Ron Franklin facts for kids

Ronald Franklin (February 2, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was known for describing sports games on TV and radio. He worked for ESPN, a big sports TV channel, from 1987 to 2011. He left ESPN after making comments that were not appropriate for the workplace. Later, he and ESPN worked out a disagreement about his contract.

Ron Franklin's Early Life

Ron Franklin grew up in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. His mother let him play sports in school. But he also had to take voice lessons. When he was 14, his family moved to Oxford, Mississippi.

He had a head injury in high school. This injury stopped him from playing football. It also meant he could not join the military. Around this time, he started working as a teen disc jockey. This job helped him combine his love for sports and broadcasting.

While studying at the University of Mississippi, Franklin worked hard. He worked at a radio station early in the morning. He went to classes during the day. Then, he returned to the station in the evening. He would work on commercials there. He also acted in college plays to improve his voice. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Before joining ESPN, Franklin was a play-by-play commentator. He described basketball and football games for the University of Texas from 1983 to 1988. He was also the voice for the Houston Oilers football team from 1971 to 1982. He worked as a sports director at several local news stations. These included KSWS-TV in Roswell, New Mexico in 1965. He also worked at KVOO-TV in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971. In Houston, Texas, he worked for KHOU-TV from 1971 to 1980. Then he worked for KPRC-TV from 1980 to 1987.

Working at ESPN

At ESPN, Ron Franklin mainly described college basketball and college football games. From 1987 to 2005, he hosted ESPN College Football Primetime. He often worked with Mike Gottfried. In 2006, he moved to ESPN2 College Football Primetime with Ed Cunningham. In 2007, they moved to ESPN on ABC. There, they mostly called Big 12 games.

For college basketball, he was the main play-by-play announcer for ESPN. He worked with Fran Fraschilla for Big 12 games. They also called the NIT Championship. Franklin also described tennis matches at the French Open. He covered college baseball and the U.S. Olympic Festival. In some years, he hosted the Miss Texas USA Pageants. He signed a new contract with ESPN in 2006.

A Comment That Caused Trouble

On October 1, 2005, Ron Franklin was describing a football game. It was between Notre Dame and Purdue. The sideline reporter, Holly Rowe, praised a coach for using all his timeouts. She said it showed the coaches were not giving up. Franklin responded, "Holly, it's not giving up. It's 49–21, sweetheart."

After this, a senior producer at ESPN said the comment was not appropriate. They talked to Ron about it. Ron apologized for what he said. ESPN handled the issue internally.

More Workplace Issues

Later, another incident happened. This was reported to ESPN by a colleague. ESPN tried to remove Franklin from a game he was supposed to cover. They could not do it that night. Instead, he was removed from an ESPN Radio game the next day.

Franklin apologized for his remarks. He said he deserved to be removed from the game. However, ESPN ended their relationship with him the next day. ESPN stated, "Based on what occurred last Friday, we have ended our relationship with him."

His Later Life and Passing

Ron Franklin was married and had one child. He lived in Austin, Texas. Ron Franklin passed away on January 18, 2022. He was 79 years old.