Brennaman off NFL, Reds games
Thom Brennaman will not be calling NFL games on Fox after using an anti-gay slur on air during a Reds broadcast.
Fox Sports issued a statement Thursday that said “we are moving forward with our NFL schedule which will not include him.”
Fox also said Brennaman’s remarks were “abhorrent, unacceptable, and not representative of the values of Fox Sports.”
Brennaman had been a part of Fox’s NFL announcer lineup since they started televising the league in 1994. He was part of the No. 3 announcer team last season and was paired with analyst Chris Spielman and reporter Shannon Spake. He had also called Major League Baseball games for the network form 1996 to 2014.
The Reds announced late Wednesday that the 56-year old broadcaster was suspended. The team also issued an apology for the “horrific, homophobic remark.” The Reds closed their statement by saying they would be addressing their broadcasting team for the rest of the season and possibly beyond soon.
Brennaman, who had been a part of the Reds announcing team since 2007, used the slur moments after Fox Sports Ohio’s feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader Wednesday against the Royals. Brennaman didn’t seem to realize he was already on air. The remarks prompted a firestorm on social media.
Brennaman opened the fifth inning of the second game with an apology spoken directly to the camera before handing off play-by-play duties to Jim Day.
He noted the trouble he was in by saying, “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” while apologizing to the Reds, Fox Sports and his coworkers.