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Thom Brennaman | |
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 Brennaman in 2018 | |
| Born | Thomas Wade Brennaman (1963-09-12)September 12, 1963 (age 62) |
| Alma mater | Ohio University |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse | Polly |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Marty Brennaman and Brenda Dickey |
| Sports commentary career | |
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| Sports |
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| Employer |
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Thomas Wade Brennaman (born September 12, 1963) is an American televisionsportscaster, currently the lead announcer forCW Sports college football games. He is the son of formerCincinnati Reds radio sportscasterMarty Brennaman. He served as a play-by-play commentator forFox Sports since its inception in 1994 through 2020, the television voice of theArizona Diamondbacks from 1998 to 2006, and as the voice of theCincinnati Reds from 2007 through 2020. His career with the Reds and Fox Sports ended abruptly when he was caught on ahot mic making a homophobic statement during a game broadcast. His on-air apology, in which he interrupted himself to call "a drive into deep left field by Castellanos", became an internet meme. Since leaving the Reds, he has served as a commentator for theRoberto Clemente League and for Chatterbox Sports.
After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati'sAnderson High School, Brennaman attendedOhio University, where he was president of the Beta Kappa chapter ofBeta Theta Pi fraternity. He entered college uncertain of whether to follow in his father's footsteps and become a broadcaster. While at Ohio, he joined stationWATH, developing his own love for radio. After graduating in 1986, Brennaman worked as a sports reporter/anchor forWLWT-TV, theNBC affiliate in Cincinnati. During this same period, he worked as the television play-by-playannouncer for theCincinnati Reds alongside Major League BaseballHall of FamerJohnny Bench.
In the early 1990s, he didChicago Cubsbroadcasts forWGN-TV and itsnational superstation feed, alternating withHall of Fame broadcasterHarry Caray between television and radio. Normally, Brennaman called the first three innings and last three innings onWGN radio, and the middle portion of the game on television.
In 1994, he was hired byFox Sports to call the network'sNational Football League andMajor League Baseball telecasts. Brennaman has also calledcollege football andcollege basketball for Fox as well. He served as the firsttelevision voice for theArizona Diamondbacks from1998 to2006 and left after the 2006 season to join his fatherMarty in Cincinnati.
In 2006, Brennaman was named as Fox's lead play-by-play announcer for theBowl Championship Series. In addition to calling theBCS National Championship Game, Brennaman called the2007 Fiesta Bowl. On both broadcasts, Brennaman worked with formerUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison head coachBarry Alvarez (only in 2007), and formerUniversity of Tennessee defensive back and current broadcasterCharles Davis.[1] Brennaman also called the2008 Sugar Bowl and the2009 Orange Bowl.
Additionally, theBig Ten Network named Brennaman as its lead play-by-play announcer for college football games for two seasons beginning in September 2007.[2] He would return to calling NFL games for Fox full-time in2009 (Prior to this, Brennaman workedNFL games for Fox previously from1994–1997,1999–2000 and2004–2008 as a regular and/or fill-in announcer), working primarily withBrian Billick (and later, onDavid Diehl,Charles Davis, andChris Spielman) but also filling in as lead announcer whileJoe Buck did the MLB playoffs. Prior to that, Brennaman had been the voice of theCotton Bowl Classic on Fox from2000 to2006.
Brennaman, along withBrian Billick,Laura Okmin, andChris Myers called the2012 NFC Divisional Playoff matchup between theSeattle Seahawks and theAtlanta Falcons instead ofKenny Albert,Daryl Johnston, andTony Siragusa. This was Brennaman's first time calling an NFL playoff game, although Brennaman and Billick called the2011 Pro Bowl along withTerry Bradshaw and sideline reportersTony Siragusa andJay Glazer.
Brennaman was a part of Fox Sports' #2 baseballbroadcast team (behindJoe Buck andTim McCarver) from the beginning of Fox's involvement in Major League Baseball in 1996 until 2015. He has teamed withBob Brenly,Steve Lyons,Joe Girardi, andEric Karros. In this capacity, he called play-by-play for numerous postseason games from 1996 until 2006. Brennaman was, notably, on the call for the controversial "Steve Bartman incident" during Game 6 of the2003 National League Championship Series between theChicago Cubs andFlorida Marlins. Brennaman during that particular play said "Again in the air, down the left field line.Alou... reaching into the stands... and couldn't get it and he's livid with a fan!"[3] AlongsideMark Grace, Brennaman was also on the call when then-DiamondbackRandy Johnson threw the 17thperfect game in MLB history on May 18, 2004, against the Atlanta Braves.
From 2007 to 2013, the #2 team was not given any postseason assignments due to Fox not holding the rights to any concurrent postseason series.
In 2014, Brennaman and Karros began to split the #2 role withMatt Vasgersian andJohn Smoltz. Fox also returned to using multiple broadcast teams in the postseason that year; however, Brennaman and Karros were passed over in favor of Vasgersian and Smoltz for the playoff assignment. In 2015, Matt Vasgersian and Smoltz took over the role full-time, essentially ending Brennaman's national Fox baseball role. Brennaman subsequently moved over to the Reds broadcasts full-time (save for when working Fox NFL games).
On October 3, 2006,Cincinnati Reds ownerRobert Castellini hired[4] Brennaman through the2010 season to announce 45 Reds games onFS Ohio television and 45 games onWLW and theCincinnati Reds Radio Network. Thom no longer broadcasts for the Cincinnati Reds, and Marty retired near the end of the2019 season.
On August 19, 2020, while providing commentary onFox Sports Ohio for the first game of an away doubleheader between theReds and theKansas City Royals, Brennaman was caught on ahot mic calling a city, later revealed to beSan Francisco,[5] "one of thefag capitals of the world."[6][7][8] The Reds pulled him off the air during the second game, with studio hostJim Day taking over play-by-play after the top of the fifth inning. Before leaving the booth, Brennaman apologized for his earlieranti-gay slur, saying that he was "deeply ashamed" if he "hurt anyone out there." He also hinted that his broadcasting future was in doubt, saying, "I don't know if I'm going to be putting on this headset again."[9][10]
Many people noted the awkwardness of the apology; as Brennaman continued, he suddenly paused to call a home run byNick Castellanos:[11]
I'm so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith—as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it will be a home run, and so that'll make it a 4–0 ballgame.
He went on to state that he apologized "for the people who sign my paycheck", and asserted, "That is not who I am, and never has been. And I'd like to think that maybe I could have some people that, uh, that could back that up."
Later that night, the Reds announced that Brennaman had been suspended indefinitely pending an internal review.[9] The following day, Fox Sports announced that Brennaman would not be part of its NFL broadcast roster in2020.[12]
Brennaman wrote a longer apology forThe Cincinnati Enquirer the next day, after speaking with MLB Vice President, Ambassador for InclusionBilly Bean. He also calledWCPO-TV anchor Evan Millward, who posted an editorial on his station's website criticizing his FS Ohio statement as anon-apology apology, and said he would reach out to the LGBTQ+ organizationPFLAG to make further amends.[13][14] Almost a month later, Brennaman officially resigned from the Reds and Fox Sports Ohio; however, the Reds had already informed Brennaman that he would not return for the2021 season.[15] Brennaman toldUSA Today that he realized his remark "hurt a lot of people" and that he will "have to live with it for the rest of my life."[16]
Brennaman was replaced byJohn Sadak for Reds games, andKevin Kugler for NFL games on Fox.
Brennaman's apology quickly became aninternet meme among baseball fans.[17] The meme evolved into a correlation betweenNick Castellanos and hitting untimely home runs, such as when he hit a home run during the eulogy for aWorld War II veteran on a Royals broadcast[18] or when he hit a home run on the 20th anniversary of theSeptember 11 attacks.[19] The meme eventually gained mainstream popularity, frequently being used as acopypasta in response to public apologies that were perceived as non-apologies. Social media users would mockingly reiterate the perceived non-apology in question only to interrupt with Brennaman's infamous home run call, making a satirical comparison to Brennaman's heavily criticized apology.[17]
In November 2024, Brennaman jokingly acknowledged the incident while calling theBoston College–Syracuse football game for the CW. While discussing the teams' quarterbacks, he emphasized the surname of Boston College'sThomas Castellanos and gave a smirk to the camera.[20][21]
In December 2020, it was announced that Brennaman would serve as a play-by-play announcer for theRoberto Clemente League inPuerto Rico for the 2020–21 season.[22][23]
On July 22, 2021, Chatterbox Sports, a subscription-based streaming service that broadcasts high school games in the Cincinnati area, hired Brennaman as their new play-by-play announcer.[24] Chatterbox president Trace Fowler said of the hiring that he wanted to give Brennaman a second chance, saying that, while he is not downplaying what Brennaman said, Fowler said upon further research that Brennaman "is a great person who made a mistake that I know he’s deeply regretful for."[25]
In 2024, Andrew Marchand ofThe Athletic reported that Brennaman had been hired byCW Sports as its lead announcer for college football games, primarilyits ACC package, starting in the upcoming season.[26] In this role Brennaman called the first Snoop DoggArizona Bowl held on December 28, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona.[27]
In April 2025, Brennaman became the host of a morning talk show on Cincinnati radio station700 WLW.[28][29]
Brennaman has contributed voice-over work for video gamesMicrosoft Baseball 2001,All-Star Baseball 2002, andAll-Star Baseball 2003–2005 forGameCube,PlayStation 2 andXbox. He has also donecollege basketball announcing forCBS Radio andFox Sports Net cable. He formerly was a spokesman for CBTS, aCincinnati Bell company, in television commercials. He also called basketball games for theCincinnati Bearcats andFox College Hoops.[30]
| Preceded by | BCS National Championship Game broadcaster 2007–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Greg Gumbel (in 1993) | Secondary play-by-play announcer, Major League Baseball Game of the Week 1996–2014 | Succeeded by |