Thom Brennaman, who was among the charter group of Fox Sports announcers when it began broadcasting NFL games in 1994, won't be calling pro football for the network this season.
That is the latest fallout from his anti-gay slur over an open microphone Wednesday during a Cincinnati Reds baseball telecast.
The Reds and the Fox Sports Ohio regional network (actually owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, rather than Fox) suspended him in mid-telecast, and his long-term fate there is far from certain.
Fox Broadcasting deliberated a little longer and put out a statement on Thursday, saying it was "extremely disappointed" with what Brennaman said.
"The language used was abhorrent, unacceptable, and not representative of the values of Fox Sports," it said. "As it relates to Brennaman's Fox NFL role, we are moving forward with our NFL schedule which will not include him."
It's unclear whether the network, which had Brennaman filling in for lead announcer Joe Buck on NFL games when Buck had MLB postseason obligations, is severing ties permanently.
What is clearer is Brennaman won't be missed. Not at all.
That's not solely because of what he said _ though anyone who would casually drop a word like that isn't necessarily welcome in everyone's home across America _ but because there is a long line of men and women who can ably replace him.
If there is in fact a full NFL season, someone else will get the two or three Bears games on Fox that Brennaman likely would have pulled, and Bears fans might not notice a drop-off.
If it's Adam Amin, the new TV voice of the Bulls whom Fox Sports hired away from ESPN earlier this year, Bears fans might even enjoy the telecast more.
A New York Times writer once said Brennaman's Fox Sports work was "distinguished mainly by an unmodulated, megaphone-like voice that is like a parody of what a sportscaster should sound like."
That's a bit harsh and perhaps credits the onetime Cubs announcer (1990-95) with being more distinctive than he actually is.
Often as not, he has been largely interchangeable.
The 56-year-old son of longtime Reds announcer Marty Brennaman, he had an in when it came to the broadcasting business. Reds fans might have developed an attachment to him over the years. Nationally, however, he was another voice.
Between that and the stupid bigotry of what he said, the sort of epithet that doesn't slip out unless one uses it with some frequency, Brennaman might have sensed the skids were greased as he apologized on Wednesday's Reds telecast.
"I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of," Brennaman said, though he managed to call a home run by a Nicholas Castellanos. "If I have hurt anyone out there, I can't tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart that I am so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith."
If being a man of faith gives him solace, great. It's not clear what that has to do with what viewers inadvertently heard and its ramifications. It's not as though he was quoting scripture.
Some people no doubt will rage against the so-called cancel culture and try to make it seem as if Brennaman is the victim here, saying he doesn't deserve to lose his privileged position just because of an off-hand remark that left some people bent out of shape.
But people across much of the political spectrum aren't fans of the word Brennaman used and the hate that so often informs it.
It's also worth looking at the media outlets that are distancing themselves from Brennaman. Neither Sinclair nor Fox is exactly known for bending to liberal sensibilities.
Brennaman is the second baseball announcer in a week to get into trouble echoing the putdowns of fictional TV bigot of the 1970s and '80s, Archie Bunker.
Cubs guest analyst Mark Grace referred to an ex-wife with a denigrating term Bunker used for his wife Saturday on Sinclair's Marquee. It might not have been as off-putting as Brennaman's term for a homosexual man, but it is said to have earned a suspension for Grace.
While there appears to be disagreement among Cubs fans whether Grace need ever return, there seems to be a consensus Marquee shouldn't saddle regular announcers Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies with a third person on telecasts.
