Bryant Gumbel is out as the play-by-play man for the NFL Network.
Not exactly a shock, given his awful reviews over his first two seasons.
At least I got one of my sports media predictions for 2008 right, now that it looks like I messed up the one about Tony Kornheiser leaving "Monday Night Football."
Click below for the news release from NFL.com, which came out late on a Friday afternoon, which is Public Relations 101 for disseminating news that reflects less-than-favorably on the entity releasing the news.
Bryant Gumbel has decided to give up his duties as the play-by-play voice for the NFL Network’s eight-game package of NFL games, NFL Network announced Firday. Gumbel served as the play-by-play announcer for NFL Network’s Thursday and Saturday Night Football games for the past two seasons.
"I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to call NFL Network games the past two years, which was a new experience for me," said Gumbel. "But we've agreed that we'd all be better served going in different directions. There are a lot of talented people at NFL Network. I thank them, I wish them well, and I have no doubt that they will be very successful going forward."
Gumbel, who has won multiple Emmy awards throughout his distinguished career, teamed with Cris Collinsworth the past two seasons on the NFL Network games. NFL Network will begin a search for a new play-by-play announcer to work alongside Collinsworth immediately.
"We appreciate everything Bryant did in helping us launch our NFL Network game telecasts," said NFL Network President and CEO Steve Bornstein. "Bryant helped create interest in our first foray into televising NFL regular-season games. He is one of the great broadcasters of our time and we are honored to have worked with him."
Comments (1)
I won't rest until Kornheiser is no longer on MNF and Paul Maguire is at a retirement home!