COSTAS STEPS ASIDE AS VOICE OF OLYMPICS
NBC icon opts to pass torch to colleague Tirico
For a generation, Bob Costas has been the face and the voice of the Olympic Games in the USA, a principled, steady and versatile presence on NBC’s coverage from Barcelona to Rio, stretching from the early 1990s well into the 21st century.
Just as he seamlessly accepted the metaphoric broadcasting torch from legendary Jim McKay all those years ago, Costas passed it on to Mike Tirico Thursday on The Today Show, announcing he would no longer host the Olympics and would host one more Super Bowl, next year’s game in Minneapolis, before taking on an “emeritus” role with NBC Sports.
“I’ve been lucky to have such a long and enjoyable run,” Costas told USA TODAY Sports in a telephone interview. “So I just thought, better to leave before they ask me to leave.”
Costas’ idea to step away was long in the planning. He said he mentioned the idea to NBC executives a year and a half ago.
“I’m glad that Sochi wasn’t the last one. You wouldn’t want your pinkeye Olympics to be your last Olympics.”
Let the record clearly show that Costas, who turns 65 next month, is not retiring.
“This doesn’t mean retirement or even anything close to it,” he said. “It opens up more time to do the things that I feel I’m most connected to. There will still be events, features and interviews where I can make a significant contribution at NBC, but it will also leave more time for baseball ( on MLB Network), and then, at some point down the road, I’ll have a chance to do more of the long- form programming I enjoy.”
Costas has always found himself at home at the intersection of sports and society. Most noteworthy was his hosting of NBC’s Later with Bob Costas from 1988 to 1994, where one week’s worth of interviews began this way: Martin Scorsese on Monday, Mary Tyler Moore on Tuesday and Hank Aaron on Wednesday.
He has used his sports hosting platform to discuss issues ranging from gun violence, steroids and concussions to the controversial name of Washington’s NFL team.
“I’ve always felt one can appreciate the history, drama and romance of sports,” Costas said, “while at the same time being aware of and addressing the issues involved in sports. To me, there’s no contradiction in that.”
For most of us, Costas is synonymous with the Olympic Games. His run began by hosting NBC’s late- night show in Seoul in 1988, then taking over the prime- time hosting role in Barcelona in 1992 for the next 11 Olympic Games aired by NBC.
Costas likely will appear on future Olympic broadcasts in the same way Tom Brokaw contributes now and then to NBC news shows.
“I still have a number of good years left,” he said. “But I have to think about how I use those years. I’d like to be able to say of everything I do from now on, ‘ Yep, that’s just what I should have done, something distinctive to me, something where I could do my best possible work.’ ”