Greg Gumbel, Who Called N.F.L. and N.C.A.A. Games, Dies at 78

Media|Greg Gumbel, a Familiar Voice to Football and Basketball Fans, Is Dead at 78

Greg Gumbel, the sports broadcaster who called some of the biggest football and college basketball games on two networks during a career that spanned five decades, has died. He was 78.

Mr. Gumbel’s family confirmed his death on Friday afternoon in a social media post from CBS Sports, where he had worked since 1989. The sports analyst had been diagnosed with cancer.

For decades, Mr. Gumbel served as a play-by-play announcer for CBS’s National Football League coverage and, in 2001, he became the first Black sportscaster in that role during a Super Bowl. He also covered the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament for the network and had previously spent four years reporting on the American Football Conference for NBC Sports.

Mr. Gumbel got his first chance as an announcer in the early 1970s when a boss at the NBC affiliate in Chicago, Channel 5, told Mr. Gumbel that he wanted to broadcast a high school basketball game every Saturday, he said during an interview, published in 2021, with the sportscaster Kenny McReynolds, in which Mr. Gumbel reflected on his career.

“He said, ‘I have this idea and I want you to take it and run with it,’” Mr. Gumbel said in the interview. “We introduced our audience to a lot of guys who went on to become famous.”

Mr. Gumbel’s career took off in the 1980s as he began to cover the National Basketball Association and, in 1988, called his first N.F.L. game.

Mr. Gumbel, who according to his IMDb profile was born on May 3, 1946, in New Orleans, said in a 2022 interview with Sports Illustrated that he modeled his style on that of Pat Summerall, noting that he liked how Mr. Summerall “didn’t overtalk.”

At the beginning of his career, Mr. Gumbel became nervous when he was on the mic. The Channel 5 crew nicknamed him “Waterfall” because of how he used to sweat while he called games, according to reporting by The Chicago Tribune. But over time, Mr. Gumbel became comfortable in his role, and millions of viewers came to appreciate the calm style that he brought to smoothly narrate the games, letting the action play out without his dominating the broadcast.

Mr. Gumbel is survived by family members including his wife, Marcy, and daughter, Michelle, and his brother, Bryant, who is a well-known broadcaster and former “Today” show host.

This is a developing story. A complete obituary will follow.