After two years of getting roasted by sports-media critics, Bryant Gumbel has ankled his job as play-by-play man for the eight live National Football League primetime games carried each season by the NFL Network.
The network hired Gumbel when it secured rights to the eight-game package in 2006, even though Gumbel had no experience doing NFL play by play. His sports expertise comes from his 13 years as host of HBO’s monthly hourlong series “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” and his early career at NBC Sports.
Referring to the two years doing the games as “a new experience for me,” Gumbel said in a statement that he and the network have “agreed that we’d all be better served going in different directions.”
Cris Collinsworth will continue as the analyst on the games. The network has begun the search for Gumbel’s replacement.
Thank god. While the NFL network has A LOT to do before it comes close to anyone else, this is a step in the right direction. Gumbel sucked. Plain and simple.
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