It’s often a positive sign for an announcer if viewers hardly notice their presence. Just like umpires or referees, not thinking about an announcer usually means they are doing their job. That was hardly the case with Greg Gumbel on Sunday.
Gumbel and Adam Archuleta were on the call for CBS’ broadcast of the Week 18 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. The Browns got the scoring started with a touchdown in the second quarter. But you wouldn’t have known it was a touchdown if you were listening to Gumbel and Archuleta.
Gumbel, the play-by-play announcer, started things off poorly by calling the Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett rather than Deshaun Watson. Then after Watson threw a touchdown pass to David Njoku, Gumbel went silent like he had no clue what happened.
Greg Gumbel's TD call left a lot to be desired here pic.twitter.com/DXp6RgYkna
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 9, 2023
Gumbel never even mentioned that the play went for a touchdown. He seemed to be lost about who was at quarterback, who caught the pass, where the ball was, and that the Browns had scored.
Gumbel, 76, has called NFL games for CBS since 1998. He called two Super Bowls for them but is presently the announcer for the network’s No. 4 team. He’ll be the first one to tell you that wasn’t his best moment.
