Greg Gumbel kept an eye on everything

When Greg Gumbel was named host of the CBS NFL pregame show in 1990, he was considered a departure for the network. Brent Musberger was the host The NFL today for 15 years, and a lot of people were tired of his shit. He dominated the show and much of the network’s sports coverage. Reporters wondered whether Gumbel, who had previously anchored NFL games and anchored NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage for CBS, would be another pre-game preemptive personality.

He wasn’t, but ran the show in a more reserved tone. Gumbel hosted in the studio with Terry Bradshaw, while Lesley Visser and Pat O’Brien handled the features. The new presenter wanted to be the conductor, not the star. “If Terry is on this show,” Gumbel told the AP near the beginning, “then I’ve done my job.”

Of course, as a child who was interested in football, I knew nothing about it. At the pregame show I really started getting excited about the Eagles, who usually played at 1 p.m., and Gumbel was the guy who got me there. Thinking back, the show back then was much less loud than today’s pre-game offerings. There was only one Terry Bradshaw sitting at the desk, not four different versions at different volumes. Gumbel was a big fan of the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones – the 1990 AP story said he could “even name the opening acts” for the Stones’ last seven tours – but in the pregame show he played the straight man .

According to a statement released by his family, Gumbel died Friday of complications from cancer. He was 78 years old. The CBS pregame show was part of a wide-ranging career that included coverage of professional baseball, the Olympics and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Gumbel was the guy everyone calls a “consummate professional,” but he really was. When Gumbel sat at the desk, the viewer received the expertise and care they deserved.

Gumbel managed to keep things straightforward on air without taking anything too seriously. He was funny and outgoing. “The only thing Greg loved more than laughing was making other people laugh,” CBS analyst Seth Davis wrote in his tribute. “When you were around him, you usually did that.”

Greg chided his younger brother Bryant Gumbel for becoming too serious after switching from sports to the news industry. In 1992, he mocked him for covering up things he felt were beneath him: “Did you see what (Bryant) was wearing? Today? I mean, why? Give me a break.” Greg also knew what was important; He covered Disco Demolition Night for Chicago’s WMAQ-TV.

Gumbel was cautious about his increasing number of assignments for CBS; He became the network’s second-largest baseball play-by-play announcer and took on a solo role as host of the Olympics. “I’m always amazed at the kind of responsibility that’s given to me and that sensible people would trust me with these things,” he said in 1992. I think it was that kind of attitude that made him so enjoyable on television . He was professional but never too serious, and behind this self-deprecation was a notorious desire to improve his craft.

Gumbel said he left ESPN in 1986 to go to MSG, which was considered a lower-profile gig, because he wanted to do play-by-play to become more versatile. Many people work hard this way, but not everyone can have that drive while remaining grounded and supportive of their colleagues. Gumbel was able to do anything in his media career that spanned over 50 years. And he was right: Disco Demolition Night was a much better assignment than an interview with Nixon in 1992.