Maria Taylor returned to ESPN airwaves on Monday for the first time since she left the company in 2021, appearing on ESPN2’s ManningCast during Monday Night Football.
The NBC Sports broadcaster took to TikTok afterward to discuss the situation surrounding why she left and what she’d learned from the whole experience.
“So (Monday) night I was on my former employer’s network, let’s talk about it,” Taylor said while doing a “get ready with me (GRWM)” video. “I worked for 10 years at ESPN and loved my time there, but the ending came a little tumultuously. And to be honest, if you went and looked up my dream job when I was a junior playing volleyball at the University of Georgia… it said ESPN reporter.
“But then came a time when I had the opportunity to really decide what I wanted to for my life moving forward and if where I was was the best place for me, and as we all know… it’s hard to go through change.”
Taylor said that some of her best friends still work for ESPN, where she was employed between 2013 and 2021. After leaked audio revealed former colleague Rachel Nichols had made disparaging comments about her, contract negotiations reportedly broke down between the NBA Countdown host and ESPN and she left the company in 2021 rather than sign an extension. She joined NBC Sports very soon after.
“I knew in my heart of hearts that it was time,” Taylor said. “I honestly just needed more opportunities to spend time with my family to start a family and at the level I was going and the work that I was doing, I didn’t think I would have the time. I still wanted to work at a very high level, but I just wanted to focus on very important quality events.
“And I also felt like the relationship had ran its course. And it’s so funny because when I was making my final decision, someone was making the case that ‘well if you leave here then you’ll never ever be on television again — like no one will ever see you again.’ And I remember being like, ‘The ways in which I don’t care whether or not anyone ever sees me again’ — as long as I see checks clearing into my bank account. And at that moment I knew I was onto something else.
“And to be honest, I also kind of felt like it was just time for a brand new challenge. I was getting a little worn out of the same things, and I just wanted to try something new.”
@mariataylortoks Let’s talk ablut change. Just choose you and let it be #FYP ♬ original sound – Maria Taylor
Taylor says she went through a grieving period after leaving ESPN.
“I’m going to be completely and totally honest, I cried. I cried for two straight weeks while I was in Tokyo covering the Olympics because I literally flew from the NBA Finals to Tokyo and I thought to myself ‘Like what have I done, what am I doing here? I don’t know anyone here. It was COVID,’” she recalled. “I was so sad. But to be honest, I was grieving something. I was grieving the idea of what I had for my dream job and my dream had changed. So I was walking into realizing what the new life would look like, so I was grieving and that took about two weeks.”
The Football Night in America host says that what she’s learned more than anything is that her employer and her job don’t define who she is as a person.
“I’m thankful for maturing and feeling capable and strong enough to walk away and realizing that four letters don’t define me, three letters don’t define me, my job doesn’t define me. I get to define who I am and want to be in this world and if that means I’m changing carers and locations, it means absolutely nothing — and it’s nobody’s business.”
