In the spirit of flexing their muscles from a talent perspective, ESPN continues to announce the re-signings of their top broadcasters. This is good news for us because we now know who's sticking around and valued by the network (although ESPN could provide more contract details other than "multi-year" but something is better than nothing). The latest name re-signed by ESPN is venerable veteran broadcaster, who will be Bristol's voice of college football for the foreseeable future. From the ESPN announcement…
Musburger will continue to serve as a play-by-play commentator for multiple sports across ESPN and ABC. He primarily works college sports for ESPN, calling the weekly Saturday Night Football series on ABC, a role he has held since its debut in 2006, and several bowl games a year, highlighted by the BCS National Championship. He is also the announcer on an extensive schedule of men’s college basketball, most recently working ESPN’s Big 12 Big Monday telecasts.
“I couldn’t be happier about staying at ESPN,” said Musburger. “It was never a consideration for me to move on from here. The people I work for and with are some of the best in the industry. I love the atmosphere at college events and surrounding myself around college athletes. Hey, that’s how I stay young.
Musburger is 73, but will now broadcast top college football games into his mid-seventies (depending on the actual length of the deal). Keith Jackson was 77 years young when he called his last game – the classic 2006 Rose Bowl between Texas and USC.
Seeing an announcer stick around into his seventies is nothing new, but it's rare that an announcer can keep his fastball for that long. Brent and Vin Scully are two that come to mind that are still at the top of their game even though they've spent decades at the top of sports broadcasting. Brent is also helped by his relatively late-career rise as the voice of college football at ABC/ESPN/Disney after Keith Jackson's retirement in 2006. Brent and Herbie are one of the top broadcast teams in sports, so it's wise for ESPN to keep them together for at least a couple more seasons.
[ESPN]
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