CBS sportscaster Greg Gumbel dies

CBS Sports anchor Greg Gumbel has died from cancer at 78.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved husband and father, Greg Gumbel. He passed away peacefully surrounded by much love after a courageous battle with cancer. Greg approached his illness like one would expect he would, with stoicism, grace, and positivity,” his family said in a statement.

“The CBS Sports family is devastated by the passing of Greg Gumbel. There has never been a finer gentleman in all of television. He was beloved and respected by those of us who had the honor to call him a friend and colleague,” said David Berson, the president and CEO of CBS Sports, in a statement.

Gumbel had over 50 years of experience in broadcasting, starting out as a sports announcer at WMAQ in Chicago. He would go on to work at ESPN and NBC.

He had two stints at CBS, the first from 1989 to 1994, where he covered a variety of sports, including anchoring various parts of the network’s Olympics coverage in 1994 and 1992. He jumped to NBC after CBS lost its NFL and MLB rights. While at NBC, he would again anchor Olympics coverage.

Gumbel returned to CBS in 1998, a move that coincided with NFL rights passing back to CBS. He served as lead announcer for “The NFL on CBS” from 1998 to 2003 and also called two Super Bowls for the network. During Super Bowls XXXV and XXXVIII, he hosted and called play-by-play for CBS, a first in network broadcasting history.

Starting in 2004, his on-air roles were switched, with Gumbel taking over the network’s studio NFL show in favor of the lead announcer gig. He left “The NFL Today” after two seasons, returning to calling games, but this time as the second-ranked play-by-play announcer. He also hosted “Inside the NFL” on Showtime and handled CBS’s college basketball coverage.

His contract with CBS was renewed in 2023, though he would miss much covering the 2024 March Madness tournament due to health issues.

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Gumbel was the older brother of Bryant Gumbel, a former co-anchor of “Today” and CBS’s “The Early Show” who has also served as a sportscaster.