Legendary sportscaster Greg Gumbel passed away at the age of 78 from cancer at his home in Davie, Fla, on December 27.
Gumbel was born in New Orleans, La., on May 3, 194,6, and later moved to the south side of Chicago with his younger brother and sports announcer Bryant Gumbell. Gumbel graduated from Loras College with a B.A. in English in 1967 and played on their baseball team.
Greg Gumbel began his sports broadcasting career in 1973 with the help of his brother Bryant, who was working at WMAQ-TV in Chicago at the time.
Greg Gumbel worked there for seven years and spent time with MSG, ESPN, and WFAN radio before his rise to CBS.
He was the chief anchor of “The NFL Today”, which he began doing in 1990 with Terry Bradshaw. Some of his co-workers also included Dan Marino, Boomer Esiason, and Shannon Sharp. Gumbel was nicknamed “Gumby” by some of his friends.
Greg Gumbel served as a pregame and post-game host of New York Yankees games for MSG when they signed a contract to broadcast Yankees’ games in 1989. In 1993, with CBS, he called the American League Championship Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago White Sox and the College World Series in Omaha. He covered the CWS as a host and play-by-play announcer from 1989-1993 and returned to do it from 2000-2002.
In 1994, he left for NBC and covered the 1995 National League Division Series and NL Championship Series. He also covered the 1994 MLB All-Star game and was studio host for The NFL on NBC.
Greg Gumbel returned to CBS in 1998 and was the studio host for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, commonly called “March Madness.”
In Greg Gumbel’s sportscasting career, he has hosted multiple Super Bowl shows and play-by-play angles with extensive coverage from: the television pre-game show for Super Bowl XXVI(CBS); Super Bowl XXX (NBC); Super Bowl XXXII(NBC); Super Bowl XLVII (CBS); and Super Bowl 50 (CBS); provided tv play-by-play for Super Bowl XXXV (CBS) and Super Bowl XXXVIII(CBS); hosted the radio pregame show for Super Bowl XXV (CBS); Super Bowl XXVI (CBS); Super Bowl XXVII (CBS); and Super Bowl XXVIII (CBS).
Greg Gumbel also called significant events such as the Olympics, Daytona 500, the World Figure Skating, and also covered the National Basketball Association.
In 2023, Greg Gumbel extended his contract with CBS but cut back on his NFL coverage while still covering March Madness. In 2024, Gumbel missed the tournament due to health issues.
Additionally, Greg Gumbel was recognized as a three-time Emmy Award winner with MSG once and WMAQ-TV twice. He received the Pat Summerall Award in 2007 with Legends for Charity. Greg Gumbel was a member of the Sports Council for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for 16 years and helped provide direction and guidance for the mission of their organization.
In 2023, he was inducted into the Loras College Athletic Hall of Fame as a Baseball Player. Greg Gumbel left a huge impact on the sports world, and his presence will be greatly missed.
WBN’s Matt Tallarini contributed to this article.
