Super Bowl week is always a whirlwind, and even more so for Taylor Rooks. Rooks took the time to speak with SB Nation’s Kyle Posey about Super Bowl predictions, who should be the NFL MVP and why, the wildness of the NBA trade deadline, and her participation in Proctor & Gamble’s Battle of the Paddles, where celebrity fans like Rooks will be teamed up with NFL players in a ping-pong extravaganza.
NFL MVP often goes to a quarterback, but Rooks makes a strong case for Saquon Barkley to win this year.
“What he’s been able to do this year, the records that he was able to break and just the story of it, right? The disappointment with the Giants, the frustration that was going on with the Giants, and for him to go to the Eagles, have this phenomenal first year, they’re going to the Super Bowl, regardless of the team that wins, it’s a very, very good story, and I’m a member of the media, so I love stories,” Rooks said.
And even though the Chiefs are the Chiefs and Rooks tends to not want to bet against Patrick Mahomes, she’s still picking the Eagles to win this year.
Battle of the Paddles is in its third year, and this year, Rooks (a lifelong Falcons fan and Georgia native) is paired up with Falcons QB Kirk Cousins. So that should be fun!
Battle of the Paddles will be broadcast live Wednesday, Feb. 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. CT on Complex’s YouTube channel.
Kyle and Taylor’s full conversation is wide-ranging, and they get into the wild NBA trade deadline, college sports, and more. You can read the full interview below.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Kyle Posey: Thank you everybody for joining us. My name is Kyle Posey of SB Nation. I am joined by a very special guest, Taylor Rooks joins us on behalf of Battle of the Paddles. Taylor, everyone’s an athlete until they play a sport they have no business playing. Let’s be real here. Have you ever dipped your toes into the pickleball arena?
Taylor Rooks: So I’m pretty familiar with ping pong, and when I say pretty familiar, that’s maybe a bit of a stretch. I’m familiar in the way that if I go to a place and they have a table, I’ll play. I’m an incredibly competitive person, so I care a lot about winning. I’m not gonna say I’m an expert, but I’m not a beginner, but I’m definitely an expert winner. I’ll say that.
KP: Could you hold your own? How about that?
TR: I could hold my own, but lucky for me, I won’t have to. I’ll be paired with an elite athlete who will be, it’ll be a give and a take. I will help their weaknesses and their strengths will help mine, and we’re gonna figure it out.
KP: As soon as I saw Battle of the Paddles, all I could think of was that clip of Saquon going back and forth. Just tell me your overall thoughts about Battle of the Paddles.
TR: I mean I think it’s gonna be so much fun. It’s the third year that P&G is putting on Battle of the Paddles. Every single year has been a lot of fun, high intensity, a lot of trash talking. Everybody wants to win, and it’s just gonna be a really great time. I love that they’re pairing an NFL player with a celebrity fan and we’re gonna be going back and forth. I know that everybody cares a lot about putting their best foot forward, getting that win and I think that once we begin, it’s just gonna be full go, no breaks, and it’s gonna be a really fun time. And with P&G, it’s also for the fans too. They’re, of course, partnering with Lowe’s for this event and fans will get deals because from now through May. You will get $10 off by spending $50 or more on PNG products like Bounty, Swiffer, Tide, if you visit Lowes.com. So it’s a lot of fun for everybody.
KP: The fans are gonna be probably pretty crazy just watching, I imagine, just just seeing whoever is there.
TR: I don’t know the all the guests, all the athletes that are gonna be there, but if it’s one of the teams that they root for, please believe that they’re gonna be going in for them.
KP: After I saw where you went to school, I almost wore a Hawkeye shirt because that’s where I reside. I didn’t want to troll you too early though. Do you miss covering the chaos that is college sports day-to-day?
TR: Oh, what a good question. Well, first off, you should know, anytime a Big 10 school is playing a non-Big 10 school, I always root for the Big 10. There has been many a time that I’ve actually rooted for Iowa. I clearly feel like I can’t say the same for you. No, but I mean, I, I miss the environment of college sports. I would say I think the fans obviously are very passionate. They feel, they feel very tied to their schools in a way that’s unique in comparison to, you know, different sports and. In different leagues, so yeah, I miss it. I think luckily I still get to dabble in it some. I do a lot of interviews with college athletes, sometimes I do sideline for some college games, which is fun, but, you know, the regularity of it and the passion of it is something that I would say I miss for sure.
KP: Why in the world do college basketball teams wait until 3 minutes before tipoff to announce that they’ve scratched the best player? That drives me crazy. You covered college sports, obviously. Do you know why that that happens? Why can we not do something about that?
TR: I know you have to have the petition, get everybody on board. And it drives me nuts.
KP: OK, so you went to high school in Georgia, you went to college in Illinois. Who are your favorite pro teams?
TR: So I root for the Falcons, which I’m very happy I’m gonna be paired with Kirk Cousins for PNG Battle of the Paddle. So putting Atlanta on our back, you know, but I’m a Falcons fan, I root for the Hawks as well. I went to UI for college, so of course I root for Illinois paramount, but I’m also a UGA fan because anybody from Georgia is a UGA fan. My sister went there, been rooting for the Dawgs a lot of my life, so I’m very Georgia-centric when it comes to the teams that I root for in addition to UI.
KP: By the way, based on like a a 2-minute clip of Kirk Cousins, he has a serious future in broadcasting. He was damn good on Thursday Night Football. Were you surprised by that?
TR: I don’t think I was surprised. No, I’ve been really fortunate to — I worked with Kirk on a commercial before. I’ve also interviewed him a few times and he is super insightful and like, he always says his swag is like the dad’s swag, and it definitely is, but it works for him. He’s super entertaining. He has like a really interesting sense of humor. He can talk to anybody, so seeing him shine on TV is not something I was, I was surprised about. He has that way about him. He’s very relatable and in all the ways that matter in broadcast. He definitely leans into the, let’s call it the target brand.
KP: Oh, OK, so the part of the reason I asked you about the fandom is like — how is that helped or hurt just by covering sports because you have to do it objectively, right? You can’t say, well, Illinois should be doing like as you’re on the sidelines, so how do you deal with that as far as, you know, covering the Falcons on the sideline and, you know, just being objective.
TR: Yeah, I mean you definitely have on, you know, your fan hat and you have on your broadcaster hat, and you never wear two hats at the same time. So if I’m working, you’re never saying, OK, oh, I’m so upset the Hawks lost because that’s just not what you do as a broadcaster. I do have some different, you know, outlets where we get to sort of lean into fandom, like if I’m doing streams of TNT and stuff, they like it to be fun and light and and use your personality, but there’s never a time where you are being biased towards your team and that really shines in the broadcast, but also for me, you know, I’ve been been doing this for so long that I never really got to fully be a fan. Like, even when I was in school at University of Illinois, I was working. I covered the teams, so I only went to a game and not working three times in my entire time at University of Illinois. So from when I started in college in 2010 to now, I’ve been doing broadcasting at some level, and so I’ve become used to not having that always show, but now I really enjoy those times where I get to go to games as a fan, cause I feel like I’m doing things in reverse a little. I can live my fandom a little bit more now than I was able to when I was first starting.
KP: So from Big 10 Network to TNT and obviously a lot more things in the future, could you pinpoint if somebody were to ask you, hey, pinpoint a time or pinpoint an area that really helps you get to where you are, what, what would you point to? What do you think really helped you along the way?
TR: I would say two things: One, it’s relationships, like relationships that I built when I first started or relationships that I still lean on and love today. In many ways, both in the NBA and NFL, that has been very helpful. You have to be good to people. Your reputation, I think, is everything in this business, but then I would also say doing things that are your own. How can your personality shine? How can you show people who you are and what you’re actually like, and why they should listen and why it’s entertaining, and why you’re informative and all these different ways, just what’s what’s different about you. I think that the more you can figure that out, the more everything continues to open up for you. So yeah, I’d say, I’d say relationships and then also just knowing yourself, like what makes you you in the business are the two things.
KP: Yeah, it sounds it sounds simple, right? Just don’t burn bridges, be nice to people, be kind to people. But also be yourself, and I think that’s the biggest struggle. I think I see with a lot of people is how can you be yourself, toe the line, but not let people see like the full crazy side of you that, you know, so it it is kind of interesting.
OK, so you’ve been exposed to a lot. You’ve been exposed to a lot of athletes, and various leagues. Tell me about a time that you were starstruck. And does that still happen to this day, and it doesn’t have to be like, obviously a LeBron James or a Tom Brady. It can be any like any actor or actress.
TR: I wasn’t starstruck, but I was really happy to meet Allen Iverson, just cause it, it’s Allen Iverson. So I thought that was cool. And then like the Georgia in me, when I met Michael Vick, that was also really cool because that’s just who I grew up watching down there at the height of Michael Vick. He was like nothing you’ve ever seen. You had your No. 7 jersey dress and everybody was wearing theirs. Michael Vick was really important to my formative childhood football experience. So meeting him was really, really cool, and so that’s more so what I experienced, like, oh, it’s so it’s cool to meet this person. I can’t think of a time that I have been starstruck, maybe when I like saw Beyonce in person. So yeah, that’s, that’s what I say. Allen Iverson and Michael Vick.
KP: I remember at the Super Bowl last year, in Vegas, walking by and seeing Michael Vick there and like triple-taking like, wait, is that — should I — what do I, so I really know exactly what you mean there.
OK, so big week in sports, obviously — NBA, NFL. How many times do you have to refresh your Twitter?
TR: This past Saturday when we saw the Luka trade. Crazy. Well, it’s like every group chat was going insane, and then you’re really checking because you’re thinking, wait, is this a real tweet? I just had to keep on going to show this page and say, OK, is there a tweet that says, oh, I’m hacked, whatever the case may be, but when it was confirmed as real, it was just — you don’t normally get those moments where like the world stops, it feels like the landscape changed, but that was for sure one of those times where you will think, where were you when the trade happened? It was nuts. I’m really excited to see what this is how this is gonna play out for both teams, but I’m also obviously so interested in, you know, what Luca really feels about how this happened and there’s been a varying reports, but I’m excited to hear it from him, his thoughts on the trade. The possibility of landing the face of the NBA who’s still a baby, right? Like he’s really wild, yeah.
And like, why wouldn’t he just flip the switch, right, and say, hey, you, you think I’m trade worthy? You think you’re gonna trade me? And then he just takes it to another level and then it helps to have LeBron on your side. Yeah, I think it can go a lot of different ways.
KP: So as an OKC fan, I just want Chet back. I don’t really want anything else during this trade deadline. Is there a trade that you want to see happen? And the follow up to that is: Is there gonna be anybody in the West to take down my boys this year?
TR: I mean, as far as a trade I want to see happen, I think that both the Heat and Jimmy wanna be done with one another. I think that we all are like, OK, you guys want to separate, let’s see it. Every day it felt like it was something new. They both want it to be done. I also want it to be done. I also think the fans want it to be done. They just want a resolution to it, since December, man. I would love to see where Jimmy ends up. I think it will make both sides happy. I want all sides to be happy. And then as far as OKC, y’all look really, really good. It’s such a fun team to watch. Shay is Phenomenal. You watch him and, it’s just he makes it look so effortless, even though what he’s doing is genuinely unreal, and we talked about obviously youth, what they’ve been able to do with that team. It’s gonna be scary, and the cool thing about OKC is y’all will be good for a long time, it seems. So the future is bright and the present is bright. So shout out to everybody in that front office, cause y’all have done it right for sure.
KP: Do you think we take these performances for granted because like you’ll listen to the broadcast and it’s, oh well, Shay, 33, 7 and 6 tonight, and it’s like ho-hum, but he does that like every night. Like, at what point do we acknowledge the greatness because it does feel like he’s being taken for granted.
TR: I think that sometimes in sports people take everything for granted, right? I think especially when when you’re a player that is great or a team that is great, and then your expectation becomes greatness, people then become numb to what they’re seeing because they’re seeing it so much, but just because you’re seeing something so much doesn’t mean that it isn’t incredibly impressive and incredibly hard and it’s on the heels of somebody who was incredibly incredibly talented, so I feel that about sports just generally, I think what athletes do. It’s crazy and we have become just very desensitized to it. So yeah, I’d say that about Shay, I would say that about the Chiefs, I would say that about anything, that I think greatness is something that we can take for granted because we are expecting that when we watch sports, but we’re always seeing something that we’ve never seen before.
KP: That’s a perfect segue, so it’s Super Bowl week, right? And fans of both teams, they’re gonna tell you it’s us against the world, which that’s what delusion does to you as a fan, but the narratives are kind of crazy and I would say lazy if anything, so you’re hearing the refs want the Chiefs to be here. Like, do you buy into any of that nonsense? Do you buy into, like the Chiefs and the Eagles? Nobody wants to watch that.
TR: What happened to appreciating greatness? These are the two best teams in the sport. Yeah, I think it’s gonna be great and I love that with the game, we’re either going to see the Chiefs get a 3-peat or we’re going to see the Eagles complete what has been a really great season, both for Jalen getting back to the Super Bowl and for Saquan having a textbook magical year — that is who honestly I think should be the MVP.
I understand the MVP is a quarterback award, that’s what it has become, but what he’s been able to do this year, the records that he was able to break and just the story of it, right? The disappointment with the Giants, the frustration that was going on with the Giants, and for him to go to the Eagles, have this phenomenal first year, they’re going to the Super Bowl, regardless of the team that wins, it’s a very, very good story, and I’m a member of the media, so I love stories. So I just think it’s gonna be a fun one regardless.
KP: OK, before we get you out of here, you said MVP Saquon, and, and that would be, in my opinion, the best way it would come out, right, because Patrick Mahomes has done this multiple times and for everything that Saquon’s been through, right, for having to spend your rookie contract with the Giants, I feel like you deserve a Super Bowl win with the Eagles. Give me your score prediction.
TR: You know, I haven’t really thought about my score prediction. I’ll have to get back to you. I do think the Eagles can get this one. I think the Eagles can win. Now it’s very hard for me to say that cause I’m not a person that bets against Patrick Mahomes. I’ve always been like, oh, the Chiefs are gonna win. Yeah, but I’m gonna go Eagles, and I’ll get I’ll get back to you on the score. I haven’t thought about my score prediction yet.
