadcasts. She worked for WAQS-AM in Charlotte, where she went by the name Mickey Conley. She was the first female analyst to call UNC-Charlotte men's basketball games. Tafoya also worked for the Midwest Sports Channel, serving as a Minnesota Timberwolves host and sideline reporter, as well as a play-by-play commentator for women's Big Ten basketball and volleyball. Tafoya also spent three years at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis as a sports anchor and reporter. According to Dave Mordal, Michele Tafoya is now the proprietor of the original Scarface house in Miami. Michele has a dog named Winnie.
Michele Tafoya joined ESPN and ABC Sports in January 2000, and her profile has steadily risen through a variety of on-air roles. Tafoya worked for ESPN and ABC Sports as a sideline reporter for ESPN Monday Night Football beginning in 2006 NFL Season. She was the sideline reporter for ABC Sports' Monday Night Football in 2004-2005. Tafoya was a co-host for the Mike Tirico Show on ESPN radio. She helped ABC in their coverage of Super Bowl XL in Detroit as a sideline reporter with Suzy Kolber. Tafoya has worked as a sideline reporter since 2006. She was loaned to NBC Sports for the 2000 Sydney Olympics as a Reporter for Rhythmic Gymnastics and as the play-by-play woman for softball. On October 10, 2003, Tafoya purposely poured beer over two fans beneath her luxury box at the Metrodome during a University of Minnesota versus University of Michigan 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 games on ABC and ESPN. 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 college football and basketball sideline reporter. She also has served as a substitute host on Pardon the Interruption and as a panelist on The Sports Reporters II. Her other ESPN assignments have included calling WNBA games, also hosting skiing telecasts and working on ESPN's college basketball selection shows as a reporter. She also was a correspondent for SportsCenter and Outside the Lines. 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 timetalk radio host for WCCO-AM on April 20, 2009. Her show began on June 1, 2009, and ended on January 27, 2012.
Tafoya joined "The KQ Morning Show" on KQRS-FM as co-host with long-time KQ morning personality Tom Barnard on September 8, 2016.
NBC Sports
On May 4, 2011, Tafoya was announced as the new sideline reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football, replacing Andrea Kremer and rejoining former co-worker and announcer, Al Michaels.
Personal life
Tafoya and husband Mark Vandersall have a son and a daughter. The family lives in Edina, Minnesota. 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' conservative with libertarian leanings".
