Thom Brennaman has been suspended and his career is in doubt after he was heard using an anti-gay slur on the air. Also: ESPN has officially announced its new Monday Night Football team and former SportsCenter anchor Michael Smith has a new gig.
Brennaman suspended for slur
Fox Sports broadcaster Thom Brennaman was suspended indefinitely from his role as voice of the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday night, hours after he was heard using an anti-gay slur on the air. During the first half of a Reds-Royals doubleheader Wednesday, subscribers to MLB.TV were able to hear Brennaman using the slur — evidently unaware he was on the air — as the Reds broadcast came out of a commercial break.
Brennaman finished the first game of the doubleheader but was pulled from the air midway through the second, offering an on-air apology during the top of the fifth inning that was interrupted by a Reds home run.
Brennaman is one of the better-known play-by-play voices, having worked for Fox Sports since 1994. He currently calls NFL games for FOX, filling in on the network’s “A” team when Joe Buck has MLB Postseason duties. He previously served as the network’s lead college football voice when it held BCS rights and served as its #2 MLB play-by-play voice throughout the 2000s.
He has served as a voice of the Reds since 2006, after a previous stint from 1988-89. His father Marty Brennaman worked Reds games locally from 1974 through last year. [AP 8.19]
New MNF team announced
Confirming what has been known for weeks, and rumored for months, ESPN announced Monday that its new Monday Night Football broadcast team will consist of Steve Levy Louis Riddick and Brian Griese. The trio previously called the back half of last year’s Week 1 MNF doubleheader. Their debut as the lead team is also scheduled for the late window, Titans-Broncos.
Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit are scheduled to call the first game of ESPN’s Week 1 doubleheader, which had also been previously reported. [ESPN PR 8.17]
Michael Smith returning to TV with new Peacock show
Former ESPN SportsCenter anchor Michael Smith will pair with his former Boston Globe colleague Michael Holley on a new daily talk show set to debut on NBC’s streaming service Peacock next month. The show, “Brother From Another,” will be part of a daily block of sports programming on Peacock that includes Rich Eisen and Dan Patrick‘s radio shows.
Smith has not held a regular position on sports television since leaving SportsCenter in 2018. He appeared sporadically on ESPN’s daytime talk shows last year before being bought out of the remainder of his contract. Prior to his one-year tenure on the SportsCenter, he was co-host of ESPN’s His & Hers (previously Numbers Never Lie) from 2011-17.
Coincidentally, the same day Smith’s new show was announced, his former co-host Jemele Hill’s new show debuted on Vice. [Peacock 8.19]
