CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Legendary sports broadcaster and former Chicagoan Greg Gumbel has died at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer.
CBS Sports and Gumbel’s family announced the news Friday afternoon. In a statement issued to social media, CBS Sports President & CEO David Berson called Gumbel “a tremendous broadcaster and gifted storyteller,” adding, “there has never been a finer gentleman in all of television.”
Gumbel, along with his younger brother and fellow prolific journalist Bryant Gumbel, grew up on Chicago’s South Side and graduated from De La Salle Institute. He even began his television broadcasting career in Chicago, working for several years in the mid to late 70s at Channel 5- NBC Chicago as a sports reporter and anchor.
Gumbel subsequently left for New York and a job at the sports cable network MSG.
He would soon launch a national career at ESPN, CBS and NBC as a play-by-play announcer and studio host that would span more than five decades.
Gumbel is best known for calling Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVIII on CBS as well as being the studio host of CBS Sports’ coverage of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament for more than 20 years.
He was the first network broadcaster to ever do play-by-play and host a Super Bowl.
Name a sport and Gumbel was a part of it. He called Major League Baseball on CBS, broadcast courtside for the NBA on NBC and contributed to multiple Olympic games.
In a statement, Gumbel’s family acknowledged his “courageous” battle with cancer and paid tribute to his illustrious career.
“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,” the Gumbel family said in part.
He is survived by his wife Marcy and daughter Michelle.
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