Thom Brennaman is makięĶng a rðeturn to the broadcast booth.
The former Reds broadcaster and Fox MLB and NFL play-by-play voice has been hired by The CW to call college football games four years after he lost his jobs for using an anti-gay slur on the air, Sunday.
âThere are noáĐáĐáĐáĐáĐáĐâĪâĪâĪâĪáĐâĪâĪâĪâĪáĐâĪâĪâĪâĪáĐðąáĐáĐáĐ words to describe how grateful I am that theyâre rolling the dice,â Brennaman, 60, told The AthletiðŦc. âThey donât have to do this.â
DęĶuring the first game of a Reds-Royals doubleheader on Aug. 19, 2020,ï·š Brennaman, working for Fox Sports Ohio, was caught on a hot mic saying, âOne of the f-g capitals of the world.â
When Brennaman was offering an on-air apology that day, he awkwardly paused to calęĶl a Nick Castellanos home run in a moment that quickly went viral.
âI pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith â as thereâs a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it will be a home run,â and so thâatâll make it a 4-0 ballgame,â Brennaman said during that broadcast.
The next day, Fox dismissed him from his national NFL job, and he later resigned from his Reds post after he wasęĶ suspended.
Brennamanâs first game for ðThe CW will be Idaho State at Oregon State on Aug. 31, and heâll mostly call ACC games after that, The Athletic reported.
While looking to get back into broadcasting, he reached out to Nexstar public relations after seeing that Perry Sook, the CEO of Nexstar Media Group â which owns The CW â was a fellow Ohio University alum, per The Athletic. Sook connected with Brennâaman theï·― next day.
âIt beâcame clear that he has taken full responsibility for his actions,â The CW president Dennð is Miller told The Athletic.
Legendary broadâcaster Bob Costas backed Brennaman when another CW executive, Sean Compton, reached out.
âNeitā·īher Thom nor anyone else denies that he had a serious misstep,â Costas told The Athletic âA misstep for which some consequence would have been appropriate. But the price he has paid is beyond disproportionate. Especially when you consider that he had ða fine reputation prior to the incident, and took every proper step to make amends subsequent to it. His return to the booth is overdue and I am sure the audience will be happy to hear his voice again.â
ðBrennaman said he had reached out to peopðle in the gay community and has gotten support from Cyd Zeigler, the co-founder of the LGBTQ+ sports website Outsports.
âI pumped my fist in the air aând said, âFinally!â â Zeigler told The Athletic regarding Brennamanâs new job. âSomebody gave this guy a chance that he deserved. Iâm so proud of The CW.â