My hair was still in pin curls when I first logged onto the Zoom with Taylor Rooks. I had done my typical beauty maintenance routine (hair, nails, skincare) that morning and the day prior in preparation for my trip to New Orleans for the “Big Game” weekend, and I wanted to make sure my hair still looked right by the weekend.
The girls that get it, get it. And Rooks? She got it immediately. Another Black girl who understands that pre-travel hair prep is just as important as the trip itself.
The journey to this moment—a Zoom call before the third annual P&G Battle of the Paddles, where she’ll be competing during Super Bowl week—is a story of relentless ambition and unapologetic authenticity (and also of a fellow Black girl journalist who constantly and consistently has her hair laid at all times). Long before she became the Emmy Award-nominated sports journalist who’s become synonymous with breakthrough interviews, Taylor Rooks was a kid who grew up in a family of athletes, who knew exactly what she wanted.
Her rise through sports media wasn’t a straight line. It was a series of strategic moves, each interview building her reputation as someone who could draw out stories other journalists missed. At Bleacher Report, she’s become more than just a reporter—she’s a storyteller who understands that every athlete carries a universe of experiences beyond their professional achievements.
“I am incredibly competitive,” she tells me. “I expect to win everything, even when I know I’m not even good at it.” It’s a philosophy that’s defined her career, because what else but a relentless drive that’s seen her interview some of the biggest names in sports, could transform what it means to tell athletes’ stories. It’s also the same spirit she used to compete in the P&G Battle of the Paddles, where she teamed up with Atlanta Falcons QB, Kirk Cousins to compete in the exclusive table tennis tournament.
in the third annual P&G Battle of the Paddles, an exclusive table tennis tournament that brings together elite NFL players and celebrity fans.
Her approach to journalism isn’t about surface-level questions. It’s about creating genuine human connections. “When you’re interviewing someone and sitting down with them, especially when it is for an hour, which we do on my B R show, it is really like a ping pong match,” she explains. “You are giving and taking. You have to always have a good follow-up. You have to always be listening.”
For Rooks, authenticity means being willing to share a piece of yourself. “When it is about human-to-human and person-to-person experiences, you have to have an element of openness,” she says. She offers an example of interviewing Spencer Dinwiddie, where sharing her own experience of losing a grandparent allowed him to open up more deeply. “When he’s telling me about how sad it was when he lost his grandparent, and I know I also have that same experience, me being able to talk to him about that allowed him to open up more in that moment.”
This authenticity is revolutionary, especially for Black women in sports media. She’s part of a generation rewriting the rules, creating space where athletes can be vulnerable, where their humanity is as important as their athletic performance. “It’s really important that you have Black people telling Black stories,” she says. “Black women make sports better. We are incredibly additive to the space.”
Her interviews have become legendary—not for gotcha moments, but for genuine human connection. Take her conversation with Wayne Gretzky during The Masters in Augusta, GA last year (which I got to witness firsthand). She left even seasoned fans like myself seeing the hockey legend in an entirely new light. It’s not about the questions she asks, but the space she creates for authentic storytelling.
She references a philosophy shared by Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey: “You play the game, not the occasion.” For Rooks, this means staying focused on the human story, not the spectacle. Whether she’s conducting hour-long interviews on her Bleacher Report show or competing in a ping pong tournament, she’s always playing to win.
Her competitive spirit runs deep. She lights up talking about athletes’ unexpected intensities—Saquon Barkley turning Connect 4 into a championship match, Jayson Tatum treating golf like it’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals. These aren’t just anecdotes. They’re windows into the psychological world of elite athletes, a world Rooks has made her domain.
“I probably get the most competitive in Spades,” she admits. “Partner is very important, and setting out the rules early is very important.” It’s a metaphor for her entire approach—understanding the game, setting the rules, and playing to win.
Looking ahead, she’s not content to stay in front of the camera. “I want to do more producing,” she reveals. “I want to get into both scripted and unscripted stuff. I want to be able to tell stories that don’t have me in front of the camera.” It’s a testament to her understanding that great storytelling isn’t about the storyteller—it’s about the story itself.
As for the upcoming Super Bowl? “I would just like to see the Eagles get it,” she says just days away before one of the biggest rematch ups in the history of the NFL. (editor’s note: I too, would also like to see the Eagles get it).
As we wrap up the interview, she hits me with one of the best quotes I’ve heard in a long time: “Being a Black woman is easily my favorite sorority that I’m a part of,” she says. She understands the weight of this statement—the legacy of Black women in sports media who’ve carved out space where none existed before. “I feel an immense amount of gratitude to all the Black women that were doing this way before me,” she adds, speaking to a history of storytellers who refused to be silenced.
Taylor Rooks isn’t just changing sports media. She’s reimagining what’s possible when authentic storytelling meets uncompromising excellence. And she’s doing it with a competitiveness that refuses to be contained.