Maria Taylor is taking center stage at NBC Sports ahead of the NBC Sports prom time broadcast of Sunday Night Football during the NFL season Maria Taylor is situated within the Network Studios for the preceding slate of games as the host of football night in America the most watched weekly Studio show in sports since its debut in 2006 she has a distinct responsibility to keep viewers invested and aware of occurrences around the league leading into the signature matchup the program has a large cast that is dispersed at the studio and live from the sight of the game but nonetheless remains collectively rooted on the grid iron NBC's football night in America analyzes completed games while previewing the Prima time Showdown about to ensue throughout the day Taylor makes observations and listens to what her colleagues have to say in order to align them for Success on the studio show it's the production meeting it's everyone being in the same room Taylor said we're eating meals together we're talking to together and we're feeling each other out that is a huge part of it so that when we get into the studio and the game's ending suddenly we can remember what a guy was hyped about or excited about or was talking about during the game Taylor has an array of colleagues with varying experience all of whom bring different viewpoints and contribute to insightful Salient conversations Devin mccordi Chris Sims and Jason Garrett all bring tangible NFL experience and are able to simplify things for the AI audience Taylor describes herself as being akin to a point guard in her role a characterization encompassing her placing metaphorical building blocks to enable engaging discussion the setups are definitely when you know that a person is head over heels in love with one aspect of the game I don't shy away from making sure that I'm giving them a shot at talking about that thing that they love Taylor said that's very important and then even sometimes they feed off of each other great within their conversation on football night in America Taylor tries to ensure that she can candidly Express her personality and intersperses her opinions as well demonstrating such as something she does not force instead trying to convey a natural welcoming milu to the viewers as if they were conversing in their living room I always have viewed television as just like it might be a slightly more amped up version of me but it is me Taylor said I do believe that the audience can tell when you're faking and that's the last thing you want to do Taylor is entering her third season as the host of football night in America after initially joining NBC Sports in 2021 the show is an entity she feels is distinctive and precedes a sports property that has rendered itself appointment viewing in fact Sunday Night Football averaged 21.4 million viewers last season indicative of an 8% year-over-year increase and also finished as the number one show in Prime Time television in all key metrics for a 13th consecutive year Taylor recognizes the privilege and responsibility preceding the broadcast and feels that the program consistently delivers Stellar information analysis and storytelling we're the only show that really does get to comment on every single game that happens on Sunday and preview the one game that nobody has seen yet Taylor said I think that's a unique space to operate in but it's the first time that you're getting analysts to dive into a game and it is a split-second reaction so it's like instant reaction that you're seeing in all the highlights that are on Twitter and everything like that so I think that that's unique NBC Universal acquired broadcasting rights to the Big 10 conference under a 7-year deal with the entity and started presenting Prime Time coverage on Saturday night's last season preceding the call of The Game featuring the lead Big 10 Saturday night broadcast team Taylor is in the NBC Sports Studios hosting Big 10 college countdown it's like extracurricular fund for me I love talking about college as well and I've watched every game I would say even before we got the big 10 back so I was ready when it was time Taylor explained and obviously the only thing that's really changed is now the playoff format and the idea of transfers so you got to spend a little bit more time getting to know rosters as the season starts because a lot of things have changed Taylor attended the University of Georgia under an athletic scholarship for her abilities in volleyball and basketball balancing both while studying Broadcast News Damon Evans former Georgia Athletic Director served as a mentor and helped her land a job as a production assistant for international sports properties shortly after her time on the local level which coincided with earning a master's degree in Business Taylor was hired by ESPN as a college analyst and reporter in 2014 upon joining the company full-time she continued sideline reporting for games on sec Network and was named to the role for Saturday Night Football on ABC 3 years later you're kind of like the first line of defense Taylor said of sideline reporting I always say you're in the trenches when you're a reporter and it's not the most glamorous job and people don't always give sideline reporters the credit that they probably deserve but that's where I kind of earned my broadcasting chops while Taylor appeared on ESPN she also worked across Studio programming and Reporting and hosting roles some which included college game day and NBA Countdown prior to the expiration of Taylor's contract at ESPN NBA Countdown had been slated to serve as the pregame show for the 2020 NBA Finals instead of the jump which was hosted by Rachel Nichols shortly thereafter a conversation took place in which Nicholls suggested that ESPN should go for it if it wanted to give Taylor more things to do because of what she called a crappy longtime record on diversity within the conversation Nicholls stated that ESPN would not find those purported Ventures for Taylor from her Orin taking my thing away a recording of the discussion which took place with Adam mendleson an adviser for LeBron James and Rich Paul was leaked one year later captured by a video camera that was on in Nichols hotel room and connected to ESPN's servers Taylor and ESPN were unable to reach a contract extension later in the month leading to her departure from the company following the resolution she subsequently agreed to a deal with NBC Sports and made her debut from the Olympic Games in Tokyo Japan which were played one year later due to the global pandemic one reason Taylor decided to join the NBC Universal division was to continue appearing on Marquee events while also having time off up until that point she estimated working for about a decade without any time to rest and she was seeking to reestablish balance in her life the respit allow Taylor to go through IVF and pregnancy to have her son earlier in the year after which she was on maternity leave I remember having a conversation with Molly Solomon and Fred Gody at the time and they were like we want that for you we want you to have a family Taylor recalled it was a conversation about the whole person it wasn't just about broadcasting hey you're a great fit here and so on dot I could tell that NBC cared about me as a person and who I wanted to be as a wife and a mother and they have supported it every step of the way