Brad Nessler | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bradley Ray Nessler (1956-06-03)June 3, 1956 (age 69) St. Charles, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Education | Minnesota State University, Mankato |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Bradley Ray Nessler (born June 3, 1956) is an Americansportscaster, who currently callscollege football andcollege basketball games forCBS Sports.[1][2]
Nessler began his professional broadcasting career sharingplay–by–play radio duties with Al Ciraldo onGeorgia Tech basketball onWGST from 1980–81 through 1984–85 and handled the play–by–play for theAtlanta Falcons from1982 to1988 on WGST andWSB, before assuming the same position for theMinnesota Vikings during the 1988 and1989 seasons. He called preseason telecasts for theMiami Dolphins for several years and has done play–by–play ofACC football and basketball telecasts forJefferson-Pilot.[1]
From 1990 to 1992, Nessler worked forCBS Sports, callingNFL games,college football, and both men's and women'scollege basketball, including the first weekend of the1991 and1992 NCAA men's tournament.[3] Additionally, he called speed-skating at the1992 Winter Olympics.
Nessler's career with ESPN began in 1992 with college basketball games, as well as Big Ten and Thursday night football contests, and expanded with the addition ofABC Sports assignments in 1997.[citation needed]
Nessler has appeared annually as a commentator inEA Sports'NCAA Football series withKirk Herbstreit. His voice (along with that of his broadcast partner,Dick Vitale) was featured in theEA SportsNCAA March Madness video game series.[citation needed]
In 1997, when Nessler began calling college football for ABC, he was regarded as the #3 play-by-play man, behindKeith Jackson andBrent Musburger. He was promoted to #2 upon Jackson's scaling back to West Coast games in 1999, and then became the #1 Saturday afternoon play-by-play man from 2006 through the 2008 season. In July 2009,ESPN announced that Nessler would move to the top play-by-play man for ESPN's coverage of college football, being primarily responsible for ESPN'sSaturday Primetime game airing at 7:45 PM Eastern Time.[citation needed]
Nessler originally worked withGary Danielson as his college football color man when he began working for ABC in 1997, but from 1999 to 2008, called games alongsideBob Griese (who traded positions with Danielson). Starting in 2006,Paul Maguire joined Nessler and Griese as a third color commentator for the Saturday afternoon college telecasts. Upon the announcement of Nessler's move to ESPN'sSaturday Primetime telecasts, it was announced that he would also be teamed with formerPenn State quarterbackTodd Blackledge and sideline reporterErin Andrews beginning with the 2009 college football season; this crew called the January 1, 2010,Capital One Bowl onABC.[citation needed]
From 2002 to 2004, Nessler was a broadcaster for theNBA,[4] including calling the2003 NBA Finals. During this particular period, Nessler was accused (particularly byRichard Sandomir ofThe New York Times) of not knowing game strategy well,[5] lacking rhythm and enthusiasm[6] in his game call, not bringing out the best in his partners[7] (i.e.,Bill Walton andTom Tolbert), too often ignoring the score, and tending to stammer.[citation needed]
Starting in 2006, Nessler had provided play-by-play forSEC games onSuper Tuesday andThursday Night Showcase, alongsideSean Farnham orDick Vitale (and formerlyJimmy Dykes) and sideline reporterHeather Cox. He covered Saturday afternoon games forESPN during the regular college basketball season, and previously appeared onABC.[citation needed]
On September 11, 2006, ESPN began its coverage ofMonday Night Football with a Week 1 doubleheader. Nessler teamed withRon Jaworski,Dick Vermeil, andBonnie Bernstein to call the second game, featuring theSan Diego Chargers andOakland Raiders.[citation needed]
On September 13, 2010, Nessler again worked aMonday Night Football game, teaming withTrent Dilfer andSuzy Kolber to call theSan Diego Chargers andKansas City Chiefs in the second game of that night's Week 1 doubleheader.[citation needed]
On September 12, 2011, Nessler and Dilfer called theOakland Raiders andDenver Broncos in the second game of the Week 1 doubleheader; the game included a 63-yard field goal kicked by Oakland'sSebastian Janikowski, which tied the NFL record at the time.[citation needed]
In May 2011, Nessler was hired byNFL Network to call itsThursday Night Football telecasts, on which he was teamed with analystMike Mayock for an eight-game package.[8]
In 2012 and 2013, Nessler continued to call the game package, expanded to thirteen games, beforeCBS Sports took over responsibility for the package in the2014 NFL season.[citation needed]
On May 31, 2016,CBS Sports announced that Nessler would return to the network to serve as lead play-by-play announcer forSEC college football games beginning in the 2017 season, replacing the outgoingVerne Lundquist. He was then reunited with Danielson, with whom he had worked at ESPN and ABC from 1992 to 1999.[citation needed]
Nessler's first SEC game for CBS wasFlorida atArkansas on November 5, 2016. He assumed duties as CBS' lead college football announcer for theSun Bowl one month later.[9]
Since 2022, the Nessler and Danielson duo have been joined weekly byJenny Dell and former NFL refereeGene Steratore. He also provides play-by-play forcollege basketball for the network, usually teaming with analystBill Raftery.[citation needed]
In 2018, Nessler called his firstNCAA March Madness onTBS.[citation needed]
Nessler is a graduate ofMinnesota State University, Mankato.[citation needed]
Nessler lives in theAtlanta area with his wife and family.[citation needed]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Keith Jackson (in1973) | Lead Play–by–play announcer,NBA on ABC 2002–2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Play–by–play announcer,NBA Finals 2003 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lead Play–by–play announcer,College Football on ABC 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by None | Play–by–play announcer,Saturday Primetime 2005–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lead Play–by–play announcer,ESPN College Football on ABC 2006–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Thursday Night Football play–by–play announcer 2011–2013 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Play–by–play announcer,College Football on CBS 2017–present | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Executives |  | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. networks |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| International |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Ventures | |||||||||||||||||||
| Defunct ventures |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Sports broadcasting rights | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other properties |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Notable personalities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||||||||
Owners:Walt Disney Company (80%);Hearst Communications (20%) | |||||||||||||||||||