John F. Morgan (born December 10, 1950) is an American broadcaster and television producer from Saranac Lake, New York.

Biography

Athletic career

Before becoming involved in broadcasting, Morgan played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and was a

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

racer. A member of a prominent bobsled racing family, Morgan's father and brothers were all involved in the sport, and his brother, 1976 Olympian James "Nitro" Morgan, died in a bobsled accident in Cortina d'Ampezzo,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Morgan was on the U.S. National team from 1978-1979, but did not qualify for the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. After he failed to qualify, he landed a job with

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Televisi ...

Broadcasting career

Morgan has been the American network's bobsled commentator at the last nine Winter Olympic Games, starting with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1984 and 1988, then with

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 ...

in 1992, 1994 and 1998, and with NBC in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. His broadcasting career began with ABC at the 1981 FIBT World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo,

, where he called the race that took his brother's life. From 2002 to 2007, he was a broadcaster for

and

skeleton World Cup The Skeleton World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internatio ...

races on

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

, working with Tim Singer. For 2007-08, the World Cup competitions could be seen online at NBC Sports' website and live on

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television.

Movie appearances

Morgan has a cameo appearance in the 1993 Disney film '' Cool Runnings'', a movie about the Jamaican bobsled team. In the film he plays opposite NBC Sports commentator

Al Trautwig Alan Trautwig (born February 26, 1956) is a sports commentator who worked with MSG Network, ABC, NBC, NBC Sports Network, and USA Network. He most recently did pre-game and post-game shows for the New York Knicks and New York Rangers, as well a ...

Television producer

Morgan founded JFM Sports, Inc. in 1982. The company created a TV series in 1989 called Rugby World, and bought the rights to the Hong Kong 7's and other Rugby properties. This 12-week series started on Prime Network and moved to espn2 when it launched in 1995. JFM also created the American Patriots, a USA Rugby League Team that competed at the Sydney 7's. Morgan also created a USA-Ireland match that was staged at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC and televised live on ESPN in 1995. JFM also created Winter Speed, a 10-week series started in 1990 that featured bobsled, luge and skeleton events, and aired on Prime. In 1995 the

FIBT The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), originally known by the French name ''Fédération Internationale de Bobsleigh et de Tobogganing'' (FIBT), is the international sports federation for bobsleigh and skeleton. It acts as a ...

hired JFM to coordinate its coverage of international bobsled and skeleton. JFM continues to produce bobsled and skeleton World Cup races, which are shown on NBC/Universal Sports in the United States, Sportsnet in Canada, and in most major markets worldwide. In 2002, he was named an honorary member of the

.FIBT News
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, John 1950 births Living people American male bobsledders American sports announcers Olympic Games broadcasters Bobsleigh in the United States Skeleton in the United States Sportspeople from New York (state) People from Saranac Lake, New York