Gary Danielson Gets Brutally Honest About His Retirement Decision

Danielson also explained to Ourand that he wanted to step aside too early rather than too late.

"I think so,” Danielson said about this being the best decision for him, via Awful Announcing. “I’ve been nominated for Emmys six times — and never won, but that’s still an honor for a college announcer to get that. So, it’s been seamless to the Big Ten; the Big Ten treated us royally. It was fantastic. When I was playing, I missed a lot of what my kids were doing. When I was working at ESPN and ABC, I missed every one of my son’s football games in high school, most of my daughter’s volleyball games back at that time. And now my grandkids were starting into high school; they’re all here locally.

“And I go, ‘This might be the perfect time.’ I really felt that I would rather leave a couple years early than one year late, where people are starting to say ‘He doesn’t have it. He should’ve retired.’ And I have the ability to do that, to walk away. Everything seems fine. Thrilled with Charles Davis sitting in that seat. Honestly, there might’ve been some people that I would’ve been queasy about, but not Charles. It just seemed right. It really did — two years with the Big Ten. I didn’t want a going away year. I’m not in the Verne category or the Al Michaels category, where you’re going to leave, and everybody’s talking about how great you are."

For his on-air sendoff, Danielson will call CBS Sports' Big Ten Game of the Week for the second year in a row.

Prior to last season, he was the No. 1 game analyst for the network's SEC Game of the Week before ESPN took over the broadcasting rights to college football's top conference.

“Gary Danielson is simply one of the greatest college football analysts ever. And an even better teammate,” said CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson. “Gary cares more about uplifting others and ensuring the team receives all the accolades. During his 20 years here, he helped propel CBS Sports to the gold standard in college football coverage. We can't thank him enough; he will always be part of the CBS Sports family and wish him the best in retirement.”