How Taylor McGregor turned public-speaking skills into broadcasting career

Keli McGregor couldn’t have foreseen his daughter Taylor’s career in broadcasting before he died at 48 on April 20, 2010. The idea was still new to Taylor, who was a junior at Golden High School at the time. But her father, who had been the Rockies’ president since 2001, posthumously gave her a nudge.

Taylor spoke at Keli’s memorial service in front of an estimated 3,000 people at Coors Field. What she said and how she said it left such an impression on those gathered that people still mention it to her.

“That was really when everybody started coming up to me [saying], ‘You have a gift. You need to lean into whatever this is,’ ” said McGregor, who spoke after her two sisters and brother. “That was one of those, OK, I need to pursue something in this.”

That she did, and on Thursday, she began her seventh season as Marquee Sports Network’s lead field reporter on Cubs broadcasts. Last week, she worked her first NBA game for ESPN, expanding a national profile that added the College Football Playoff last season.

McGregor’s bosses at ESPN are noticing what Cubs fans — and those who saw her speak that day in Denver — already knew: She’s very comfortable in front of a crowd of thousands, let alone a camera before millions.

“So many of our bosses sit in the [production] truck, and I think they’ve recognized that I have a good idea of what’s interesting,” McGregor, 33, said. “And I worked hard at that. It takes time to understand the sport, to really dive in to be able to differentiate yourself.”

Initially, McGregor thought about differentiating herself, well, differently.

The 9/11 attacks happened when McGregor was in third grade, and her teacher, who was from New York, often would talk with the class about the events of the day. McGregor remembers thinking that she “wanted to help catch the bad guys.” One way to do that was to join the CIA.

When McGregor was in eighth grade, her father was running the Rockies. The team’s head of security was a former FBI agent who had a friend who was an active CIA agent. A meeting was arranged — she still doesn’t think she knows the guy’s real name — and she peppered him with questions, fascinated by the possibility.

“But the one downside I remember him telling me is, as a female, it’s really hard to do this because you probably won’t be able to have a family and kids because you’re going to be all over,” McGregor said. “And I remember thinking, Well, I really want a family and kids, so maybe this isn’t for me.”

Meanwhile, women were becoming more prevalent in sports television. McGregor watched a lot of Rockies games, so she saw Alanna Rizzo, the team’s field reporter, and Charissa Thompson, who hosted the team’s weekly all-access show. And she remembers thinking, I can do that.

McGregor had been performing in front of crowds in some fashion since she was a child. She was the lead in elementary school plays. She was in the children’s choir. She was an athlete, excelling in soccer. Why not in front of a camera?

After graduating from the University of Arkansas with a degree in broadcast journalism, McGregor began her career at KCWY-TV in Casper, Wyoming, making $18,000 a year. It was a grind. Once at a drive-thru Starbucks, her debit card was declined, and she had to call her mother and ask for cash.

But as the weekday sports anchor, she got a lot of reps, which are invaluable. She also learned how to be a reporter, covering high schools that didn’t come with sports-information departments.

Most importantly, McGregor learned how badly she wanted to do the job. After a stop at KTHV-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas, she became the Rockies’ field reporter on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, where she caught the attention of ESPN NFL analyst and former quarterback Brian Griese, a huge Rockies fan.

“I had never met Brian Griese,” McGregor said, “but one day at the ballpark, I run into him, and I introduced myself. I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m Taylor McGregor, and I wanna be a sideline reporter for ESPN.’ He said, ‘I watch your stuff, you can do it. I’ve worked with a lot of reporters; you’re as good if not better than them.’ ”

Unprompted, Griese called Steve Ackels, then ESPN’s coordinating producer for college football, who had told McGregor when they met at SEC media days that the network had no openings. But the next day, she got a call from Ackels, who offered her a few games in that 2019 season. After starting on an SEC Network overflow channel, she finished the season on ESPN.

Meanwhile, Marquee was preparing to launch in 2020, and McGregor got word that the network was looking for an experienced field reporter. At first, she wasn’t interested. She loved her job with the Rockies. She was home. Then she talked with some colleagues, who pointed to the Cubs’ draw and stature.

“They were like, ‘You’re insane. You have to go after this,’ ” McGregor said. “I said, ‘OK, you’re right.’ I ended up flying out, and I remember landing in Chicago and being like, not only am I going to put myself up for this job, but I think I’m going to get this job.”

Deep down, McGregor felt she needed to branch out and be in a place where she wasn’t known mostly for being Keli McGregor’s daughter. Of course, she loved being known for that and was proud of her father’s legacy. But this was a way to start her own.

“Taylor was very credible and very capable right from the start,” said former Marquee general manager Mike McCarthy, who hired McGregor. “While she has a God-given talent for putting people at ease, she also has a strong confidence about her, without any arrogance or aloofness. We saw it on her tapes, and we saw it in our meetings with her. She was, and is, the real deal.”

McGregor, who now lives in Chicago, is performing very well on Marquee’s top team with play-by-play voice Jon Sciambi and analyst Jim Deshaies. Her preparation is evident, her delivery is comfortable and her banter with her broadcast mates is delightful.

Keli would be proud.