Michele Tafoya, the former longtime NFL sideline reporter, began her campaign for U.S. Senate on Wednesday with an eye on winning the Republican nomination for the seat in Minnesota being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Tina Smith.
“For years, I covered the biggest football games in America,” Tafoya said in a social media video. “I walked the sidelines when the pressure was mounting and the stakes were the highest. That job taught me about more than football. It taught me about how leadership really works. When leaders are prepared and accountable, teams succeed. When they aren’t, people pay the price.”
The 61-year-old Tafoya had worked for CBS, ABC, ESPN and NBC beginning in 1994 until she announced she was leaving her sideline role following the 2021 NFL season after over a decade working on “Sunday Night Football.”
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Following her exit from NBC, Tafoya announced she would be serving as co-chair of Republican Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Kendal Qualls’ campaign. Qualls ended up withdrawing from the race.
Tafoya explained to media reporter Richard Deitsch in 2022 that she wanted to explore other things that “are really important to me” as to why she was leaving reporting.
“This is not to say that sports isn’t an important field, that my job isn’t an important job,” Tafoya said. “But in my position, I was not as free to be as vocal about world events that I’m concerned about. It’s not because I was told to shut up. I want to be very clear about that. But look, if you’re on a show like Sunday Night Football, which is the No. 1 show in prime time for 11 straight years, unprecedented, the last thing they want to do is invite controversy.”
The race for Smith’s seat will see U.S. Rep. Angie Craig and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan on the Democratic side, while former NBA player Royce White is among the candidates on the Republican side.
The Minnesota primary election will be held on Aug. 11. The state has not had a Republican senator since 2002.