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Longtime Announcer Chris Fowler, 63, Admits Suffering From Infection

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated Sep 18, 2025 7:50 AM ET

As concerns pour in for Chris Fowler after "Monday Night Football," the longtime ESPN broadcaster posted on social media to reveal the truth about his health condition.

Fowler turned a lot of heads during the ESPN broadcast of the Los Angeles Chargers-Las Vegas Raiders game as fans noticed that he sounded different — hoarse voice and seemingly sick.

Right at the start of the game, viewers expressed concern about Fowler, with one even saying, "What’s wrong with Fowler? Sounds sick and no energy."

"Is it me but is Chris Fowler‘s voice off a little bit?" a commenter added on Awful Announcing's post about the game.

"It might just be Riddick and Orlovsky by the 2nd half, Fowler might not make it the entire game," a fan remarked, further highlighting how concerning Fowler's performance was during the contest.

Geno Smith throws an interception on the first play from scrimmage in the Chargers-Raiders game.

Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, and Louis Riddick have the call for ESPN. ️ #NFL #MNF pic.twitter.com/xQ7gc9m9Bi
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 16, 2025

On Tuesday, Fowler himself addressed the concerns and admitted that he was indeed sick during the broadcast, stating that he had a "sinus infection" as a result of his coverage of the US Open for two weeks and the start of the college football season.

While he says he feels fine now, the 63-year-old veteran commentator shared that his voice is still recovering.

"For those who are concerned, I feel great," Fowler wrote on Instagram. "Had a sinus infection a week ago after the USOpen/CFB grind. I'm healthy now, but vocal recovery is lagging behind and that frustrates me."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris Fowler (@chrisfowler)

It remains to be seen if ESPN will ease the workload on Fowler as his voice recovers. For what it's worth, he only had to do a "Monday Night Football" broadcast for Week 2 because of the rare double-header. The Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers also played on Monday.

Whatever the case may be, fans should expect Fowler to deal with vocal issues for a bit as he continues his recovery.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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