The voice of Auburn athletics has died. Also: Dallas Morning News writer Gerry Fraley passed away Saturday; Mike Tirico and Dan Hicks are joining NBC’s French Open coverage.
Auburn voice Bramblett killed in crash
Longtime Auburn Tigers play-by-play voice Rod Bramblett, who called the university’s football, men’s basketball and baseball games, died Saturday in a car accident. His wife Paula was also killed in the crash. The news, which was first reported by the Opelika-Auburn News and AL.com, was confirmed to ESPN.com by a local coroner’s office Sunday morning. Bramblett was 52.
Bramblett had been the voice of Auburn football and men’s basketball since 2003, assuming the role after the sudden death of predecessor Jim Fyffe. He had been the voice of Auburn baseball since 1993 and was recently honored for his 25 years with the team. He is perhaps best known nationally for his call of the Tigers’ famous “Kick Six” in 2013. [AL.com 5.25, oanow.com 5.25, ESPN.com 5.26]
Dallas sportswriter Fraley passes away
Dallas Morning News writer Gerry Fraley died Saturday at age 64. According to the paper, he had been battling cancer for the past two years. Fraley had been with the Morning News since 1989 and wrote his final article earlier this month. [Dallas Morning News 5.25]
Busy stretch ahead for Tirico
NBC Sports broadcaster Mike Tirico will cover the Indianapolis 500, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, French Open tennis, and horse racing’s Belmont Stakes over the course of a 14-day stretch that starts Sunday. Tirico covered the Stanley Cup Final and Belmont Stakes last year, but the Indy 500 and French Open assignments are new.
On a related note, NBC voice Dan Hicks will call the singles finals of the French Open. Tirico and Hicks replace Ted Robinson, who had called French Open tennis for NBC since 2000, but was evidently not retained. [NBC Sports PR 5.22, Detroit Free-Press 5.25]
