Sean Grande facts for kids

Sean David Grande was born on December 11, 1971. He is an American sports announcer for television and radio. He is best known as the voice of the Boston Celtics. Sean Grande has announced almost every sport during his 25-year career.

Sean Grande describes the game as it happens, working with analyst Cedric Maxwell. They are known as “Grande and Max” on all Boston Celtics radio broadcasts. Only two other famous Celtics announcers, Johnny Most and Mike Gorman, have called more Celtics games than Grande. On December 2, 2009, Sean Grande became one of the youngest people in NBA history to announce 1,000 NBA games. He called his 2,000th game in 2020.

Sean Grande's Career Journey

Sean Grande's career includes working at a radio station called WEEI from 1991 to 1998. For three of those years, he was the sports director. Sean Grande has announced many different sports. These include WNBA basketball for the Minnesota Lynx and Connecticut Sun. He also announced pro tennis, Providence Bruins hockey, Harvard basketball, and even Major League Soccer.

He helped host the 1998 NCAA Hockey Selection show on ESPN2. He also spent three years hosting the Stanley Cup Playoffs on NHL Radio. In 2005, he became a regular host for Fox Sports Net's Sports Tonight. In 2013, he joined Joe Castiglione to announce Red Sox games on WEEI. This was until he, Cedric Maxwell, and the Celtics moved to 98.5 the Sports Hub. In 2021, "Grande and Max" announced more games together than any other Celtics duo. This included the famous team of Mike Gorman and Tom Heinsohn. In 2022, Grande started sharing Celtics television play-by-play duties. Mike Gorman calls home games, and Grande joins Brian Scalabrine for road games.

Starting Out in Boston

Sean Grande was born in New York City. He went to Boston University and graduated in 1993. During his time there, he spent seven seasons announcing hockey, football, and basketball. He worked on both television and radio for the Boston University Terriers. In 1996, he moved to Boston College. He became the voice for the Eagles football and hockey radio networks. He worked there for three seasons until 1999. On television, Grande was the first announcer for the Hockey East Game of the Week on Fox Sports Net. He was a regular voice on Sportsradio WEEI in Boston from 1991 until he left for the NBA in 1998.

His Love for College Hockey

In the fall of 1989, Sean Grande announced his first game on air. It was a hockey game between Boston University and Providence. This was the start of his long connection with college hockey. His work for Fox and the NCAA Tournament has earned him three New England Emmy nominations. This includes the 1999 Emmy for Best Play-by-Play. He has spent six years as the television voice of the NCAA East Regional. In 2016, which was his 27th year announcing the sport, he was the “Voice of the Frozen Four” on CBS Radio for the fourteenth time. Sean Grande has announced a record 16 NCAA Championship Games.

Working for ABC Sports

Sean Grande was asked to come back to Boston in 2001. Before that, he spent three years as the television voice for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. When he joined Minnesota in 1998, he was the youngest announcer in the NBA. Sean Grande's announcing work also includes two seasons with the ABC Sports College Football broadcast team. He worked alongside famous announcers like Keith Jackson and Brent Musburger. His announcement of the January 1, 2001 Florida Citrus Bowl on ABC was watched by over ten million homes. In 2003, readers of Boston Sports Media Watch voted him the best play-by-play announcer in Boston.

Movie and TV Show Appearances

Sean Grande made his first movie appearance in the 2001 film Joe Somebody. He played himself in a small role. The movie starred Tim Allen. His announcement of Ricky Davis's last-second shot in November 2005 was used in the final season of HBO's The Sopranos in 2006.

Announcing MMA and Boxing

In July 2015, Sean Grande signed a deal to be the main announcer for Spike Sports. He became the announcer for Bellator MMA, a major mixed martial arts organization. In 2017, he stepped down from Bellator full-time to spend more time with his son. However, Grande continued to announce some Bellator events. He also started announcing boxing matches for PBC on FOX and Top Rank Boxing on ESPN. In 2021, he returned to Bellator, which is now on Showtime. He shares the announcing duties with Mauro Ranallo.

Sean Grande's Family Life

In October 2018, it was announced that Sean Grande became engaged to Dana Jacobson. She is a CBS News anchor and former ESPN host. They got married on September 28, 2019, in New York. They live in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with Grande's son, Jack, who was born in 2011.