Jason Benetti ‘fulfilled’ to be first person with cerebral palsy in top MLB booth

When Jason Benetti was hired as the top MLB announcer for NBC Sports’ new package earlier this year, baseball fans rejoiced.

From his time calling local White Sox and Tigers games through his years at Fox, Benetti has long been a fan (and industry) favorite. Getting the Sunday Night Baseball job was his coronation.

But it was also a groundbreaking hire given that Benetti lives with cerebral palsy. So while Benetti has long worked to get the opportunity to be a top announcer, he recently acknowledged that he had serious doubts about whether a network would give him that chance.

In a recent interview on the Effectively Wild podcast, Benetti opened up on those doubts, even admitting to disagreements with friends over the years about whether the disorder would get in the way of his career aspirations.

“I had never been this before. And so to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘This has been a successful career,’ I can truly tell you both that I’m good now, in terms of the earthly needs of broadcasting,” Benetti said.

“I would have wondered, would somebody put a person with cerebral palsy in the lead chair? However many of my friends text me and say that’s wrong, you don’t have to think about it, you wouldn’t have had to think about it, that’s BS. Because nobody’s done that before. And so now that that’s happened, I am fulfilled in that regard.”

Benetti has always offered a refreshingly human perspective on life and sports, one that seems to have helped as he patiently awaited his chance at a job like Sunday Night Baseball.

Over time, Benetti said he learned not to judge himself by his status in the industry, but also to appreciate the opportunity now that he has it.

“If your life’s goal is to be the lead guy at every moment, at all times, the reaper is coming for you,” he explained.

“At some point, there’s going to be a new model. At some point, somebody else is gonna be better than you, or they’re going to lose the rights, or whatever. So judging yourself on anything other than the work is a really long-term terrible idea, because flowers will disappear and wilt. And it’s just gonna happen for everybody.”

Benetti believes there are numerous strong announcers still awaiting their chance as well, and there are only so many jobs. Rather than get absorbed in the competition of it or constantly look over his shoulder, he is pouring himself into his new role at NBC and reveling in the fortune of getting to do a job he had serious doubts would ever be offered.

“I refuse to get swept up in anything other than the idea that I was this, at one point, and I’m throwing everything I have at it,” he said. “And if it’s great, great. And if it’s not, great. But it’s gonna be the effort that I know I have to give to make something great.”