Honoring the Life and Legacy of Sports Broadcaster Greg Gumbel
All of us here at The U send our heartfelt condolences to the many friends and family of late Chicago native and sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel who passed away this weekend.
Gumbel grew up in Chicago and initially served as a local sports anchor for television before advancing to a national platform at CBS Sports in 1989. He simultaneously worked as an NFL play-by-play announcer and as an in-studio host for college basketball, including the NCAA Tournament. Notably, Gumbel became the first Black play-by-play announcer to call a major U.S. championship sporting event when he covered the Baltimore Ravens' victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV in 2000.
From 1994 to 1998, Gumbel worked for NBC Sports before returning to CBS Sports for a second stint as the network's March Madness coverage studio host. In 2007, he received the Pat Summerall Award for excellence in sports broadcasting and celebrated his 50th anniversary in broadcasting in 2022.
Check out an exclusive interview with Greg Gumbel and Kenny McReynolds of WCIU’s Sports Edition below.
