Michele Tafoya's Last "SNF" Broadcast on NBC Will Be Super Bowl LVI

After being a part of more NFL games than faces of the league like Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, longtime sideline reporter Michele Tafoya will be hanging up her spikes after working Super Bowl LVI for NBC next month.

Tafoya, 57, will wrap up her sportscasting career on February 13 when NBC rolls out Sunday Night Football for its coverage of the Super Bowl in Los Angeles. A resident of Minnesota, Tafoya will stay local after working what will be her fifth Super Bowl. What’s next for the mainstay of NFL broadcasts is a bit less certain.

“Some may consider me crazy to walk away from one of the more coveted roles in sports television, and I do not doubt that I will miss many aspects of the job,” she said in a prepared statement. “But for some time, I have been considering other areas I would like to explore both personally and professionally. I couldn’t ignore that little voice anymore after what we have all endured over the last few years. There’s no better way to walk away from covering the NFL than with one more Super Bowl.”

In addition to working on SNF for NBC, Tafoya has had high-profile roles with CBS Sports, ABC and ESPN and collected four Emmys in the process. “In my lifetime, I feel like she’s the best sideline reporter the NFL has ever had,” said SNF executive producer Fred Gaudelli.

While she won’t be covering games, Tafoya should be back on television sooner rather than later, possibly as a co-host of a program like the daytime talk show The View. Last month, Tafoya served as a guest host of the popular show.

“If I wanted to stay in sports television, I wouldn’t be leaving,” she said during a news conference. “This is about opening a new chapter for me. Generally, what I took out of that was the opportunity to flex some other muscles. I didn’t get to flex them as much as I wanted to. I can probably count the number of minutes I spoke. But I got to talk about other stuff. That was enjoyable for me.”