During the 2013 season, Taylor covered the Orange Bowl for the second year in a row and also served as a sideline reporter for ESPN2’s regular Saturday night primetime presentation of college football. Let’s dig deep into How Tall Is Maria Taylor?
She has served as an analyst on ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and the Women’s Volleyball National Championship for the past two years, as well as the Selection Show and Preview Show for the tournaments.
Who Is Maria Taylor?
Maria Taylor is a host and sports analyst for the NBC Sports Network. She covers male and female collegiate sports such as football, volleyball, and basketball. She has previous experience with ESPN and the SEC Network.
Taylor, Maria was born on May 12, 1987, in Alpharetta, Georgia. She was born and raised in the United States, making her an American citizen.
Her mother is Suzette Taylor, and her father is Steve Taylor. Her siblings remain a mystery as no additional family members are mentioned. She has always had a passion for athletics. She graduated from Centennial High School (now the University of Georgia) in 2005.
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After four years, in 2009, she finally got her diploma. She was a member of the Volleyball Junior National A2 squad and also played basketball during her time at college.
After her great performance, the University of Georgia offered her a full sports scholarship. It was there that she honed her skills as a volleyball and basketball player from 2005 until 2009. Let’s dig deep into How Tall Is Maria Taylor?
How Tall Is Maria Taylor?
Maria Taylor, who stands at a towering 6-foot-2, was a standout on the volleyball and basketball courts at the University of Georgia from 2005 to 2009.
Following his graduation from UGA, Taylor joined ESPN and began a career in broadcasting (on which more below). She joins NBC’s studio show Football Night in America on Sunday nights in 2021.
Taylor replaced Mike Tirico as the show’s lead host for the upcoming 2022 NFL season, and he’ll be joined by Tony Dungy (former NFL defensive back and head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts) and Jason Garrett (former NFL quarterback and head coach of the Dallas Cowboys).
Neither Dungy nor Garrett is short, having played in the NFL. Dungy is listed as 6 feet tall while Garrett is listed as 6 feet 2 inches tall on Pro Football Reference. But in the late second-quarter standoff seen on Sunday Night Football, Taylor clearly towers over both of his rivals.
It’s probable that neither Dungy nor Garrett is as tall as they appear on the screen. Taylor might be 6-foot-five or taller when she wears her game-day heels.
One reason so many people want to know is because of the way she looks next to Dungy and Garrett in those height comparison photos.
Maria Taylor’s Broadcasting Career
Maria Taylor, a native of Georgia who played basketball and volleyball at Georgia and was named to the All-SEC team in both sports, began her broadcasting career as a guest host on several Bulldog and SEC-focused shows right on campus.
She used her college football reporting and studio analysis skills to land a job at ESPN, where she currently works. Taylor’s experience expanded over the next few years as she reported from the sidelines of NFL games and ESPN’s college football studio coverage.
Taylor has moved over to ESPN’s NBA coverage as the host of NBA Countdown, the network’s premier pregame show, in 2019.
The NBA Finals pregame program, previously anchored by Rachel Nichols on The Jump, was replaced by Countdown in 2020. Controversy erupted after Nichols was caught on tape whining about how ESPN had chosen Taylor over her simply because of Taylor’s race in her hotel room.
After this happened, Taylor refused a $4 million raise from ESPN and let her contract expire because she wanted “Stephen A. Smith money.” Smith’s annual salary from the sports channel is $12 million.
Taylor quickly signed on with NBC Sports to participate in their coverage of the 2020 Olympics. Taylor was the host for NBC’s coverage of the 2022 French Open in addition to her duties with the NFL.
Maria Taylor Will Host NBC’s Big Ten Studio Coverage
According to the New York Post, next fall NBC will make Taylor the studio host for Saturday Big Ten programming. The 35-year-old will keep his position as the primary host of Sunday’s “Football Night in America” on the network’s NFL studio show.
With Taylor at the helm, “Football Night in America” becomes its first permanent female host.
Taylor became famous as the new host of ESPN’s “College GameDay” in 2017. She took over for Samantha Ponder. She also reported from the field for ESPN during Saturday night college football games.
Maria Taylor is returning to college football, per @AndrewMarchand.
This fall, Taylor will lead NBC's forthcoming Big Ten package as its studio host. pic.twitter.com/24uCMCim7w
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) December 12, 2022
They were unable to come to terms on a contract extension, and so Taylor left ESPN for NBC in July of 2021.
As the host of “NBA Countdown,” Taylor made her NBC Sports debut for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, which were pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taylor plans to return to covering college football in 2023.
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