One-Hour Special Celebrates Berman’s Career with ESPN – 10:30 p.m. ET
Photos via ESPN Images
ESPN will present Chris Berman: He Did Go All The Way on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 10:30 p.m. ET. The one-hour tribute will celebrate Berman’s career with ESPN and his influence on the sports media industry over nearly four decades. Berman joined ESPN on October 1, 1979, just three weeks after the network launched.
The special will include a series of themed features, each focused on a different aspect of Berman’s career, life and personal interests, including:
- His early years at ESPN
- His work on NFL PrimeTime with Tom Jackson
- His play-by-play call of Cal Ripken Jr.’s “Iron Man” streak game
- His love of music
- His family
- His friends and co-workers doing Berman impersonations.
Interview subjects for the special include a Who’s Who of current and former ESPN personalities, company presidents, athletes, coaches, and more. Even former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who joined Berman in the ESPN broadcast booth for Ripken’s record-setting game with the Orioles in September 1995, participated in the special. Some others:
- Current ESPNers Bob Ley, Steve Levy and Scott Van Pelt;
- Former ESPNers Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick, Robin Roberts and Tom Jackson;
- ESPN presidents George Bodenheimer, Steve Bornstein and John Skipper;
- NFL stars Dwight Clark, Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning, Joe Namath and Bruce Smith;
- NFL coaches: Bill Belichick and Marv Levy;
- Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.
- Musical artists Bob Seger and Huey Lewis.
Berman is covering his 35th Super Bowl this week in Houston. After hosting ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown for the final time this weekend before Super Bowl LI (Sunday: 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET), Berman will take on a new role with the company. Two weeks ago, ESPN named its NFL studio in Bristol, Conn., after Berman and Jackson.
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