{"id":21427,"date":"2026-03-11T11:08:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T11:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/espns-maria-taylor-relies-on-faith-to-guide-her\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:12:08","slug":"espns-maria-taylor-relies-on-faith-to-guide-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/entertainment\/movies-and-tv\/espns-maria-taylor-relies-on-faith-to-guide-her\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN’s Maria Taylor Relies on Faith to Guide Her Career and Life Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Find me on Twitter and you\u2019ll see that I \u201ctalk sports for a living on ESPN,\u201d with a photo of me on College GameDay, <\/em>where I\u2019m a reporter. You\u2019ll also see that I cofounded an organization called the Winning Edge Leadership Academy (more on that later). Most important\u2014and perhaps unexpectedly for some\u2014there\u2019s a Bible reference: Ephesians 2:10, \u201cIt is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.\u201d<\/p>\n

I put that there for a purpose. People can expend a lot of negative energy on social media. I understand how that happens. I\u2019ve made tons of mistakes\u2014some of them even on air. I\u2019m not immune to criticism or self-criticism. But it seems more important than ever to remember just who we are and what bigger purpose God intends for us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I inherited a lot of that from my parents. My siblings and I grew up knowing we were very loved and that much was expected of us.<\/p>\n

Dad was a big car buff, so just because I was a girl\u2014the middle child\u2014didn\u2019t mean that I shouldn\u2019t know how to change a tire, check the oil and know what\u2019s under the hood. I might have been a little more interested in the inside, <\/em>like the radio and upholstery, but that didn\u2019t matter. \u201cEvery engine is a little different,\u201d Dad said. \u201cGet to know \u2019em.\u201d When I was 16, he took me up a hill in a 1992 Honda Accord\u2014I called it Putt-Putt. He put me in the driver\u2019s seat and told me to drive. Did I mention that it was a stick shift?<\/p>\n

Mom was the CFO for the Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech, but we kids always came first. She never missed a game or parent-teacher conference. Dad worked for the FBI and for a while was commuting from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. I don\u2019t doubt that was stressful, but Mom and Dad made it work. Marriage wasn\u2019t something you messed with. I took after my dad in more ways than one. He was six foot seven, and I topped out at six foot two in ninth grade, fending off nicknames like the Jolly Green Giant. I\u2019d played basketball since sixth grade, and in high school, a coach asked if I\u2019d like to try volleyball. My first thought was: If I play volleyball in the fall, then I can get out of that boring preseason strength training we do for basketball.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d I said. It was love at first serve. I was hooked. I was team MVP for three years running and named All-State as a senior. I was recruited for the basketball and volleyball teams at the University of Georgia. It was there, my sophomore year, that I had one of the most important conversations of my life.<\/p>\n

It was in the spring\u2014the off-season\u2014and one of my volleyball teammates, who worshipped the sport, came into the locker room in tears. \u201cI need to quit,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not meant to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked. I thought maybe, as a freshman, she was discouraged. \u201cYour first year can be tough,\u201d I said. No, it was nothing like that. She still loved the game, but she sensed that God had something else in mind for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m supposed to become a teacher. I\u2019m meant to help kids,\u201d she said. She realized through prayer that volleyball was no longer in God\u2019s plan for her life. The pressures and time commitment were taking focus away from worshipping God and his new purpose for her.<\/p>\n

It seemed so outlandish, so impossible. That faith in God would trump everything, even volleyball. I knew how much being an NCAA Division I athlete meant to her. I\u2019d heard about people whose lives were guided by what they believed. This was the first time I met it face-to-face, in my locker room, in someone my age no less. Her face was aglow with strength and clarity of purpose. I looked at her and thought, I want what she has. To live like that.<\/em><\/p>\n

I became more intentional about my faith. I read the Bible. I joined a Bible study. I prayed a lot and sought out a church. Sports were still important\u2014and still are. But I came to see how the wins and losses of life were so much more manageable when you had a real relationship with a higher power.<\/p>\n