Greg Gumbel

Greg Gumbel
File:Greg Gumbel 2009.jpg Gumbel in 2009
Born	(1946-05-03)May 3, 1946 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died
Alma mater	Loras College
Occupation	Sportscaster
Years active	1973–2023
Spouse(s)	Marcy Kaszynski (m. 1973)
Children	1
Relatives	Bryant Gumbel (brother)

Greg Gumbel (May 3, 1946 – December 27, 2024) was an American television sportscaster. He was best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). The older brother of news and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, he became the first African-American announcer to call play-by-play of a major sports championship in the United States when he announced Super Bowl XXXV for the CBS network in 2001. Gumbel was most recently the studio host for CBS' men's college basketball coverage and was a play-by-play broadcaster for the NFL on CBS until 2023.

Biography

Early years

Gumbel was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the first child of parents Richard Gumbel, a judge, and Rhea Alice LeCesne. As a young man, Gumbel grew up on Chicago's South Side, where he was raised Catholic, attending and graduating from De La Salle Institute. Before becoming a broadcaster, Gumbel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Loras College, where he also played on the baseball team. He had two sisters, Renee Gumbel-Farrahi and Rhonda Gumbel-Thomas.

Career

In 1973, Greg's brother Bryant, then working as a television sportscaster at KNBC in Los Angeles, informed him that another NBC owned-and-operated station, WMAQ-TV in Chicago, was auditioning for a sports announcer. At the time, Greg was selling hospital supplies in Detroit. He ultimately got the job, returned to Chicago and worked at WMAQ-TV for seven years. The sportscaster he replaced, Dennis Swanson, went on to become president of ABC Sports.

Prior to his rising to prominence at CBS, Gumbel worked for MSG, ESPN, and WFAN radio in New York City. At ESPN, he anchored the show SportsCenter and did "play-by-play" for early NBA games. On MSG, Gumbel served as a backup announcer for Marv Albert on New York Knicks broadcasts as well as providing coverage for college basketball. When MSG signed a huge contract to broadcast New York Yankees games in 1989, Gumbel served as host of the pregame and postgame shows. In addition to his MSG duties, he was the host of the first radio morning show on radio station WFAN. However, station management replaced him with WNBC Radio personality Don Imus once WFAN took over WNBC's AM 660 frequency.

First CBS stint

Gumbel's CBS career began with part-time work as an NFL announcer in 1988. In 1989, Gumbel began announcing college basketball as well. He became host of The NFL Today (alongside Terry Bradshaw) for the 1990 to 1993 seasons. He also anchored CBS' coverage of Major League Baseball, college football, and, in 1999, CBS' coverage for the Daytona 500 and Pepsi 400.

Besides his hosting duties, Gumbel provided play-by-play for the NBA (alongside Quinn Buckner), Major League Baseball including the 1993 American League Championship Series (alongside Jim Kaat), and College World Series baseball.

He was the prime time anchor for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games from Lillehammer, Norway, and co-anchor for the weekday morning broadcasts of the 1992 Winter Olympics from Albertville, France.

NBC Sports

Gumbel in 2005

Gumbel moved to NBC in 1994 following CBS' losses of the NFL and Major League Baseball broadcasting contracts (Gumbel's last on-air assignment for CBS was providing play-by-play for the College World Series). While at NBC, Gumbel hosted NBC's coverage of the 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. He also did play-by-play for the 1995 Major League Baseball National League Division Series and National League Championship Series (on both occasions, teaming with Joe Morgan), did play-by-play for The NBA on NBC, hosted NBC's daytime coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympics from Atlanta, Georgia, hosted the 1995 World Championships of Figure Skating, and served as the studio host for The NFL on NBC.

CBS career

Gumbel left NBC after the network broadcast of Super Bowl XXXII to return to CBS. His first major assignment was to serve as studio host for the network's coverage of college basketball, including the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

As CBS had just acquired the rights to NBC's previous NFL package, Gumbel joined the broadcast team as the lead announcer with fellow NBC alumnus Phil Simms as his color man. Gumbel was the lead announcer for the NFL on CBS between 1998 and 2003, calling Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVIII. For the 2004 NFL season, Gumbel traded positions with Jim Nantz as host of The NFL Today with Nantz taking over as lead announcer.

At the end of the 2005 NFL season, Gumbel was replaced as studio host of The NFL Today by James Brown. Gumbel returned to the broadcast booth as the #2 play-by-play man, replacing Dick Enberg, alongside color man Dan Dierdorf until Dierdorf retired after the 2013–14 NFL season. Gumbel also worked alongside Trent Green in the #3 team from 2014 until 2019. He worked in a three-man booth with Green and Bruce Arians for the 2018 NFL season. Gumbel then traded spots with Kevin Harlan in 2020, teaming with Rich Gannon. Adam Archuleta became Gumbel's partner in the #4 slot the following year after CBS declined to renew Gannon's contract.

CBS Sports extended its contract with Gumbel on March 15, 2023, which allowed him to continue hosting college basketball while stepping back from NFL coverage. However, Gumbel was absent from March Madness coverage in 2024 due to family health issues.

Personal life

Gumbel resided in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area. He remained married to his wife Marcy, with whom he had a daughter, Michelle.

In 1999, Gumbel refused to attend a NASCAR banquet honoring Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on the basis that he disagreed with Thomas' positions on political issues. He regularly appeared on Howard Stern's radio show. Along similar lines, Gumbel said of Rush Limbaugh, "I find him someone whose words and opinions I can do without."

Gumbel died of cancer on December 27, 2024, at the age of 78.

Legacy

Gumbel was the third man to serve as both host and play-by-play announcer for Super Bowls (the first two were Dick Enberg and Al Michaels respectively). He hosted Super Bowls XXVI, XXX, and XXXII before calling Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVIII. Jim Nantz became the fourth man to do so after he called Super Bowl XLI for CBS.

During his tenure as the chief anchor of The NFL Today, he served alongside co-anchors Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, and Boomer Esiason. The group was known to call him by his nickname "Gumby".

External links

• Greg Gumbel at the Internet Movie Database

Media offices
Preceded by Brent Musburger Jim Nantz	The NFL Today host 1990–1993 2004–2005	Succeeded by Jim Nantz (in 1998) James Brown
Preceded by Tim McCarver and Paula Zahn	American television prime time anchor, Winter Olympic Games 1994	Succeeded by Jim Nantz
Preceded by Jim Lampley	Studio host, NFL on NBC 1994–1997	Succeeded by Bob Costas (in 2006)
Preceded by Bob Costas, Dick Enberg, Gayle Gardner and Hannah Storm	American television daytime anchor, Summer Olympic Games 1996	Succeeded by Hannah Storm
Preceded by Pat O'Brien	Studio host, College Basketball on CBS 1998–2024
Preceded by Dick Enberg	#2 play-by-play announcer, NFL on CBS 2006–2013	Succeeded by Ian Eagle
Preceded by Dick Enberg	Super Bowl television play-by-play announcer (AFC package carrier) 2000-2003	Succeeded by Jim Nantz
Preceded by Bob Costas (in 1989)	#2 play-by-play announcer, Major League Baseball on NBC 1995	Defunct
Preceded by Dick Stockton	Secondary play-by-play announcer, Major League Baseball Game of the Week 1993	Succeeded by Thom Brennaman (in 1996)