TARYN HATCHER is one of the worst-kept secrets in sports broadcasting.
The glamorous TV reporter has spent the last six years working for NBC Sports Philadelphia, winning an army of fans for her brilliant coverage of the Eagles, 76ers, Phillies and Flyers.
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She is loved by viewers, players and teams for her superb coverage on the sideline for NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL games.
Hatcher, 31, has also won fans over for her playful social media content – which once included calling out a hater by revealing the woman’s SON had slid into her DMs.
Philly Sports Fan and Rutgers
Hatcher grew up in Delran, New Jersey, which is just over the Delaware river from downtown Philadelphia.
Her father was a huge Philadelphia sports fan and played college basketball.
That rubbed off on Hatcher and her siblings, with one of her brothers – who is now a helicopter pilot in the US Navy – a hockey player.
Hatcher played soccer up to high school level, in midfield and defense, although a serious knee injury ended her hopes of getting a college scholarship – although she has described that as a “blessing in disguise”.
She later told the SheWritesSports blog: “My dad was a big influence. We grew up watching a ton of sports together.
“One night when I was little he pointed out to me that you could get paid to watch and talk about sports on TV.
“It was a done deal. I never really entertained the idea of pursuing another career after that.”
She eventually enrolled at Rutgers, where she graduated early with a journalism/political science double major.
During her time in college, Hatcher interned at CBS in New York and CSN in South Philadelphia, as well as appearing on school broadcasts and the Big Ten Network.
Hatcher would also supplement her income by waiting tables at Chickie’s & Pete’s in Bordentown.
She then made the decision to move nearly 5,000 MILES away to Honolulu, Hawaii, to take a job at Hawaii News Now.
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Fans’ Favorite
Hatcher told South Jersey magazine that the move to Hawaii was “random”.
“I knew I had to leave to get my foot in the door,” she said, “Philly is a huge market and I needed to go get reps somewhere else.”
Around the time of the finals she applied for jobs in Wisconsin, Missouri and Hawaii and they were the first to call back for an interview.
The big move took a bit of adjustment, with Hatcher later admitting to Philadelphia magazine: “I was in so over my head.
“Once I got comfortable and found a rhythm, they really let me be creative and show my personality, which I think helped me here.”
After three years in the Pacific, Hatcher came back home to Philadelphia – a move she was “crazy excited” for having grown up supporting Philly teams and previously interning at the station.
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In the six years since being back, she has became a firm favorite for Philly sports fans and has been gaining some national attention.
Players and staff of the major league clubs joke and banter with her on first name terms and she has the trust of the biggest stars in the city.
She has also become a must-follow for local fans and has now racked up almost 200,000 followers across her social media channels.
Hatcher frequently gets messages describing her as “beautiful” and like a “supermodel” – but also faces vile abuse.
Bringing Down Haters
Like many other women working in sports, Hatcher has to deal with toxic messages and online abuse.
She says experience has taught her to ignore them, but one of her favorite stories was when dealing with a woman who messaged her to say, “you dress like a cheap hooker.”
Hatcher revealed she checked the woman’s profile and recognised a name tagged in a post – it was the son of the hater who had been in her DMs trying to buy USED clothes of Hatcher’s.
She sent a screenshot of the message back to the woman and replied: “It seems like your son likes my clothes just fine.”
