NEW YORK — Greg Gumbel, a Chicago native who spent more than 50 years in sports broadcasting, has died from cancer, according to a statement from family released by CBS on Friday. He was 78.
“He leaves behind a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication to over 50 extraordinary years in the sports broadcast industry; and his iconic voice will never be forgotten,” his wife Marcy Gumbel and daughter Michelle Gumbel said in the statement.
In March, Gumbel missed his first NCAA Tournament since 1997 due to what he said at the time were family health issues. Gumbel was the studio host for CBS since returning to the network from NBC in 1998. Gumbel signed an extension with CBS last year that allowed him to continue hosting college basketball while stepping back from NFL announcing duties.
Born on May 3, 1946, in New Orleans, Gumbel grew up in Chicago and went to De La Salle High School on the South Side. His sportscasting career began in 1973 with a call from his younger brother, Bryant. Greg had a few jobs — including selling medical supplies in Detroit — after graduating from Iowa’s Loras College with a degree in English but still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.
Bryant, already a sportscaster at Los Angeles’ KNBC, mentioned a weekend sports opening at sister station WMAQ-Ch. 5 and asked if Greg was interested.
“Gee, let me think — baseball (or) bedpans? Baseball? Bedpans? Yeah, I’m interested,” Greg told the Tribune in 2017. “So I flew into Chicago and auditioned, and they said, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ ”
Then they called.
Gumbel’s eight years at WMAQ enabled him to hone skills that would serve him well in studios and broadcast booths for outlets such as ESPN, Madison Square Garden Network and New York’s WFAN-AM.
“I was very fortunate that Channel 5 stuck with me until I figured it out,” he told the Tribune. “At the network level, I was working at Madison Square Garden Network when CBS called one day and said they wanted me to do play-by-play on some NFL games. The first thing I said was, ‘Why?’ because I’d never done it before. And they said, ‘We think you can.’ ”
In 2001, he announced Super Bowl XXXV for CBS, becoming the first Black announcer in the U.S. to call play-by-play of a major sports championship.
David Berson, president and CEO of CBS Sports, described Gumbel as breaking barriers and setting standards for others during his years as a voice for fans in sports, including in the NFL and March Madness.
“A tremendous broadcaster and gifted storyteller, Greg led one of the most remarkable and groundbreaking sports broadcasting careers of all time,” Berson said.
Gumbel had two stints at CBS, leaving the network for NBC when it lost football in 1994 and returning when it regained the contract in 1998.
He hosted CBS’ coverage of the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics and called Major League Baseball games during its four-year run broadcasting the national pastime. In 1995, he hosted the World Figure Skating Championships and the following year hosted NBC’s daytime coverage of the Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta.
But it was football and basketball where he was best known and made his biggest impact. Gumbel hosted CBS’ NFL studio show, “The NFL Today” from 1990 to 1993 and again in 2004.
He also called NFL games as the network’s lead play-by-play announcer from 1998 to 2003, including Super Bowl XXXV and XXXVIII. He returned to the NFL booth in 2005, leaving that role after the 2022 season.
“Like all who knew and loved him, I too am saddened by his death, yet also so very grateful to have known him in my life,” Clark Kellogg, a CBS Sports college basketball game and studio analyst, said in a statement. “What a gift to be touched by such a good man and partner.”
He won local Emmy Awards during his long career and was the recipient of the 2007 Pat Summerall Award for excellence in sports broadcasting.
Outside of his career as a sportscaster, Gumbel was affiliated with the March of Dimes for three decades, including as a member of its board of trustees. He also was a member of the Sports Council for St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for 16 years.
Information from Tribune archives and AP’s Mike Sisak contributed.
