How Tall is NBC ‘Sunday Night Football’ Host Maria Taylor?
When NBC’s Sunday Night Football studio host is sitting down, you notice her smooth transition, insightful questions, and depth of football knowledge. When she’s standing up next to her Football Night in America co-hosts — former NFL players and coaches Jason Garrett and Tony Dungy — on Sunday nights, you notice how much taller Taylor looks next to them. So, just how tall is Maria Taylor?
How tall is Maria Taylor?
Maria Taylor is 6-foot-2, which makes it little surprise that she was a volleyball star and basketball player at the University of Georgia from 2005 to 2009.
After leaving UGA, Taylor went into broadcasting (more on that below) and joined ESPN. In 2021, she made a move to NBC and joined the Sunday Night Football studio show, Football Night in America.
For the 2022 NFL season, Taylor took over for Mike Tirico as the show’s primary host, working with former NFL quarterback and Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and former NFL defensive back and Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy.
As former NFL players, neither Dungy nor Garrett are small people. Pro Football Reference lists Dungy as 6 feet tall and Garrett as 6-foot-2. However, Taylor appears to tower over both of them during their late second-quarter standup on Sunday Night Football.
It’s possible both Dungy and Garrett aren’t quite as big as their program height. It’s also possible that in the heels she wears on game days, Taylor is 6-foot-5 or taller.
Either way, Taylor towering over Dungy and Garrett is the reason so many people are asking, how tall is Maria Taylor?
Maria Taylor’s broadcasting career
After a two-sport career at Georgia, where Maria Taylor was a basketball player and an All-SEC volleyball player, the Georgia native started her broadcast career where she went to school, appearing on several Bulldog- and SEC-centric sports shows.
That experience led to a job at ESPN, where she started as a college football sideline reporter and a studio analyst for Women’s college basketball. Over the next few years, Taylor built her resume further, working on ESPN’s college football studio coverage and sideline reporting for NFL games.
In 2019, Taylor transitioned to ESPN’s NBA coverage, hosting the flagship pregame show, NBA Countdown. In 2020, Countdown became the pregame show of the NBA Finals instead of The Jump, hosted by Rachel Nichols. Controversy ensued as Nichols was recorded in her hotel room complaining about the situation, saying ESPN chose Taylor over her because Taylor is Black.
After this controversy, Taylor allowed her ESPN contract to run out after turning down a $4 million raise from the network because she wanted “Stephen A. Smith money.” Smith makes $12 million per year from the sports network.
Taylor promptly signed with NBC Sports and joined the 2020 Olympics coverage. In addition to her NFL responsibilities, Taylor also hosted NBC’s 2022 French Open coverage.
