James R. Graner (February 21, 1919 – January 15, 1976) was the weeknight

sports anchor 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 wa ...

for

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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 ...

affiliate

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WPSG (channel 57 ...

(later WKYC) beginning in 1957. He also served as

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for the

Cleveland Browns Radio Network The University Hospitals Cleveland Browns Radio Network is an American radio network composed of 24 radio stations which carry English-language coverage of the Cleveland Browns, a professional football team in the National Football League (NFL ...

, most notably alongside Cleveland sportscaster

Gib Shanley Gib Shanley (August 6, 1931 – April 6, 2008) was an American sportscaster, most prominently known as sports director for ABC affiliate WEWS-TV, Channel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio, and as the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns of ...

. Graner had operated in both capacities for nearly twenty years when

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

took his life in 1976.

Early life

Graner was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

, but grew up in its neighboring

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

Stow Stow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village * Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village * Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town * Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village * Stow ...

. After graduating from Stow High School in 1937, he attended

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, but left after two years to work at a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

office. Graner also served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and upon his return, went into

broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

as a

radio announcer An announcer is a voice artist who relays information to the audience of a broadcast media programme or live event. Television and other media Some announcers work in television production, radio or filmmaking, usually providing narrations, ...

. He later married and had a son, Lou.

KYW-TV/WKYC Cleveland

Jim Graner served as the daily evening

for Cleveland

affiliate

(later WKYC) beginning in 1957, working alongside the likes of weathermen

Joe Finan Joseph Albert Finan (July 6, 1927 – December 19, 2006) was an American radio show host. Finan was born in 1927 in Butler, Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Navy 1944–45 and attended Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University, in P ...

Dick Goddard Richard Duane Goddard (February 24, 1931 – August 4, 2020) was an American television meteorologist, author, cartoonist, and animal activist. From 1966 until his retirement in 2016, he was the evening meteorologist at WJW-TV in Cleveland, O ...

, and

Wally Kinnan Henry Wallace Kinnan (March 7, 1919 – November 22, 2002) was an American decorated World War II hero, also was one of the first well-known U.S. pioneer television broadcast meteorologists. Kinnan held American Meteorological Society Television ...

. Occasionally, he would also fill in for fellow sportscaster Bob Neal. Graner was known for his "dry wit" and "unflappable" personality, to the point where his fellow broadcasters would often attempt to shake his on-air persona. During one such instance, weatherman Joe Finan placed a woman wearing a raincoat in front of Graner during one of their nightly broadcasts. As soon as Graner began, the woman took off the raincoat and revealed that she was wearing nothing underneath. Graner remarked: "I had the Browns playing the Indians." Joking aside, Jim Graner was considered "dignified, low-key... the thinking fan's broadcaster." The "silver-haired" and "gentleman" sportscaster with " matinee idol looks" also hosted his own summer series, ''Golf with the Pros.'' Colleagues and viewers were both shocked and saddened by his early death in 1976. Graner's absence was felt for years to come: Channel 3 sports became a "musical chair" over the next decade, as at least six replacements came (among them Don Schroeder, Tom Ryther, Joe Pelligrino, Jim Mueller and Wayland Boot) and went until another "Jim" finally took over — Jim Donovan, who joined the station in 1985.

Cleveland Browns radio career

Graner first served as

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

from 1955–1960, working for radio station WGAR () alongside

Bill McColgan William J. McColgan (died April 30, 1973) was an American sportscaster. A native of Boston, McColgan graduated from St. Margaret's School and South Boston High School. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he attended Curry College. ...

. He is best remembered, however, for his work alongside Cleveland

play-by-play announcer 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 ...

Gib Shanley: the two paired-up as the voices of the Browns radio network from 1963–1974, working for stations WERE () and later WHK. Among their highlights: coverage of the

1964 NFL Championship Game The 1964 NFL Championship Game was the 32nd annual championship game, held on December 27 at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. With an attendance of 79,544, it was the first NFL title game to be televised by CBS. The game marked the last c ...

, the last major title won by a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

sports team in Cleveland until 2016. Immediately following Cleveland's upset victory over the

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Colts at Municipal Stadium, Graner was the man on the field who interviewed franchise owner

Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...

(who, ironically, later moved the team to Baltimore in 1995 — much to the ire of Cleveland Browns fans). Jim Graner is still considered among the greats of Cleveland

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-ai ...

. In his memoir, former Cleveland Brown legend

Lou Groza Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 – November 29, 2000), nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional football player who was a placekicker and offensive tackle while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America F ...

lists Graner first among his favorite Cleveland broadcasters.

Dick Lebeau Charles Richard "Dick" LeBeau ( ; born September 9, 1937) is a former American football cornerback and coach in the National Football League (NFL). He was active with the NFL for 59 consecutive seasons, 14 as a player with the Detroit Lions and ...

— currently the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the Browns' archrival, the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

— fondly recalls listening to Graner on the radio during his youth in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Death

Graner became ill in the spring of 1975; surgery was performed to remove a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

. He was healthy enough to return for radio commentary during six summer exhibition games of the

, but was unable to continue on through the regular season. By December of that year he had been readmitted to the Cleveland Clinic Hospital. He then fell into a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

and died on January 15, 1976. The Jim Graner Memorial Pro-Am Golf Tournament was named in his honor; the first of these annual events was held in June 1976 at the Tanglewood Country Club of

Chagrin Falls, Ohio Chagrin Falls is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States and is a suburb of Cleveland in Northeast Ohio's Cleveland-Akron-Canton metropolitan area, the 19th-largest Combined Statistical Area nationwide. The village was established and h ...

and was attended by Cleveland native

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

, among other "well known entertainers." Soon the tournament moved to the

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

Country Club near Graner's hometown of Stow, Ohio.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
Cleveland Classic Media Blog: Jim GranerHistory of WKYC TV-3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graner, Jim 1919 births 1976 deaths American sports announcers National Football League announcers Cleveland Browns announcers American sports radio personalities Television anchors from Cleveland Ohio Wesleyan University alumni People from Akron, Ohio People from Stow, Ohio United States Army personnel of World War II Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Ohio Neurological disease deaths in Ohio