Brent Woody Musburger (; born May 26, 1939) is an American
sportscaster for the
ESPN and
ABC television networks. Formerly with
CBS Sports and one of the original members of their legendary program
The NFL Today, Musburger has covered
NASCAR,
NBA,
MLB,
NCAA football and
basketball games. Musburger has also served as a studio host for games, a play-by-play man, and halftime host. He has also performed post game wrap up segments and covered championship trophy presentations.
Early life and career
Born in
Portland, Oregon, Musburger was raised in
Billings,
Montana. He was an umpire for
minor league baseball during the 1950s. He was also a boyhood friend of former
Major League pitcher
Dave McNally. Musburger's brother,
Todd Musburger, is considered one of the top sports agents in the business. When he was an adult he built a log cabin in
Big Timber, Montana.
Educated at
Northwestern University's
Medill School of Journalism, Musburger began his career as a
sportswriter for the now-defunct
Chicago American newspaper. In his column in that paper, Musburger famously referred to
Tommie Smith and
John Carlos as "black-skinned
storm troopers" for their protest of
racial injustice in the United States with
a Black Power salute on the medal stand during the
1968 Summer Olympics. Asked about his comments decades later, Musburger granted that his words, which likened Smith and Carlos to
Nazis, were "a bit harsh", but he stood by the...
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