Who Is Michele Tafoya's Husband, Mark Vandersall?
Michele Tafoya has been a force in the sports news world for years now. Since 2011, she has been working as a sports reporter for NBC but shared she will be stepping away from the network for a new and unnamed opportunity after the upcoming Super Bowl (via Barrett Sports Media). She recently shared, "I don't want to be part of the story necessarily, but I do appreciate, more than ever this opportunity to do a fifth Super Bowl, to do it with this crew." She continued, "I've worked a lot with this crew, and they are a family of mine." While she has a new opportunity waiting for her, she has made it clear this will be her last time reporting on sports.
She told the hosts of "The View" she is leaving sports to pursue something meaningful to her, adding, "If I wanted to stay in sports television, I wouldn't be leaving. This is about opening a new chapter for me, so that's really all I can say" (via the New York Post).
One of the many reasons behind Tafoya leaving NBC is to spend more time with her family, including her husband.
The couple share a love of sports
According to The Sun, Tafoya and her husband, Mark Vandersall, have a lot in common when it comes to sports. Vandersall is a major sports fan, having been a 1989 all football conference player for Robbinsdale High School in his hometown in Minnesota. He went on to become an All-American pitcher for his college, the University of Minnesota.
While Vandersall is big on sports, he chose a more quiet life with a career as a private wealth advisor for Ameriprise Financial Services (via The Focus).
The couple tied the knot in 2000 and had trouble building a family. According to an interview Tafoya did with Edina Magazine, the couple turned to adoption when she suffered several miscarriages. When adopting their daughter Olivia, Tafoya recalled, "Meeting her was a powerful moment," adding, "She was sleeping, looked up and smiled at us. She hasn't stopped smiling since." Olivia was adopted in Columbia. The couple also shares a son, Tyler, who was born in 2005.