Greg Gumbel Biography
Greg Gumbel is an American television sportcaster. He is best known for his various assignments on the CBS network, the National Football League, NBA and NCAA basketball.
In 2001, he became the first African American announcer to call play-by-play of a major sports championship in the United States when he announced Super Bowl XXXV for the CBS network. He is a play-by-play broadcaster for the NFL on CBS alongside Trent Green as well as the studio host for CBS’ men’s college basketball coverage.
Greg grew up on Chicago’s South Side. He attended and graduated from De La Salle Institute. Before becoming a broadcaster, he graduated with a B.A. degree in English from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa where he also played on the baseball team.
Greg Gumbel Age | How Old Is Greg Gumbel?
Greg Gumbel was born on May 3, 1946 in New Orleans, Lousiana, U.S (72 years old as of 2018).
Greg Gumbel Family
Greg was born the first child in a family of four, two sisters and a brother. He is the child of Richard Gumbel, a judge, and Rhea Alice LeCesne. He is brother of Bryant Gumbel, Renee Gumbel-Farrahi and Rhonda Gumbel-Thomas.
Greg And Bryant Gumbel
Greg is the older brother of news and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel. Bryant is best known for being co-host of NBC’s Today for almost two decades.
Greg Gumbel Wife | Greg Gumbel Marcy Gumbel
Greg has been married to Marcy Kaszynski since 1973. They have a daughter, Michelle. Greg and his family reside in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area.
Greg Gumbel Career
In 1973, his brother Bryant Gumbel informed him that a Chicago TV station (WMAQ-TV) was auditioning for a sports announcer. During that time, Greg was selling hospital supplies in Detroit. He finally got the job and worked there for seven years. He replaced Dennis Swanson, the sportcaster who went on to become president of ABC Sports.
Before rising to prominence at CBS, he worked for MSG, ESPN, and WFAN radio in New York City. He anchored the show SportsCenter and did “play-by-play” for early NBA games at ESPN. He then served as a backup announcer for Marv Albert on New York Knicks broadcasts as well as providing coverage for college basketball on MSG. In 1989, MSG signed a huge contract to broadcast New York Yankees games, Greg served as host of the pregame and postgame shows. He was also the host of the first radio morning show on radio station WFAN.
Greg Gumbel CBS
His CBS career began in 1988 with part-time work as an NFL announcer. Gumbel began announcing college basketball as well in 1989. He also became host of The NFL Today (alongside Terry Bradshaw) for the 1990 to 1993 seasons. Greg then anchored CBS’ coverage of Major League Baseball, college football, and CBS’ coverage for the Daytona 500 in 1999.
Besides his hosting duties, he also provided play-by-play for the NBA (alongside Quinn Buckner), Major League Baseball which included the 1993 American League Championship Series (alongside Jim Kaat), and also College World Series baseball.
Greg was the prime time anchor for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games from Lillehammer, Norway and also co-anchor for the weekday morning broadcasts of the 1992 Winter Olympics from Albertville, France.
He moved to NBC in 1994 following CBS’ losses of the NFL and Major League Baseball broadcasting contracts (Gumbel’s last on-air assignment for CBS was providing play-by-play for the College World Series.
He then left NBC after the network broadcast of Super Bowl XXXII to return to CBS. Greg’s first major assignment was to serve as studio host for the network’s coverage of college basketball, including the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, something that he continues to do to this day.
As CBS had just acquired the rights to NBC’s previous NFL package, he joined the broadcast team as the lead announcer with fellow NBC alumnus Phil Simms as his color man. Greg was the lead announcer for the NFL on CBS between 1998 and 2003, calling Super Bowls XXXV and also XXXVIII.
He traded positions with Jim Nantz as host of The NFL Today with Nantz taking over as lead announcer for the 2004 NFL season. At the end of the 2005 NFL season, Greg was replaced as studio host of The NFL Today by James Brown. Greg returned to the broadcast booth as the #2 play-by-play man, replacing Dick Enberg, alongside color man Dan Dierdorf until Dan retired after the 2013–14 NFL season. He also worked alongside Trent Green in the #3 team as of 2017.
Greg Gumbel NBC Sports
While at NBC, he hosted NBC’s coverage of the 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Gumbel also did play-by-play for the 1995 Major League Baseball National League Division Series and also National League Championship Series (on both occasions teaming with Joe Morgan).
He did play-by-play for The NBA on NBC, hosted NBC’s daytime coverage of the 1996 Summer Olympics from Atlanta, Georgia, hosted the 1995 World Championships of Figure Skating, and also served as the studio host for The NFL on NBC.
Greg Gumbel Legacy
Greg is the third man to serve as both host and play-by-play announcer for Super Bowls. The first two were Dick Enberg and Al Michaels respectively. Greg hosted Super Bowls XXVI, XXX, and XXXII before calling Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVIII. Jim Nantz then became the fourth man to do so after he called Super Bowl XLI for CBS.
During his term as the chief anchor of The NFL Today, Greg served alongside co-anchors Dan Marino, Shannon Sharpe, and Boomer Esiason. The group was known to call Greg by his nickname “Gumby”
Greg Gumbel Net Worth | Greg Gumbel Salary
The American Sportscaster has an estimated net worth of $16 million. His salary is not yet disclosed.
Greg Gumbel Cancer
According to an article by newsday.com in December, 2009, Greg’s brother Byrant was recovering from a cancer surgery. “It’s nothing to hide from,” he told Ripa and a studio audience of his illness and recent surgery. “They opened up my chest, they took out a malignant tumor, they took out part of my lung.”
Greg Gumbel Height | How Tall Is Greg Gumbel?
Greg stands at a height of 1.75 meters.
