Legendary sportscaster Brent Musburger to retire at 77
ESPN/ABC sportscaster Brent Musburger has been behind the mike at every major game since 1975. We are saying goodbye to a legend.
I really can’t remember a major college game where Brent Musburger wasn’t calling the plays. He has one of the most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting, as well as one of the most ubiquitous. His signature catchphrase, “You are looking live”, preceded almost every game that meant anything. You knew that if Musburger was there you would get an objective, folksy, and humorous delivery.
Musburger’s career has spanned nearly 50 years, in which time he has called college football and basketball games for the SEC Network since it launched in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at ABC and CBS. In his 15-year stint with CBS, he worked as a commentator and announcer for the NFL, the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the U.S. Open, the NBA, the Masters, the Belmont Stakes and the College World Series. He has been witness to some of sports’ signature moments.
The guy has been so influential and iconic that he launched two then unknown beauties, Jenn Sterger and Katherine Webb, to national prominence merely through his notice. His small stable of “Brent’s Babes” went on to have successful careers of their own. Brent gazed with somewhat impious eyes at a barely-clad Jennifer Sterger at an FSU game and noted, “1,500 red-blooded Americans just decided to apply to Florida State”. Sterger then managed to channel her 25 seconds of television infamy into a successful career in sports broadcasting. Katherine Webb’s beauty drew his discern at an Alabama game, and rocketed her into internet history as her Twitter following went from 2,000 to 175,000 overnight.
For almost 50 years, Brent Musburger has been at the forefront of every major American sporting event. We are saying goodbye to a legend, and I for one will miss him.