It’s looking more and more like the long and distinguished career of one Thom Brennaman is on the ropes.
The veteran broadcaster was caught on a hot mic Wednesday evening during a broadcast of the Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals game using a homophobic slur.
Brennaman almost immediately left the broadcast, pretty much indicating that his career as the Reds’ play-by-play guy was over. Within hours, the Reds had suspended him.
Now comes this piece of information from Fox Sports. The station announced on Thursday that Brennaman will not be part of its broadcast teams during the 2020 NFL season.
“FOX Sports is extremely disappointed with Thom Brennaman’s remarks during Wednesday’s Cincinnati Reds telecast,” the network said in a statement. “The language used was abhorrent, unacceptable, and not representative of the values of FOX Sports. As it relates to Brennaman’s FOX NFL role, we are moving forward with our NFL schedule which will not include him.”
Brennaman, 56, was hired by Fox all the way back in 1994 to call both MLB and NFL games. He also took on the role as the lead play-by-play guy for the now defunct Bowl Championship Series in college football.
It’s rather obvious that one mistake will cost Brennaman his career. For good reason.