Bill Belichick isn’t always caustic to members of the media. In some instances, he apparently sends holiday cards.
Longtime NFL sideline reporter Michele Tafoya was a guest recently on Richard Deitch’s podcast, and spoke about her experiences covering the league. Tafoya left NBC to co-chair a gubernatorial campaign in Minnesota and spout boilerplate right-wing talking points on Fox News.
But I digress.
While Tafoya said Belichick was always a vexing interview, the Patriots head coach thought of her every day holiday season. “I got a Christmas card from him this year. I have every year,” she said. “I do feel like there’s a relationship there. It’s just, there have been some really fun great moments, and just some that have been more challenging. And I’m going to take some responsibility for that, asking bad questions.”
Tafoya started working the sidelines for “Monday Night Football” during the 2004 season before joining NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” team in 2011. That means she’s interviewed Belichick during some the biggest games of his coaching career.
As one might expect, Belichick wasn’t always the most accommodating.
“You’re walking in knowing that it’s not going to be necessarily fun,” she said. “Some of that is on me. If I asked a question that was not a good question, he would let me know. Over the course of time, I tried to learn how to present questions to him in a way that was more intelligent. Look, I’ve been at this for a long time, so there was always room for growth and improvement with me. Always still is. It was always a little bit of a pit in the stomach.”
It doesn’t seem as if Tafoya is carrying that pit in her stomach anymore. She’s been increasingly outspoken about politics in recent months, lending some to speculate she was suspended from SNF this season due to a controversial appearance on “The View” (Tafoya denies there was any suspension).
On Wednesday, she appeared on Tucker Carlson to bash critical race theory.
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