Michele Tafoya has a view to an exit.
Tafoya is entering the last game of her more than decade-long run as the NBC sideline reporter for NFL games. While she’s been an exemplary reporter on the field, what she did away from it in 2021 has ruffled some feathers.
In November, Tafoya’s appearances and opinions on “The View” and a somewhat lengthy absence led to speculation that NBC suspended her for views she shared. Network executives refuted the rumors, saying Tafoya was just taking some “bye weeks” that were already in place prior to the start of the 2021 season.
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“Michele’s off weeks — which were determined prior to the season — were all in cold weather cities after Thanksgiving, and her final weekend off this season comes on Jan. 2 in Green Bay. Any other speculation about her time off is blatantly false,” NBC said in a statement.
Regardless of the reason behind the absence, her run with NBC is coming to an end.
Here’s what Tafoya said that rubbed some the wrong way:
What did Michele Tafoya say on ‘The View’?
On Nov. 2 and Nov. 3, 2021, Tafoya made a pair of appearances on “The View” that resulted in some controversial soundbites surrounding COVID-19, Colin Kaepernick, vaccinations and critical race theory.
“The View,” an ABC talk and debate program featuring a panel of women a majority of the time, with Tafoya guest appearing on the show. Here’s what they covered:
COVID-19, vaccinations
Among other hot topics debated on “The View,” Tafoya conflated COVID-19 with the flu (which the CDC urges are two very different things), which wasn’t well received. She shared an anecdote of a
“I have a very, very, very close relative who went through Covid, had it, survived, it was difficult,” Tafoya said. “He is on the other end of it. He’s in his early 60s, big fella. He has more immunity than I do with my two shots. He doesn’t want to get a shot.”
She also disagreed with the idea of COVID mandates and vaccinations at large:
“Well there is a phenomenon of when you try to tell people what to do, or what to take, or what to inject in their bodies, there’s a natural psychological phenomenon to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Wait a minute. Why are you telling me what to do?” Tafoya said.
Tafoya clarified that she is vaccinated.
Critical race theory
Tafoya disagreed with the concept of teaching students critical race theory, an academic concept that aims to explain how racism is embedded in law, policies and society at large.
Bold move for Michele Tafoya to cut off Whoopi Goldberg on her own show and try to educate Whoopi on, of all things, race—not a good idea. Glad Whoopi put her back in her place. 🔥 #TheView pic.twitter.com/n8cAfzymnE
— ⚡️Daniel (@TheDancuso) November 3, 2021
Tafoya would say that she believes the removal of statues — presumably of Confederate figures, which has been a recurring topic of discussion across America in the face of racial injustice movements — is a way of “whitewashing” history.
Colin Kaepernick
Tafoya took a hard stance on former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2016, implying that there was more to Kaepernick’s side of the story than he was leading on.
She also said that, had Kaepernick been a serviceable quarterback, teams would
“I just want to give the benefit of the doubt to some people that there are two sides to this story,” Tafoya said. “I think all of us can agree there’s probably a lot to this story we still don’t know.”
The crowd didn’t exactly agree with Tafoya’s comments on the situation:
Michele Tafoya gleefully eggs The View crowd to “bring it on” after they groan at her Colin Kaepernick take. pic.twitter.com/46rbGgS0qJ
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 3, 2021
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism