Christopher James Berman (born May 10, 1955),
nicknamed "Boomer", is an American sportscaster. He has been an anchor for ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...
'' on
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
since 1979, joining a month after its initial launch, and hosted the network's ''
Sunday NFL Countdown'' program from 1985 to 2016 and ''
NFL Primetime
''NFL Primetime'' is a sports television program that has aired on ESPN since 1987. The show is presented similarly to ESPN's own ''SportsCenter'', featuring scores, highlights, and analysis of every game of the week in the NFL.
When it debute ...
'' from 1987 to 2005 and since 2019. He has also anchored ''
Monday Night Countdown'',
U.S. Open golf, the
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...
, and other programming on ESPN and
ABC Sports. Berman calls
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 ...
of select
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 (A ...
games for ESPN, which included the
Home Run Derby until 2016.
A six-time honoree of the
National Sports Media Association's National Sportscaster of the Year award, Berman was instrumental in establishing ESPN's lasting popularity during the network's formative years.
[ He is well known for his various catchphrases and quirky demeanor.
In January 2017, ESPN announced that Berman would be stepping down from several NFL-related roles at the network, but would remain at the company. In May 2021, Berman signed a multiyear contract with ESPN to continue to host '']NFL Primetime
''NFL Primetime'' is a sports television program that has aired on ESPN since 1987. The show is presented similarly to ESPN's own ''SportsCenter'', featuring scores, highlights, and analysis of every game of the week in the NFL.
When it debute ...
''.
Early life
Berman grew up in Irvington, New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, the son of Peggy Shevell (née Tenenbaum), who worked as a reporter-researcher for ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine, and James Keliner Berman, a corporate executive vice president. He was raised Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
. During his childhood, he went to Camp Winnebago in Fayette, Maine. He enrolled at the Hackley School in 1970, and graduated Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in 1977 with a degree in history, where he was the sports director of the school's radio station, WBRU.
Career (1977–present)
Berman's sportscasting career began at Hartford's WVIT
WVIT (channel 30) is a television station licensed to New Britain, Connecticut, United States, broadcasting NBC programming to the Hartford–New Haven market. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations divisio ...
-TV as a weekend sports anchor. He joined ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
in 1979, a month after its founding, and has been with the network ever since. He is one of ESPN's longest-tenured employees, and the only remaining ''SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...
'' anchor from 1979. He spent 31 years as the host of both '' Sunday NFL Countdown'', and ten years hosting '' Monday Night Countdown''. In addition, during the NFL season, he hosts the evening ''SportsCenter'' (airing generally at either 7:30 PM Eastern Time or 11 PM Eastern Time) along with Herm Edwards
Herman Edwards Jr. (born April 27, 1954) is an American football coach and former cornerback who was most recently the head football coach at Arizona State. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons, primarily with the Ph ...
, who replaced Tom Jackson
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
for the 2016 season. Berman often appears on ''SportsCenter'' at night (midnight to 1 a.m.) hosting brief segments called "Chris Berman's two-minute drill". From 1988-1989, he hosted ESPN's first game show, ''Boardwalk and Baseball's Super Bowl of Sports Trivia''.
By 1993, Berman was described as the leader of the ESPN team and one of the most recognizable sportscasters in the business. "The true test is when Chris is on, turn down your TV and open your window. You will hear him. The microphone is nothing but a prop," said fellow ESPN anchor Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann (; born January 27, 1959) is an American sports and political commentator and writer.
Olbermann spent the first 20 years of his career in sports journalism. He was a sports correspondent for CNN and for local TV and ...
. In December 2008, the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
ran a long retrospective on Berman's 30-year career with ESPN. "He is our most important person," said Norby Williamson, ESPN's vice president of production. "He is the face of ESPN," he added. At the time, Berman noted that his contract with ESPN would expire on his 55th birthday, and that he did not see himself broadcasting into his 60s. In April 2010, however, ESPN extended Berman's contract for an undisclosed period of time, only noting that it was a multi-year deal. The contract was eventually revealed to expire at the end of 2016.
Between 1995-2006, Berman hosted ''Monday Night Football
''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...
'' as well as live coverage of three Super Bowls for ABC Sports. He continued to host ''MNF'' when ESPN got the rights in 2006.
Berman was a season ticket holder for the Hartford Whalers and was a strong supporter of the team's staying in Connecticut. He occasionally makes reference to the team, sometimes even by humming the team's theme song, "Brass Bonanza
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to 19 ...
". Berman has also become a strong backer of the Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...
in recent years. In an interview with Buffalo Bills reporter and play-by-play voice John Murphy on July 26, 2012, Berman acknowledged that you could call him a "Bills Booster".[Wilson request stunned Berman]
This sentiment is also echoed in Berman's on-air phrase, "No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!"[ In addition, he has been involved with several events relating to the Bills, such as team founder Ralph Wilson's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Bruce Smith's Bills Hall of Fame induction in September 2016. Berman signed a new contract in January 2017 for a reduced schedule, but remains at ESPN.
On October 29, 2018, Berman served as the on-field emcee for ]Thurman Thomas
Thurman Lee Thomas (born May 16, 1966) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He was selected by the Bills in the second round of th ...
's number retirement ceremony. In May 2019, Berman called a three-game series for the Boston Red Sox Radio Network
The Boston Red Sox Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 54 radio stations which carry English language coverage of the Boston Red Sox, a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lawrence, Massachusetts stat ...
alongside longtime Red Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione
Joseph John Castiglione (born March 2, 1947) is an American radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox baseball team,[Joe Castig ...](_blank)
.
In 2019, Berman and Tom Jackson re-united for a revival of NFL Primetime
''NFL Primetime'' is a sports television program that has aired on ESPN since 1987. The show is presented similarly to ESPN's own ''SportsCenter'', featuring scores, highlights, and analysis of every game of the week in the NFL.
When it debute ...
, streamed exclusively on ESPN+. In addition, they have also hosted the "fastest three minutes" segments on the Monday Night Football halftime show.
Berman signed a multiyear contract with ESPN in May 2021 to continue to host NFL PrimeTime. In the ESPN contract announcement, Berman said "ESPN has been almost two-thirds of my life. I'm honored that what I do still works."
Style
Berman is well known for his various catchphrases and player nicknames.
* His mid-play prediction of a touchdown run as "He could...go...all...the...way!" is perhaps his most famous phrase, and one of the first he adopted. It was featured on the '' Jock Rock, Volume 2'' compilation album.
* His home run calls of "Back, back, back, back...Gone!", which he implements most commonly during the MLB Home Run Derby, are drawn from Red Barber
Walter Lanier "Red" Barber (February 17, 1908 – October 22, 1992) was an American sports announcer and author. Nicknamed "The Ol' Redhead", he was primarily identified with broadcasts of Major League Baseball, calling play-by-play across four ...
.
* A "Whoop!" is uttered during highlights when a player makes a quick move or causes someone to miss or make a mistake.
* "Tick, tick, tick, tick tick tick tick..." during a post-game recap, for a play or moment in which the clock is a factor.
* When a large player such as a lineman runs with the football, Berman describes him as "rumblin', bumblin', stumblin'".
* Berman is known for integrating puns into player nicknames. For example, he dubbed former Minnesota Twins pitcher Bert Blyleven "Bert ''Be Home'' Blyleven". On occasion, the puns were clever, such as "Young Again" for Oddibe McDowell
Oddibe McDowell (born August 25, 1962) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1985 to 1994 for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Atlanta Braves.
His first name is pronounced "owed a bee" or " ...
.
Berman adopts the persona of his alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...
, "The Swami," to make predictions on ''Sunday NFL Countdown.'' For seven consecutive years "The Swami" predicted a Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...
and the Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...
, one or the other – but never both – making it during that span.
Reception and criticism
Many have enjoyed Berman's approach over the years, and he has won various awards. A 1990 ''Sports Illustrated'' feature article cited traits that struck a chord with his TV audience: playfulness, humor, and a Fred Flintstone-like persona. The nicknames were called a key to his success. His genuine love of sports was also noted.
However, he has also drawn a good deal of criticism. Over time, his style came to rub quite a few viewers the wrong way. His detractors find him overly bombastic - and worse, unfunny. A "blowhard...tossing out corny clichés" was one description. Columnist Phil Mushnick
Phil Mushnick is a sports columnist for the ''New York Post''. Over his career he has served as a beat reporter for the New York Cosmos, the New Jersey Nets, and the New York Rangers. In 1982 he was named the Post's television and radio columnist. ...
viewed his "clown act" as forced, self-serving, and stale. "Schtick" is another label that has been applied. A '' Paste'' article from 2017 noted that the reasons for his appeal were also what made him eventually grow tiresome.
In other media
Berman appeared in Adam Sandler
Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...
's 1998 comedy '' The Waterboy'' as well as Sandler's ''
The Longest Yard'' in 2005, playing himself as the play-by-play announcer of the prison football game. Berman also appeared as himself in '' Necessary Roughness'' in 1991, '' The Program'' in 1993 (though was a little out of place doing college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...
), '' Little Big League'' in 1994, as well as '' Eddie'' and '' Kingpin'' in 1996. He made a cameo appearance in the 1995 Hootie and the Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish are an American soft rock band that were formed in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1986. The band's lineup for most of its existence has been the quartet of Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, Dean Felber, and Jim Sonefeld. The band ...
video for the single " Only Wanna Be With You." Berman made a cameo in the 2013 comedy ''Grown Ups 2
''Grown Ups 2'' is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Adam Sandler, Fred Wolf, and Tim Herlihy, and produced by Sandler and Jack Giarraputo. It is a sequel to the 2010 film '' Grown Ups''. The film stars Sandler ...
''. Berman appears in Nutrisystem commercials with Don Shula
Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...
, Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and b ...
, Terry Bradshaw, and Mike Golic, using some of his trademark phrases and nicknames to show how much weight they lost. He also appears in commercials for repair insurer Carshield.
He appears as the host of ''SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...
'' in ''ESPN NFL 2K5
''ESPN NFL 2K5'' is an American football video game developed by Visual Concepts for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. Published by 2K Sports and the Sega Corporation, it is the sixth installment of the '' NFL 2K series'' and the last to use ...
''; he is also an unlockable free agent.
Personal life
Berman married Katherine "Kathy" Alexinski in 1983. She died in a traffic collision in Woodbury, Connecticut on May 10, 2017.[ Katherine Berman was driving drunk when she crashed into the back of another vehicle, killing the other driver.] The couple had two children.[
]
Honors
* National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association National Sportscaster of the Year (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001)
*American Sportscasters Association
The American Sportscasters Association (ASA) was founded in 1979 by broadcaster Dick London (Hanna) and associate attorney Harold Foner as a non-profit association to represent sportscasters by promoting and supporting the needs and interests of ...
Sportscaster of the Year – Studio Host (1995, 1997, 1998)
* CableACE Award Best Cable Sportscaster 1987, 1988, 1990
*1997 "TV's Most Fascinating Stars" from ''People
A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
''
*2001 Maxwell Football Club The Maxwell Football Club (originally called the Maxwell Football Club of Philadelphia) was established in 1935 to promote safety in the game of American football. Named in honor of Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell, legendary college player, official, and ...
's Reds Bagnell Award
*2007 honorary degree from Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
.
*2009 Presented Ralph C. Wilson Jr.
Ralph Cookerly Wilson Jr. (October 17, 1918 – March 25, 2014) was an American businessman and sports executive. He was best known as the founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills, a team in the National Football League (NFL). He was one of the fo ...
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
*Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
on May 24, 2010
*Received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award on July 12, 2010
* 2017 inductee - Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame
Career timeline
*1979–present: ''SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...
'' anchor (occasionally since 1990)
*1985–2016: '' Sunday NFL Countdown'' host
*1985–2016: NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
host
*1986–2014: U.S. Open nightly show host
*1987–2005: ''NFL Primetime
''NFL Primetime'' is a sports television program that has aired on ESPN since 1987. The show is presented similarly to ESPN's own ''SportsCenter'', featuring scores, highlights, and analysis of every game of the week in the NFL.
When it debute ...
'' host (Postgame host during playoffs, 2017–present)[Stoneberg, Allie (January 5, 2017)]
"Chris Berman to Assume New ESPN Role after NFL Season"
ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
*1987–2005: ''ESPN Sunday Night Football
''ESPN Sunday Night Football'' is the ESPN cable network's weekly television broadcasts of Sunday evening National Football League (NFL) games. The first ESPN Sunday night broadcast occurred on November 8, 1987, while the last one aired on January ...
'' halftime host
*1990–2016: '' Baseball Tonight'' host (occasional)
*1990–2016: '' MLB on ESPN'' play-by-play (selected games)
*1986–2016: Home Run Derby play-by-play
*1996–1999, 2006–2016, and during NFL playoff between 1998 and 2005: ''Monday Night Football
''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...
'' halftime host
*1999–present: Master of Ceremonies for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
induction
*2003–2014: U.S. Open host
*2003: ''NHL on ESPN
The broadcasts of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN have been shown on its various platforms in the United States, including ESPN itself, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, and Hulu. Since 2021, games have been broadcast un ...
'' and ''NHL on ABC
The ''NHL on ABC'' is an American presentation of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports), and televised on ABC in the United States.
The network first broadcast NHL games during the 1993 Stan ...
'' studio co-host (Stanley Cup Finals)
*2006–2016: '' Monday Night Countdown'' host
*2012–2016: ''ESPN Monday Night Football
''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
'' No. 2 play-by-play
*2017–present: '' Monday Night Countdown'' panelist
See also
* You're with me, leather
References
External links
*
Deadspin Videos
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Chris
1955 births
American television sports anchors
American television sports announcers
Boston Red Sox announcers
Brown University alumni
Golf writers and broadcasters
Jewish American sportspeople
Living people
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Football League announcers
National Hockey League broadcasters
People from Greenwich, Connecticut
Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award recipients
People from Irvington, New York
Hackley School alumni
21st-century American Jews