Biography of Michele John Tafoya Vandersall [Age, Height, Husabnd, Kids, Family, Salary, Award & Net worth ]

In a male-dominated sports world, Women sportscasters face a lot of challenges when entering the field.

Still, hundreds of women have a prominent role in the sportscasting field and have garnered many awards and critical success.

Out of such hundreds of women, Michele Tafoya also stands top on the list of crowds of Women sportscasters list.

Tafoya has always stayed confident in herself as a woman in a male-dominated society. With her positive vibes and gorgeous personality, the Californian girl has made her special mark in sports broadcasting.

Being an American sportscaster, she has been featured on different sports news channels like CBS Sports, ABC Sports, ESPN, KQRS Radio, and more.

With her active involvement and charismatic performance, she also has been honored with several awards and accomplishments, which we’re discussing below.

So keep reading the article till the end to learn more about Michele Tafoya.

Quick Facts about Michele Tafoya

Michele Tafoya – Early Life, Parents, & Education

Michele Tafoya was born on December 17, 1964, somewhere in Manhattan Beach, California, United States. Born to a well-to-do family, she spent her childhood in her hometown in California.

As per reports, the Californian grew up watching sports commentary with her father rather than cartoons. Her father, Orlando Tafoya, was a civil engineer and a huge fan of sports.

Michele’s mother, Wima Conley Tafoya, served as a teacher at South Bay Union High School.

Orlando and Wima met for the first time at the University of California’s calculus class and eventually got married in 1955. Her parents raised Michele along with her 3 siblings, namely Margaret, Geraci, and Matthew.

Margaret is one of the staff in the personnel office of former President Barack Obama’s administration.

Geraci owns an architecture and design business in Manhattan Beach. Matthew owns a cabinet and door company in Lawndale.

Talking about her academic records, she joined Mira Costa High School to achieve her high school degree.

After that, the young girl graduated with a B.A. in mass communication from the University of California, Berkeley.

Later on, she attended the University of Southern California in 1991 to complete her master’s degree in business administration.

Apart from these, she has not shared anything more related to her early childhood life.

Michele Tafoya – Age, Height, and Physical Appearances

As of 2022, the sportscaster is 57 Years Old now and born under the sun sign Sagittarius.

People born under this sun sign are known for being optimistic, honest, and intellectual. In one of the interviews, the sportscaster revealed a secret behind her actual birth name.

When Tafoya’s mother announced her pregnancy, both parents were expecting a boy because she used to kick her mother’s womb.

So the parents of the sportscaster planned to keep the name of the boy Michael John.

But as a girl was born into their family, they decided to give her the same name they had planned earlier. So eventually, the girl was named Michael John.

With a slim body, the Californian has a perfect size figure by regularly following the exercise routine and necessary diet plans.

Tafoya has desirable body measurements. In fact, the beautiful sportscaster measures 36-inches of the breast, 25-inches of the waist, and 35-inches of the hips.

Likewise, she stands somewhere around 5 ft 6.5 inches and weighs around 62kg. Her light brown hair and brown color pair of eyes make her look pretty and bold when facing the camera.

Apart from all of these, her voice is resonant and charming, and as a person, she is approachable all around.

Michele Tafoya – Career

Early Career

After a successful university degree in 1993, she worked as a host and reporter at KFAN-AM for Minnesota Vikings and the University of Minnesota women’s basketball broadcasts.

Similarly, Michele served as a host and sideline reporter for the Midwest Sports Channel and a play-by-play commentator for women’s Big Ten basketball and volleyball.

The Californian also worked as a host for WAQS-AM in Charlotte, where she was paired up with sports talk show host Gerry Vaillancourt.

In doing so, she became the first female analyst to call UNC-Charlotte men’s basketball games. Serving as a sports anchor and reporter, Tafoya spent three years at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis.

Professional Career

After joining CBS in September 1994, Michele worked as a reporter and studio host for the sports anthology show CBS Sports Spectacular.

It’s a program that covers the NFL, College Basketball, and Football telecasts. Moreover, she was covered as a host of At The Half and a reporter for college football games.

Also, Tafoya made her on-air debut at the 1994 U.S. Open Tennis Championships. At CBS, the native American worked as a reporter for NFL, College Football, and the 1998 National Championship Orange Bowl.

In 1998 she even hosted late-night Winter Olympics programs and the Goodwill Games with her co-host Al Trautwig in Nagano.

Along with shows, Micheal even hosted CBS’ NCAA Tournament selection show, Goodwill Games, and the U.S Open Tennis Championships coverage.

After 5 years of collaboration with the CBS network, in 1995, the reporter decided to leave the CBS network. She then joined ESPN and ABC Sports in January 2000. In the beginning, she started with a variety of on-air.

The American native continued her service as a sideline reporter for ESPN Monday Night in like manner Football in like manner. She also worked for ABC Monday Night Football for the year 2004-2005 as a sideline reporter.

Micheal worked for Mike Tirico’s show on ESPN radio as a cost host. After that, Tafoya, along with Suzy Kolber, served as a sideline reporter for the coverage of the Super Bowl X championship.

Moreover, she also worked with NBC Sports as a reporter for Rhythmic Gymnastics and as the play-by-play woman for softball in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Not to mention, she also worked at NBA games on ABC and ESP. On October 21, 2008, the talented and hardworking reporter resigned from her responsibilities as head NBA sideline reporter to focus on her family and children.

After a year gap in her professional career, the reporter returned to WCCO-AM as the new evening drive-time talk radio on April 20, 2009.

The show lasted till January 27, 2012. Moreover, she joined NBC Sports in the year 2011 and left ESPN.

The Sportscaster also worked on KQRS-FM along with Tom Barnard on ‘The KQ Morning Show on September 8, 2016. In the year 2018, Michele also worked as a reporter for Super Bowl LII.

However, after working for four years, in May 2020, the NBC sportscaster decided to leave ‘The KQ Morning Show.’ We do not have the actual information regarding Tafoya’s current professional career. However, if found, the readers are updated as soon as possible.

Michele Tafoya: Awards and Achievement

In 1996, Michele became the first woman to call television play-by-play of an NCAA tournament game on CBS.

After that, she was honored with the Gracie Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement by An Individual On-Air TV Personality’ for her play-by-play calling of WNBA games on Lifetime Television.

Tafoya made history to have been nominated for the Sports Emmy forOutstanding Sports Personality 7 times.  Also, she has won the award thrice in the year 2011, 2013, and 2019.

Michele Tafoya – Husband and kids

As mentioned above, Ms. Vandersall is a happily married woman. She is married to Mark Vandersall. 

As per the information, before marriage, the couples dated for a long time, nearly 7 years. They met each other in the year 1993.

The pair met when Tafoya worked as a host and reporter at the Minnesota radio station KFAN AM. After knowing and understanding each other, the Vandersall couples tied the knot on May 30, 2000.

Mark Vandersall is a financial advisor at Ameriprise Financial  Services. Likewise, Mark and Michele are blessed with two children: a son, Tyler, born in 2005, and a daughter Olivia, whom they adopted as a newborn in 2009.

During the early phase, the couple faced some difficulties when starting the family. Michele went through 4 miscarriages altogether before the birth of Tyler. Even after consulting with a fertility specialist, but miscarried again.

At present, Michele is living happily with her husband and child in Edina, Minnesota. Even the two have been living a blissful and happy life with their children.

Not to mention, they have yet to be linked to any sorts of malicious rumors or controversies.

Michele Tafoya – More on Personal Life

On her multiple miscarriages

When Michele had her first miscarriage, she could convince herself to make peace, as it is something that happens with many people every now and then.

But when the second miscarriage happened, she remembers apologizing to her husband because she felt responsible. Michele, being seven years older than her husband, had biological reasons to believe so.

Michele then had her third miscarriage, identical twins, this time as the embryo had split. She remembers this time as the lowest of the lows for her and her husband.

God is unfair to good people. The couple had been considering donor eggs, but miraculously Michelle got pregnant without having to go for donor eggs.

And then, Tyler came into their lives. Later joined by Olivia, whom the couple adopted from Colombia, owing to Michele’s Hispanic background.

On being a Female Sportscaster

Tafoya loves her job. She is happy and proud of what she does. When asked about what it’s like to be in a men’s profession, she contemplates that there is no such thing as a men’s or women’s profession.

She knows that she might have to face little distinct consequences than men in the profession.

She also acknowledges that men dominate the business that she is in but firmly believes that domination does not make it a men’s profession.

It is equally hers as it is of any of her male colleagues.

Michele Tafoya – Net Worth and Salary

To begin with, as of 2022, the American sportscaster accrued a total of $2 million net worth. Well, the net worth is quite fitting, considering the passion and determination of the sportscaster.

Accordingly, sources reported that Tafoya pockets about $200k as an annual average salary.

This is so pretty good amount of money earned from her career she started in 1993. Hopefully, talented women like Michele will earn significantly higher wages in the coming future.

Similarly, Michele’s husband, Mark, also earns a satisfying amount of money, which has led Vandersall’s family to live a luxurious and happy life.

Moreover, Vandersall’s couples are often seen roaming around different places, spending a vacation together.

Michele Tafoya – Social Media Presence

Michele Tafoya is one of the most popular and loved celebrities on the television screen. Some of you may also be her fan for since long as well, as you may also love to gain some other information related to her.

Tafoya has been active in this field for years, and during these periods, she has gained a lot of fans on her social networking sites, such as Facebook.

Facebook – 25K followers

Common Queries about Michele Tafoya

Where does Michele Tafoya live?

Michela Tafoya lives in Edina, Minnesota, United States, with her husband, Mark Vandersall, and children.

Where is Michele Tafoya from?

Michele Tafoya is originally from Manhattan Beach, California, United States. That’s her birthplace.

What race is Michele Tafoya?

Michele Tafoya is of Hispanic descent.