Top 10 Times Sports Announcers BOMBED So Hard They Ruined Their Careers

Steve Lyons played baseball throughout the ‘80s and early ‘90s, primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Following his retirement from the sport, Lyons became a professional broadcaster for Fox Sports. However, his association with the business came to an end in 2006, when he made some racially insensitive comments during Game 3 of the ALCS. The remarks were aimed towards his Spanish broadcasting partner, Lou Piniella. Piniella came to Lyons’s defense and claimed that he was just joking around, but that didn’t matter, as Fox took umbrage with the incident and fired Lyons.

Jim Carter and Steve Shaw were local radio broadcasters who called Maine high school basketball for WHOU-FM. But their careers came to an end thanks to a hot mic. Without realizing that they could be heard, Carter and Shaw called two of the players “extremely overweight” and said that it was “awful.” They could also be heard laughing at the players’ ill-fitting uniforms. The backlash started immediately, with the owner of the station receiving phone calls from offended listeners. The two broadcasters were promptly fired, and Shaw was removed from the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mark Martello was doing the play-by-play for a college basketball game between Montana and Portland State. As indicated by his commentary, he clearly didn’t have respect for Portland - whether that be the team or the city. First, he compared the city to South Side Chicago, which has a negative reputation for its crime. He then claimed that “Portland's like Antifa after a riot” because they get away with illegal infractions. Antifa is an American left-wing political movement that has been known to use violent tactics. Much to no one’s surprise, Martello was fired for his remarks.

Many know this play by play commentator for his work with the UFC. In 2014, he made his NFL broadcasting debut with Fox and to say it did not go well is an understatement. From start to finish, Goldberg was botching calls left and right. Fans took notice and voiced their opinions on social media, which Goldberg did not take too kindly to and responded…let’s just say, not in kind. This, and his performance at calling the game, resulted in him getting the boot. It was Goldberg’s first and last broadcasting assignment with the NFL.

Jimmy the Greek was the popular stage name of Jimmy Snyder, who helped promote illegal gambling in the sport of football. Snyder was a Las Vegas bookmaker who would often appear on CBS’s “The NFL Today” to predict the scores of upcoming games. Other bookmakers would then use his predictions to help calculate the odds of the games. On January 15, 1988, Snyder was interviewed by WRC-TV and shared a number of racist opinions. The comments drew great criticism. Snyder expressed remorse for what he said, but the damage was already done, and the popular bookie was fired from “The NFL Today” after over a decade on the show.

Another day, another victim of a hot mic. Shortly before the inning began of an MLB game, Cincinnati Reds baseball commentator Thom Brennaman could be heard making an extremely homophobic remark about an unidentified city and using an offensive slur. He proceeded to apologize on air, but his apology was interrupted by a home run. In a fantastic bit of cosmic justice, the ball landed right next to a sign that read “judgment-free zone.” Brennaman was pulled from the broadcast mid-game and suspended. The Reds later told Brennaman that he would not be returning, which prompted his resignation.

Once a professional golfer, Mark Lye was hired by Sirius XM in 2015 to host a pregame show called “The Scorecard.” He stayed with the popular radio broadcaster until 2022, when he made some inflammatory remarks about female sports. First, he went after the Ladies Professional Golf Association, stating that “You couldn't pay me to watch [it].” He then targeted women’s basketball and made an even worse comment about what he would rather do than watch it. Lye was immediately fired by Sirius after the comments were made, but he continued to defend his beliefs on Twitter.

Howard Cosell was a very popular but divisive broadcaster known for his antagonistic and obnoxious personality. In 1970, Cosell was hired by ABC to call games for “Monday Night Football.” But on September 5, 1983, Cosell tipped over the line from enjoyably haughty to outright cruel. During a game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, Cosell insulted African-American player Alvin Garrett. Cosell asserted that the comment was referencing Garrett’s height, not his race. Regardless, the comment was considered offensive and Cosell left “Monday Night Football” following the controversy.

Glen Kuiper started working as the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics in 2006, and he remained with the team until May 5, 2023. On that day, Kuiper was in Kansas City and had visited their Negro Leagues Baseball Museum earlier in the day. He was discussing his visit on air when he dropped the n-word. Kuiper claims that he didn’t and that his pronunciation of “negro” was simply misheard. Others say there’s no way that was the case and that Kuiper clearly and intentionally uttered the racist slur. Whatever the case, the incident cost Kuiper his job, as he was fired from the organization following an investigation.

Prominent political commentator Rush Limbaugh was known for his nationally syndicated and incredibly popular radio show. But did you know that he once worked as a sports commentator for ESPN? Limbaugh covered the NFL, but his stint didn’t last long. He came under fire for criticizing star Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, insinuating that he was overrated by the media because of his race. Limbaugh let the controversy stew for three days before stepping down from ESPN, citing his concern for the network and its advertisers. His career in sports broadcasting lasted only a few weeks….