Tom Rinaldi | |
|---|---|
 Rinaldi in 2009 | |
| Born | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of PennsylvaniaColumbia University |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Genre(s) | Studio host,play-by-play |
| Sport(s) | College football,college basketball,soccer |
Tom Rinaldi is an American reporter forFox Sports.[1][2] He previously contributed toESPN's tennis coverage atWimbledon and theUS Open,ESPN's golf coverage,SportsCenter,Outside the Lines,College GameDay andSunday NFL Countdown. He also did features for thehorse racing telecasts.
Rinaldi joined ESPN in May 2003 following a four-year stint as a reporter forCNN/SI from 1998 to 2002. He worked as a reporter forKATU-TV inPortland, Oregon from 1996 to 1998 and forWNDU-TV inSouth Bend, Indiana from 1993 to 1996. In December 2020, it was announced that he had left ESPN to sign with Fox Sports, where he is expected to cover major sporting events, including the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup and major college football games.[1]
From 2006 to 2020, Rinaldi was the lead interviewer and feature reporter forESPN andABC's coverage of golf. In this capacity, he has been praised for many of his essays, especially those following the conclusion of major events. Rinaldi conducted the first interview ofTiger Woods after the incident on November 27, 2009, which led to Woods' public disclosure of his extra-marital affairs.
In 2017, Rinaldi served as a sideline reporter for theNBA playoffs on ESPN.
In June 2025, Rinaldi wrote and narrated the introduction forWWE'sNight of Champions (2025) event inRiyadh,Saudi Arabia.
Rinaldi was born inBrooklyn, New York and grew up inCresskill, New Jersey, graduating fromCresskill High School.[3][4][5]
A first-generation college student, Rinaldi originally attendedFordham University, before transferring toUniversity of Pennsylvania, where he was on the parliamentary debate team and earned an undergraduate degree in English.[6] He received his graduate degree atColumbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He lives in nearbyTenafly, with his wife, Dianne, their son, Jack, and daughter, Tessa.[7][8][4]
In 2016, he wrote a book calledThe Man in the Red Bandanna, aboutWelles Crowther, an NYC volunteer firefighter, who rescued 18 people before losing his own life when theWorld Trade Center collapsed after theSeptember 11 attacks.
Prior to his career in journalism, Rinaldi was a high school English and English as a Second Language teacher in addition to being a handball coach atMorris High School inThe Bronx. He had also taught atShady Side Academy inPittsburgh.[4]
Rinaldi has won 16Sports Emmy Awards, 7Edward R. Murrow Awards, 3 Associated Press Awards and a USA Today Feature-of-the-Year Award.[9]