In recent months, Maria Taylor’s move to NBC Sports has proven to be a significantly beneficial decision for her career. Since leaving ESPN in July, Taylor has hosted coverage of the 2021 Summer Olympics, Football Night in America during the NFL season, the 2022 Winter Olympics, and Super Bowl LVI.
Regardless of the circumstances under which she left ESPN and the role tensions with Rachel Nichols over hosting NBA Countdown, in addition to her contract negotiations, it’s difficult to imagine Taylor could receive a better showcase than she has in her short time with NBC.
Another aspect of Taylor’s career growth at NBC was revealed during Super Bowl pregame coverage with the announcement of an upcoming project that she’ll be working on with legendary producer Lorne Michaels for Peacock. The eight-part documentary series will chronicle the history of Black quarterbacks and is scheduled to air during Super Bowl week next year.
“Now, if you turn on your TV, it is not unusual to see a Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson — you know, insert whoever — they dominate the NFL,” Taylor told Vanity Fair‘s Joy Press. “But it wasn’t long ago that not only was it rare, but it didn’t happen… It was believed that maybe they weren’t intelligent enough or they lacked the leadership skills.”
The Peacock docuseries fulfills one of Taylor’s ambitions, to tell untold stories. Could she have had an opportunity to produce such a project at ESPN under the ESPN Films or E60 banners? For ESPN+, if not the network’s linear channels? We’ll never know. The Vanity Fair piece also mentions that Taylor is developing scripted series with the same goal in mind.
Naturally, Press also asked Taylor about the end of her time at ESPN and the circumstances that led to her departure. Those looking for Taylor to say something juicy about Nichols, perhaps clapping back against Nichols’ assertion that Taylor was named host of NBA Countdown during the NBA Finals because she’s Black, will be disappointed, however.
“I don’t want to talk about her,” Taylor said to Press when asked if she’s talked to Nichols since her comments were made public by the New York Times.
Yet Taylor didn’t criticize ESPN, instead expressing gratitude for what she learned there and the opportunities she received.
“Everything that I’ve learned since I graduated college, everything that I learned was there,” she said. “I was promoted, given my first opportunities; so many great things happened. So I could never say that.”
The entire Vanity Fair feature is worth reading, which includes Taylor’s thoughts on a key reason she wanted to work at NBC, how she’s enjoyed Olympics coverage because it places female athletes at the forefront, and the importance of being a role model.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
