Bryant Charles Gumbel (born September 29, 1948) is an American

television journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

and sportscaster, best known for his 15 years as co-host of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

''. He is the younger brother of sportscaster

Greg Gumbel Greg Gumbel (born May 3, 1946) is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). The older brother of news and sportscaster Brya ...

. Since 1995, he has hosted HBO's acclaimed investigative series ''

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel ''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'' is a monthly sports news magazine on HBO. Since its debut on April 2, 1995, the program has been presented by television journalist and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel. Overview Format Each episode consists of fo ...

'', which has been rated as "flat out TV's best sports program" by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. It won a Peabody Award in 2012.71st Annual Peabody Awards
May 2013. Gumbel was hired by NBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of its

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

pre-game show '' GrandStand'' with

Jack Buck John Francis "Jack" Buck (August 21, 1924 – June 18, 2002) was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. His play-by-play work earned him recognition from numerous hal ...

. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to do ''The Today Show''), he hosted numerous sporting events for NBC including

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

and the

. He returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime time

coverage Coverage may refer to: Filmmaking * Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce * Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene * Script coverage, a short summary of a script, wri ...

of the 1988 Summer Olympics from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

and the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

in 1990. NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor of ''Today'' beginning September 27, 1982, and broadcast from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, and much of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

between 1984 and 1989. Gumbel's work on ''Today'' earned him several

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and a large fanbase. He is the third longest serving co-host of ''Today'', after former hosts

Matt Lauer Matthew Todd Lauer (; born December 30, 1957) is an American former television news personality, best known for his work with NBC News. After serving as a local news personality in New York City on WNBC, his first national exposure was as the ne ...

and

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...

. He stepped down from the show on January 3, 1997, after 15 years. Gumbel moved to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, where he hosted various shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning show ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...

'' on November 1, 1999. Gumbel was hosting ''The Early Show'' on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was the first to announce the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

to CBS viewers. Gumbel left CBS and ''The Early Show'' on May 17, 2002.

Early life and education

Gumbel was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. He is the son of Rhea Alice (née LeCesne), a city clerk, and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, a judge. His surname originates with his great-great-grandfather, who was a

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

emigrant from the village of

Albisheim Albisheim is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is in the middle of the Zellertal. History In the year 835 the village is first mentioned in a document. It has been a market town for many years. Also t ...

. Raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he attended and graduated from

De La Salle Institute English: Sign of Faith , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic( De La Salle Brothers} , patron = , established = , founder = Brother Adjutor of Mary, FSC , status = Open ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, while growing up on the South Side of the city; his family had moved north when he was a child. He graduated from

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in 1970 with a degree in Russian history.

Career

In 1971, he became editor of '' Black Sports'', leaving the following year. He began his television career in October 1972, when he was made a sportscaster for

KNBC-TV KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, o ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

NBC

NBC Sports

Already a local evening news sports anchor for KNBC, in Los Angeles, Gumbel was hired by NBC Sports in the fall of 1975 as co-host of its

pre-game show '' GrandStand'' with

. From 1975 until January 1982 (when he left to do ''The Today Show''), he hosted numerous sporting events for NBC including

and the

. He returned to sportscasting for NBC when he hosted the prime time

of the 1988 Summer Olympics from

and the

in 1990. One of Gumbel's more memorable moments during his time at NBC Sports occurred when he was on-site for the "

Epic in Miami The Epic in Miami was the National Football League AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins that took place on January 2, 1982 in the Miami Orange Bowl. The game, won by the Chargers in overtime, 41–38, is ...

" NFL playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. At the end of the game, he told the viewers, "If you didn't like this football game then you don't like football!" This would be one of his final assignments for NBC Sports, as he began co-hosting ''

'' two days later.

''Today''

Gumbel began his affiliation with ''Today'' as the program's chief sports reporter contributing twice-weekly features to the program, including a regular series entitled "Sportsman of the Week," featuring up-and-coming athletes. In June 1981, NBC announced that

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

would depart ''Today'' to anchor the ''NBC Nightly News'' with

Roger Mudd Roger Harrison Mudd (February 9, 1928 – March 9, 2021) was an American broadcast journalist who was a correspondent and anchor for CBS News and NBC News. He also worked as the primary anchor for The History Channel. Previously, Mudd was week ...

beginning in the spring of 1982. The search for Brokaw's replacement was on, and the initial candidates were all NBC News correspondents, including

John Palmer John Palmer may refer to: People Politicians * John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician * Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician * John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York * John Palmer (1842–19 ...

Chris Wallace Christopher Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American broadcast journalist. He is known for his tough and wide-ranging interviews, for which he is often compared to his father, ''60 Minutes'' journalist Mike Wallace. Over his 50-year care ...

, Bob Kur, Bob Jamieson, and

Jessica Savitch Jessica Beth Savitch (February 1, 1947 – October 23, 1983) was an American television journalist, best known for being the weekend anchor of ''NBC Nightly News'' and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Savi ...

. The candidates auditioned for Brokaw's job throughout the summer of 1981 when he was on vacation. Gumbel became a candidate for the job just by chance when he served as a last-minute substitute for ''Today'' co-anchor

Jane Pauley Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host, and author, active in news reporting since 1972. Pauley first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age ...

in August 1981. He so impressed executive producer Steve Friedman and other NBC executives that he quickly became a top contender for the ''Today'' anchor position. While Friedman and other NBC executives favored Gumbel as Brokaw's replacement, another contingent within the NBC News division felt strongly that he should be replaced by a fellow news correspondent, not a sports reporter. Wallace was the favored candidate of then-NBC News president Bill Small. NBC News decided to split the difference, selecting Gumbel as the program's anchor and Wallace as the Washington-based anchor. Pauley would remain co-anchor in New York. Brokaw signed off of ''Today'' on December 18, 1981, and Gumbel replaced him on January 4, 1982. The Gumbel–Pauley–Wallace arrangement, known internally as the "

Mod Squad Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...

", lasted only nine months. It was an arrangement that proved intriguing on paper but unwieldy on television. Gumbel served as the show's traffic cop, opening and closing the program and conducting New York-based interviews, but Pauley and Wallace handled newsreading duties, and Wallace conducted all Washington-based hard news interviews. With ABC's '' Good Morning America'' in first place and expanding its lead, NBC News made Gumbel the principal anchor of ''Today'' beginning September 27, 1982, with Pauley as his co-anchor. Wallace became the chief White House correspondent covering

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Ronald Reagan, and

, previously a White House correspondent, became ''Todays New York-based news anchor. Gumbel and Pauley had a challenging first two years together as ''Today'' anchors as they sought to find a rhythm as a team. ''Good Morning America'' solidified its lead over ''Today'' in the ratings during the summer of 1983, and Pauley's departure for maternity leave sent ''Today'' into a ratings tailspin. But when she returned in February 1984, they began to work well together as a team. NBC took ''Today'' on the road in the fall of '84, sending Gumbel to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

for an unprecedented series of live broadcasts from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. He won plaudits for his performance, erasing any doubts about his hard-news capabilities. That trip began a whirlwind period of travel for ''Today''. Remote broadcasts from

, and much of the

followed between 1984 and 1989. ''Today'' began to regain its old ratings dominance against ''Good Morning America'' throughout 1985, and by early 1986, the NBC program was once again atop the ratings. During this time, Gumbel had developed animosity toward David Letterman when the '' Late Night'' host disrupted taping of a ''Today'' primetime special in

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

with a bullhorn. "If I had gotten to him, I would have hit him," Gumbel said of Letterman. The pair would reconcile a few years later. In 1989, Gumbel, who was already known for his strong management style as ''Today'' anchor, wrote a memo to the executive producer Marty Ryan, on Ryan's request, critiquing the program and identifying its shortcomings. Many of his criticisms were directed at fellow ''Today'' staffers. It was leaked to the press. In the memo, Gumbel commented that

Willard Scott Willard Herman Scott Jr. (March 7, 1934 – September 4, 2021) was an American weather presenter, radio and television personality, actor, narrator, clown, comedian, and author, whose broadcast career spanned 68 years, 65 years with the NBC br ...

"holds the show hostage to his assortment of whims, wishes, birthdays and bad taste ... this guy is killing us and no one's even trying to rein him in". He commented that

Gene Shalit Eugene Shalit (born March 25, 1926) is an American retired journalist, television personality, Film criticism, film and Literary criticism, book critic and author. After starting to work part-time on NBC's ''Today (American TV program), The Toda ...

's movie reviews "are often late and his interviews aren't very good." There was enough negative backlash in regard to Gumbel's comments toward Scott that he was shown making up with Scott on ''Today''. Following Pauley's departure from ''Today'' in December 1989, Gumbel was joined by

Deborah Norville Deborah Anne Norville (born August 8, 1958) is an American television journalist and businesswoman. Norville is the anchor of ''Inside Edition'', a syndicated television news magazine, a position she has held since March 6, 1995. She markets and ...

in a short-lived partnership that lasted just over a year. ''Today'' dropped to second place in the ratings during this period as a result of intensely negative publicity surrounding Norville's replacement of Pauley, and Gumbel's feud with Scott. Norville was replaced by

in April 1991, and the Gumbel-Couric team helped refocus ''Today'' as the morning news program on public affairs during the 1992 presidential campaign. The program returned to first place in the ratings in December 1995. Gumbel's work on ''Today'' earned him several

and a large group of fans. He is the third longest serving co-host of ''Today'', after

and Couric. He stepped down from the show on January 3, 1997, after 15 years. Since his departure, Gumbel has made occasional appearances on ''Today''. He appeared for the show's 60th anniversary and hosted with Lauer and Pauley on December 30, 2013.

CBS

''Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel''

After 15 years on ''Today'', Gumbel moved to CBS to host a new prime time news-magazine called ''Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel'' during the 1997–1998 television season. The episode "The Reckoning" won a Peabody Award in 1998. It lasted just one season before being cancelled. It aired on Wednesday nights at 9pm ET before moving to Tuesdays at 9pm ET.

''The Early Show''

After leaving the ''Today'' and ''Dateline NBC'' in 1997, Gumbel moved to

, where he hosted various shows before becoming co-host of the network's morning show ''

'' on November 1, 1999. Gumbel left ''The Early Show'' (and CBS that same year) on May 17, 2002. Gumbel was hosting ''The Early Show'' on the morning of September 11, 2001. He was the first to announce the

to CBS viewers. In the spring and summer of 2010, he served as a special guest moderator of ABC's '' The View'' for multiple days.

Boy Scouts incident

camera caught a disgusted Gumbel blurting out "What a f-ing idiot" just after he had finished a hostile interview with Robert Knight of the

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

(FRC). The incident occurred at about 7:15 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 29, 2000, following Knight's appearance to defend the Boy Scout policy of excluding

gays ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

from being leaders. The

Media Research Center The Media Research Center (MRC), formerly known as Culture and Media Institute (CMI), is an American conservative content analysis and media watchdog group based in Reston, Virginia, and founded in 1987 by L. Brent Bozell III. The CMI promo ...

reported that he uttered those words; Gumbel openly admitted to saying so when guest-hosting a June 2007 episode of ''

Live with Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

''.

''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel''

Gumbel has concentrated most of his energy recently on his duties as host of HBO's acclaimed investigative series ''

'' (a show that he has hosted since 1995). HBO's web page claims that ''Real Sports'' has been described as "flat out—TV's best sports program" by the ''

''. It won a Peabody Award in 2012.

Notable remarks

In February 2006, Gumbel made racist remarks regarding the Winter Olympics and the lack of African-American participation. On the August 15, 2006, episode of ''Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel'', Gumbel made the following remarks about former NFL commissioner

Paul Tagliabue Paul John Tagliabue (; born November 24, 1940) is an American lawyer who was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He took the position in 1989 and served until September 1, 2006. He had previously served as a lawyer for the NFL ...

and Players' Union president

Gene Upshaw Eugene Thurman Upshaw Jr. (August 15, 1945 – August 20, 2008), also known as "Uptown Gene" and "Highway 63", was an American professional football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Foot ...

and directed these comments to new commissioner Roger Goodell: In response, Tagliabue said: On the October 18, 2011, Gumbel evoked

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in his criticism of NBA Commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

over the league's lockout. In a Rolling Stone article dated January 20, 2015, Gumbel said: "There are a few things I hate more than the ( National Rifle Association). I mean truly. I think they're pigs. I think they don't care about human life. I think they are a curse upon the American landscape. So we got that on the record."

''The Weather Man''

Gumbel made a cameo appearance alongside

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gui ...

and

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

in ''

The Weather Man ''The Weather Man'' is a 2005 American dark comedy-drama film directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Steve Conrad, and starring Nicolas Cage in the lead role, Michael Caine and Hope Davis. It tells the story of a weatherman in the midst of a m ...

'', a film directed by

Gore Verbinski Gregor Justin "Gore" Verbinski (born March 16, 1964) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and musician. He is best known for directing '' The Ring'', the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, and '' Rango''. He won the Academy Awar ...

. In it, he cohosts a morning show entitled ''Hello America,'' for which Cage's character, a depressed weatherman, auditions.

''Seinfeld''

Gumbel made a cameo appearance on the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld'' during which he interviewed Jerry Seinfeld on ''Today'' while Jerry was wearing the puffy pirate shirt in the episode "

The Puffy Shirt "The Puffy Shirt" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It was the 66th episode and originally aired on September 23, 1993. The episode centers on Jerry having to wear an ostentatious "puffy" shirt ...

''The Nanny''

Gumbel made a cameo appearance on the sitcom ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three ch ...

'' during which he gives Fran Fine an audition for a job in television in the episode "Fair Weather Fran".

NFL Network

In April 2006,

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...

announced that Gumbel, along with

Cris Collinsworth Anthony Cris Collinsworth (born January 27, 1959) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional American football player. Collinsworth was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981-1988), all with ...

and Dick Vermeil, would comment on its new package of NFL games. Unlike his brother Greg, he had never called

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

for live sporting events in his career. Before his first game commentary for the network, his status was brought into question after he stirred up controversy in his closing remarks on his HBO program on August 15, 2006, in which he criticized

NFL Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

head

and outgoing

NFL Commissioner The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

. He would later reconcile with the NFL and retained his play-by-play job with the NFL Network. On December 29, 2007, he had a reunion of sorts as he called the Patriots-Giants game on the NFL Network, CBS, and NBC. This is the first three-network simulcast NFL game and, coincidentally, he has worked for all three networks during his career. He also had a strong affiliation with NFL films. Gumbel's performance was the subject of criticism over his entire run because of his voice and a perceived lack of knowledge about the game. Gumbel stepped down as play-by-play announcer in April 2008, prior to the 2008 NFL season. He would be replaced on the NFL Network telecasts by

Bob Papa Robert L. Papa (born September 19, 1964) is an American sportscaster who is currently the radio play-by-play voice for the New York Giants of the National Football League. Papa also is the lead broadcaster for PGA Tour Champions events on Golf ...

Personal life

Gumbel raised two children with his wife, June, in semi-rural Waccabuc, north of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In 2001, he divorced her to marry Hilary Quinlan. Around 2002, he shed 55 pounds of weight in seven months. In October 2009, he had surgery to remove a malignant tumor near one of his lungs.

Awards

*4 Emmy Awards *Frederick D. Patterson Award from the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...

*Martin Luther King Award from the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

*Three NAACP Image Awards, including the President's Award * Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Foreign Affairs work from the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

, September 1984 *Edward Weintal Prize for diplomatic reporting * Peabody Award for his reporting in

*International Journalism Award from

TransAfrica TransAfrica (formerly ''TransAfrica Forum'') is an advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. that seeks to influence the foreign policy of the United States concerning African and Caribbean countries and all African diaspora groups. They are a re ...

*Africa's Future Award from the U.S. Committee for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

*Leadership Award from the African-American Institute *Best Morning TV News Interviewer, the ''

Washington Journalism Review The ''American Journalism Review'' (''AJR'') was an American magazine covering topics in journalism. It was launched in 1977 as the ''Washington Journalism Review'' by journalist Roger Kranz. It ceased publication in 2015. History and profile Th ...

'', 1986 *

National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is an organization of African-American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provide quality p ...

, Journalist of the Year Award, 1993 *Trumpet Award of the

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

, Inc. *

Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

for outstanding broadcast journalism for ''

'' (HBO), December 2005

References

External links

on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gumbel, Bryant American television reporters and correspondents American television sports announcers 1948 births Living people African-American journalists African-American Catholics African-American television hosts African-American television personalities American people of German-Jewish descent American television hosts American male journalists Bates College alumni CBS News people Catholics from Louisiana College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers De La Salle Institute alumni Sports Emmy Award winners Olympic Games broadcasters Golf writers and broadcasters Television anchors from Los Angeles Major League Baseball broadcasters National Football League announcers People from Chicago People from New Orleans People from Waccabuc, New York 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists 60 Minutes correspondents 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people