Remembering Greg Gumbel

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When I received the news that longtime sportscaster Greg Gumbel, a former colleague of mine at ESPN, had passed away this week, a pain went through my heart. It was a pain of loss but so much more.

Greg Gumbel and I shared career paths in broadcasting. During my early years at WBZ-TV 4, he did his thing at the NBC television station in Chicago. I would use his network sports highlight packages, and he would use mine. I remember the first time I saw his face on video, thinking, “Wow, another Black man and I are colleagues in the sportscasting business.”

I also knew that Greg was Bryant Gumbel’s older brother. Bryant worked for the NBC station in Los Angeles and was the more celebrated of the two Gumbel brothers, but Greg was more likable. You would have to go a long way to find anyone who didn’t like him.

Our paths officially joined when I went to ESPN in the 1980s. Greg had been there since the early days of the network.

There were rumors that I was brought in to replace Greg, who was mired in contract negotiations at the time. I didn’t know anything about his contract negotiations. And frankly, I didn’t care. After a two-plus-year absence following my stint at WBZ-TV, I was trying to get back on television.

On my first day at ESPN, I got a warm reception from Chris Berman, who said he had been a fan of mine since his collegiate days at Brown University in Rhode Island, and the late Tom Mees, a fellow native of Philadelphia.

The same could not be said for Greg Gumbel and most of the sports anchor staff. He was cordial but distant, and I didn’t know why. Here we were, the only two Black men on ESPN, and we didn’t say anything more to each other than “How are you doing?” and “Good day.” I thought that was very strange.

So, one day, I decided to break the ice. While passing through the corridor, I stopped Greg and opened a conversation. During that conversation, I made it plain to him that I was not after his job. I don’t know if he believed me, so I added, “If they offered me your job, I would say no thank you if it meant hurting you in any way.” I will forever remember the look on his face. First, he could not believe that I was breaking the ice with him and speaking my words at that moment. An awkward silence between us lasted for several seconds before we went our different ways.

From that moment on, things were better between us. No, I was not a member of Greg Gumbel’s circle. He was one of the top sports anchors at ESPN while I was relegated to the update desk and the occasional anchor spot on the various editions of Sportscenter, which aired at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Making history at ESPN

But the highlight of my ESPN experience came the day I checked the broadcast schedule and saw that Greg Gumbel and I were scheduled to anchor the 7 p.m. Sportscenter. I knew what this meant: For the first time in ESPN history, two Black men would anchor Sportscenter. I remember moments before the start of the historical broadcast when Greg looked at me and said, “Let’s make history.” And we did, with a near-flawless performance.

It was like the symbiotic mesh of the New York Knicks backcourt of Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe. In our case, it was two men of color: one from Chicago, the other from the streets of Philadelphia. We both knew that every one of our fellow anchors, male and female, along with the top management of ESPN, were watching.

Cinematographer Gregg Wade, the only Black cinematographer at that time at the network and a man who worked with Greg Gumbel and myself, would later tell me, “I was so proud to see Greg and you doing that telecast. It moved me in ways you can’t believe. It was a beautiful show for the ages. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

I, and many others, share Wade’s feelings about that monumental, history-making telecast.

At the end of the broadcast, Greg reached to shake my hand. I grabbed his hand and formed the old Black Power handshake before a national television audience. That video is somewhere in the ESPN archives.

He and I would anchor more Sportscenters together before I left the network. I received a contract offer from WOR-TV 9 in New York with only days remaining in Bristol.

Greg, classy as always, sent me a congratulatory note with the words, “Kick some butt in New York.” I kept thinking of his words. They put a gentle smile on my face, The same kind of smile he delivered to his audience every time he went on the air to broadcast.

As the years passed, our paths traveled in different directions. Greg would achieve national distinction as a play-by-play announcer and studio host on the NBC and CBS television networks in a 50-plus-year career. He was the first Black play-by-play announcer for a major U. S. sporting event, calling the Baltimore Ravens win over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV. However, arguably, Gumbel’s most remarkable feat was his 25 years as the studio host of CBS’s “March Madness,” an NCAA basketball telecast.

All that came to an end on Dec. 27, with the announcement that Greg Gumbel had died of cancer. My heart hurts for the Gumbel family, friends, and millions of fans. The times we shared at ESPN are now a distant memory. But I believe the historical moments we shared and our mutual respect as men will be everlasting.

God bless you, Greg Gumbel, my colleague and partner in broadcast history.