When the NFL Network hired Bryant Gumbel as their play-by-play man for their new eight-game national TV package, they knew he was not going to be a yes man. After all, he was hand-picked by outgoing NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. So Gumbel is set, right?
Well, maybe ?
In his final editorial remarks on HBO?s Real Sports, Gumbel said Tagliabue needed to show his successor Roger Goodell “where he keeps Gene Upshaw?s leash,” referring to the NFL Players Association president. Gumbel also said Goodell should remind NFL owners that they?re “making obscene amounts of money.” So after Gumbel attacked the NFLPA and the owners, Tagliabue, Goodell and NFL Network president Steve Bornstein will meet to decide what to do about Gumbel.
I took a look at a column I wrote awhile back when Gumbel got the job. Both he and Bornstein told me that the NFL was not going to stop him from speaking his mind on either Real Sports or on the NFL Network.
Is Gumbel testing the NFL Network to see if he indeed has that freedom of speech? If so, it?s a big gamble and one that may indeed cost him his job before he ever steps into the broadcast booth. Some even question if Gumbel did this to get out of his deal with the NFL.
We should know Gumbel?s fate within a few days.
Monday night madness
It has been two weeks since ESPN launched Monday Night Football, and at last count, more than 200 stories had been written ? some good and some bad ? about Tony Kornheiser. The New York Times had at least three earlier this week as everyone weighs in on “Mr. Tony.”
In its 1970s heyday, MNF was a personality-driven show that inspired Tuesday water-cooler banter about Howard Cosell, who managed to become the most loved and hated man in sports during the same year. If TK can master even a tiny bit of that Tuesday-morning buzz, he?ll be around for a very long time. My guess is that Tony will be fine.
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. You can e-mail Jim at [email protected].
