Brent Musburger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brent Musburger
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Musburger at Cassell Coliseum in 2007
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| Born |
Brent Woody Musburger
May 26, 1939 Portland, Oregon, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Arlene Clare Sander
(m. 1963) |
| Children | 2 |
| Family | Todd Musburger (brother) |
Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is a famous American sportscaster. He is currently a main broadcaster and managing editor at VSiN.
From 1973 to 1990, Brent Musburger worked for CBS Sports. He was the first host of their show The NFL Today. He is also known for using the phrase "March Madness" to describe the exciting NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. While at CBS, he covered many major sports events. These included the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, World Series, U.S. Open tennis, and The Masters golf tournament. He also covered important college football games.
In 1990, Musburger joined ESPN and ABC Sports. He continued to cover the NBA Finals. He also hosted Monday Night Football and provided play-by-play for Saturday Night Football. He worked for the SEC Network too. His coverage included the Indianapolis 500 car race, U.S. Open and British Open golf. He also covered the FIFA World Cup in soccer and the Belmont Stakes in horse racing. Other big events were the Rose Bowl and the College Football national championship. He left ESPN and ABC in January 2017. After a short break, he became the radio voice for the Las Vegas Raiders from 2018 to 2022.
Brent Musburger grew up in Billings, Montana. He is a member of the Montana Broadcaster's Association Hall of Fame.
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Early Life and Career Beginnings
Musburger was born in Portland, Oregon. He was raised in Billings, Montana, by his parents, Beryl Ruth and Cec Musburger. His brother, Todd Musburger, is a well-known sports agent.
His love for sports started when he was a boy. He played Little League Baseball. He was also friends with former Major League pitcher Dave McNally. As a young boy, he sold programs at Billings Mustangs games.
Musburger had some challenges during his youth. When he was 12, he and his brother took their mother's cleaning lady's car for a ride without permission. His parents then sent him to the Shattuck-St. Mary's School in Faribault, Minnesota. He later studied at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He was suspended for a year for having a car without a license.
Around 1959, Musburger worked as a minor league baseball umpire. He was in the Class-D Midwest League. While it was once thought he umpired a game where future MLB All-Star Tim McCarver debuted, this story is not true. However, Musburger did umpire other games involving McCarver later that season.
Musburger started his career as a sportswriter. He wrote for the Chicago American newspaper, which no longer exists. His editor there was Warren Brown. In 1968, Musburger wrote about Tommie Smith and John Carlos's protest. They made a Black Power salute at the 1968 Summer Olympics to protest racial injustice. Musburger wrote that they looked like "black-skinned storm troopers" and were "ignoble."
In 1999, Musburger said comparing them to Nazis was "harsh." But he still believed using the Olympic awards stand for a political statement was wrong. John Carlos later said Musburger never apologized to him. Carlos also stated that Musburger's comments did not affect him.
In 1968, Musburger began working with CBS for 22 years. He first worked as a sports anchor for WBBM radio. Later, he worked for WBBM-TV. In the mid-1970s, Musburger moved to Los Angeles. He anchored news and sports for KNXT (now KCBS-TV). He worked with Connie Chung on evening newscasts from 1978 to 1980. Then, he joined CBS Sports full-time.
In 2020, Musburger shared a story about betting on the length of the Super Bowl national anthem. He said his friends would time the rehearsal the day before the game. This helped him win his bets.
CBS Sports: A Major Career Chapter (1973–1990)
In late 1973, Brent Musburger started doing play-by-play for CBS Sports. He began by covering regular season National Football League games. He worked with commentators like Tommy Mason or Bart Starr. A year later, Wayne Walker joined him in the broadcast booth.
By 1975, Musburger became very well known. He moved from play-by-play to hosting The NFL Today. This was the network's studio show for the National Football League. Suddenly, Musburger covered many different sports for CBS Sports. He hosted or announced events like college football, basketball, and the National Basketball Association. He also covered horse racing, the U.S. Open (tennis) tournament, and The Masters golf tournament. He even announced events like The World's Strongest Man contests. Musburger also called Major League Baseball games for CBS Radio.
Hosting The NFL Today
Musburger became famous for his work on The NFL Today. During his time, CBS's NFL pregame show was always the most watched. A special part of the show was Musburger's opening. He would show live pictures from different stadiums. He would say, "You are looking live at ..." This became one of his famous phrases. When promoting CBS, his voice often trailed off on the last letter of "CBS." This created another well-known phrase, "C.B. eeezz."
Musburger made news when he had a disagreement with The NFL Today's analyst Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder. This happened in a Manhattan bar on October 27, 1980. However, they quickly moved past it. The next week, they appeared on The NFL Today wearing boxing gloves as a joke.
Leaving CBS
By the late 1980s, Musburger was CBS's top sportscaster. He was the main host and play-by-play announcer for many big events. These included the NBA Finals, college basketball, college football, and the Belmont Stakes. He also hosted a New Year's Eve countdown for CBS. Musburger is known for being the first broadcaster to call the annual NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament March Madness.
In early 1990, CBS changed its management. On April 1, 1990, Musburger was let go from CBS. He thought it was an April Fools joke at first. His last job for CBS was the next evening. He did play-by-play for the 1990 NCAA men's basketball final. This game was between Duke and UNLV. After the game, Musburger thanked the audience and CBS Sports. He also thanked the analysts he had worked with, like Billy Packer.
When he left CBS, Musburger was supposed to cover CBS's television coverage of Major League Baseball. Jack Buck took his place. Greg Gumbel took over his role on The NFL Today. Jim Nantz became the lead play-by-play announcer for college basketball.
ABC Sports and ESPN: New Horizons (1990–2017)
After leaving CBS, Musburger thought about different job offers. He decided to join ABC. Since Al Michaels was already ABC's main broadcaster, Musburger focused on college football and basketball. Later, ABC merged with ESPN under Disney. This allowed him to work for ESPN too, especially after 2006.
He covered many sports for ESPN and ABC. These included Major League Baseball, NBA games, and golf tournaments. He also covered horse racing, the Indianapolis 500, and the Little League World Series. He announced soccer games, college football, and even some NFL games. He hosted halftime for Monday Night Football and covered Wild Card playoff games. Musburger was also the main studio host for ABC's coverage of the 1998 World Cup and the 2006 World Cup. He briefly hosted ESPN and ABC's NASCAR coverage. He also hosted Tour de France coverage for ABC.
Major League Baseball Highlights
In 1995, Musburger called Games 3-5 of the 1995 American League Division Series. This was between the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. He worked with Jim Kaat for ABC. The fifth game was very exciting and went into the 11th inning. Edgar Martínez hit a double that scored two runs. This won the game for Seattle and sent them to the League Championship Series for the first time.
Musburger's call was very dramatic:
No balls and a strike to Martínez. Line drive, we are tied! Griffey is coming around! In the corner is Bernie. He's going to try to score! Here's the division championship! Mariners win it! Mariners win it!
Musburger and Jim Kaat also called Games 1-2 of the 1995 American League Championship Series. Bob Costas and Bob Uecker called the rest of the games on NBC.
College Football Coverage
Musburger's college football work for ESPN and ABC included calling seven BCS National Championship games. These were in 2000, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Starting in 2006, Musburger called ABC Sports' college football prime time series. He worked with analysts Bob Davie and Kirk Herbstreit. Musburger called the 2007 Rose Bowl, taking over from the retired Keith Jackson. He also called games on ESPN during his time at ABC.
During the 2013 BCS National Championship Game, a camera showed Katherine Webb in the stands. She was cheering for her boyfriend, Alabama quarterback A. J. McCarron. Musburger commented on her appearance. The next day, ESPN apologized for his comments, saying they "went too far." However, the issue quickly faded. Webb herself said she was not bothered by Musburger's comments. In 2018, as the Raiders' new radio broadcaster, Musburger jokingly mentioned the incident again. He welcomed the now-married McCarrons to Oakland.
Musburger's work on Saturday Night Football ended when he and Jesse Palmer became ESPN's main college football commentators for the SEC Network in 2014. He still called some games on ESPN and ABC after that.
VSiN and Las Vegas Raiders (2018–2021)
In January 2017, Musburger announced he would retire from play-by-play broadcasting. His final game was on January 31, 2017, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
Musburger planned to help his family start a business in Las Vegas. This business would focus on sports analysis and predictions. He also planned to have a sports show on Sirius XM Radio and enjoy traveling. The new company, Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN), is the first network dedicated to sports analysis. It broadcasts from a special studio at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. Musburger is the managing editor of VSiN. He also hosts its program My Guys in the Desert. Musburger and his sons sold VSiN to DraftKings in March 2021. They remained executives and on-air personalities. DraftKings sold VSiN back to the Musburgers in 2024.
On July 17, 2018, it was announced that Musburger would return to broadcasting. He became the new radio voice for the Oakland Raiders. This was a three-year contract. It included their first season in Las Vegas in 2020. Musburger continued as the announcer through the 2021 season.
Broadcasting Style
Musburger has a friendly way of speaking. He often calls his viewers "folks." In a Sports Illustrated article from 1984, he said he tried not to sound too serious during his broadcasts. In 2004, CNN Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel named him the second-best college football announcer. Mandel said Musburger's voice would always be linked to some of the sport's most memorable moments.
Musburger is known for pointing out attractive women in the crowds at games he calls. Some of these women later became famous, including CJ Perry and Katherine Webb McCarron.
Other Appearances
Musburger appeared as a reporter in the movie Rocky II. He even had an action figure made of his character in 2006. He also played the right leg of a fictional monster named Scuzzlebutt on an episode of South Park. He made small appearances in the movies The Main Event and The Waterboy. In Cars 2 and Planes, he voiced Brent Mustangburger, a cartoon version of himself. He also appeared as himself in an episode of the ABC sitcom Happy Endings.
Musburger is played by John Dellaporta in the HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. He also has a voice cameo as himself in the show. Kevin Nealon also made fun of him on Saturday Night Live.
