After longtime Boston Celtics play-by-play voice Mike Gorman was seen wearing an eye patch during their game against the New York Knicks earlier this week, the legendary announcer addressed the concern.
Gorman joined Boston’s popular radio show hosted by Fred Toucher and Rich Shertenlieb on 98.5 The Sports Hub Wednesday morning and detailed a recent medical emergency that now requires him to wear the eye patch.
According to Gorman, he was recently having lunch with his brother when his vision rapidly deteriorated. Gorman said he immediately began walking toward Mass General Hospital believing he was suffering from a stroke.
“Finally, we get to Mass General emergency unit,” Gorman recalled. “They tested me for about two or three hours. They decided I didn’t have a stroke, which is good, but I did have a detached retina. I had to be operated on within 48 hours, or I could’ve lost my eyesight forever. I was in the emergency room Saturday night and was being operated on Monday morning.”
And Monday night, Gorman was in New York calling the Celtics game against the Knicks with an eye patch, leaving some of NBC Sports Boston’s audience concerned.
“Both of my eyes have been dilated for about a week now,” Gorman told Toucher and Rich. “The [eye patch] is to help with light sensitivity. With all the Internet speculation, people said I was trying to look like Johnny Depp [in Pirates of the Caribbean]. You know, just crazy stuff. So that’s what’s going on there, folks. If anybody cares. It’s going to work out well, I think.
“[Doctors] said it takes about two or three months before you get your vision back…Each morning I wake up, it’s a little better. I wouldn’t be able to pick you guys out of a crowd because everything is all colors. But there weren’t colors before. It was just a black curtain.”
The 77-year-old Gorman, who has been the voice of the Celtics since 1981, began scaling back his schedule this season, calling only home games, as well as making road trips to New York and Philadelphia, but has no plans on retiring anytime soon.
