Greg Gumbel, famous American sportscaster, dies aged 78

Famed American sports commentator Greg Gumbel has died of cancer at the age of 78, his family announced Friday.

Gumbel, who for decades worked for CBS Sports, was considered a fixture in American sports, especially American football and basketball.

In 2001, he became the first black sports commentator to provide play-by-play announcements for the Super Bowl.

In a statement, his family said that “he leaves a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication for 50 extraordinary years in the sports broadcasting industry; and his iconic voice will never be forgotten”.

The statement added that Gumbel “passed away peacefully surrounded by much love after a courageous battle with cancer”.

“Greg approached his illness as you might expect he would, with stoicism, grace and positivity.”

Originally from New Orleans, Gumbel grew up in Chicago and first joined CBS in 1989 after spending years covering New York Knicks basketball and Yankees baseball games for the Madison Square Garden Network.

However, his start came in the early 1970s when an executive at a local NBC affiliate in Chicago asked him to broadcast a high school basketball game every weekend.

“He said, ‘I have this idea and I want you to take it and run with it,'” Gumbel recalled in a 2021 interview. “We introduced our audience to a lot of guys who went on to become famous .”

Jim Nantz, a veteran of CBS Sports and another prominent sports anchor, referred to Gumbel as “broadcasting royalty.”

“He was as selfless a broadcaster as anyone in the business has ever known,” he said. “Our careers intersected for nearly 35 years, and he was a consummate teammate and friend.”

“He was really one of the greats,” another long-time colleague Lesley Visser told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. “He just had a light touch, you knew about him, and everyone loved working with him.”

“Greg had an innate dignity that he brought to the table,” she added.

At CBS Sports, Gumbel had two stints as host of the popular “NFL Today” pre-, halftime and post-game show, including three Super Bowls in 1992, 2013 and 2016.

Gumbel also spent four years at NBC Sports, hosting the “NFL on NBC” show and several other Super Bowl pregame shows.

He briefly stepped away from NFL coverage in 2003 before returning in 2005 and continuing in that role until 2022.

The longtime sportscaster also served as primetime anchor for CBS Sports during the 1994 Winter Olympics, as well as co-anchor during weekday telecasts of the 1992 Winter Games.

Additionally, he was a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball and became a fixture on college football broadcasts.

In March of this year, he missed his first National Collegiate Athletic Association – or NCAA – basketball tournament since 1997 due to unspecified health issues.

He had signed an extension with CBS through 2023 that allowed him to return to covering college basketball while stepping away from his work covering the NFL.

Gumbel is survived by his wife Marcy, daughter Michelle and younger brother Bryant, who is also a prominent broadcaster and former host of the “Today” show.