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NFL Sideline Reporter Jamie Erdahl Pays Tribute To Legendary Broadcaster Greg Gumbel

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Dec 28, 2024 9:36 PM ET

On Friday the sports world was saddened to learn of the passing of legendary sports broadcaster Greg Gumbel following a battle with cancer at the age of 78.

Gumbel was renown as the voice and face of college basketball during the NCAA Tournament for decades, but also enjoyed many years as one of the top NFL broadcasters at various networks. So during NFL broadcast of the Cardinals-Rams game, the commentary team of Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner and sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl gave a touching tribute to the broadcast legend.

After Eisen offered condolences to Gumbel's family, Erdahl took a moment to reflect on the 51 games she did together with Gumbel and Trent Green on CBS. She said that every interaction she had with him reminded her of what a legend he was.

"Three years with Greg in the booth with Trent Green -- and myself on the sideline -- 51 NFL games we did together..." Erdahl said. "If you ever walked away from interacting with that man, you always thought, 'That guy is legendary.'"

"Three years with Greg in the booth with Trent Green -- and myself on the sideline -- 51 NFL games we did together...

"If you ever walked away from interacting with that man, you always thought, 'That guy is legendary.'"

- Jamie Erdahl https://t.co/FOMSbHGslj pic.twitter.com/5LPupFAqLa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 29, 2024

Gumbel's broadcast career spanned 50 years and included calls of Super Bowls, the Winter Olympics, baseball, basketball, football and many other sports.

Gumbel became the first African-American announcer to ever call a Super Bowl in 2001 and is one of only a handful of broadcasters in history to host and call one. In total, Gumbel did either TV play-by-play, radio play-by-play or studio host duties for 11 Super Bowls during his career.

But Gumbel was perhaps most well-known for his coverage of March Madness during the NCAA basketball season. For the past quarter-century he has been the face of the March Madness bracket reveal show and done breakdowns of the biggest games and upsets of every tournament since the 1990s. When it was announced earlier this year that he had to miss the tournament due to health reasons, his absence was instantly felt by all.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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