Bradley Ray Nessler (born June 3, 1956) is an American sportscaster, who currently calls

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

and

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

games for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

Career

Early assignments

Nessler began his professional broadcasting career sharing play–by–play radio duties with Al Ciraldo on

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

basketball on WGST from 1980–81 through 1984–85 and handled the play–by–play for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

from

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

on WGST and WSB, before assuming the same position for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

during the 1988 and

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

seasons. He called preseason telecasts for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

for several years and has done play–by–play of ACC football and basketball telecasts for

Jefferson-Pilot Lincoln National Corporation is a ''Fortune'' 200 American holding company, which operates multiple insurance and investment management businesses through subsidiary companies. Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for LNC and its subsi ...

CBS Sports

From 1990 to 1992, Nessler worked for

, calling

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

games,

, and both men's and women's

, including the first weekend of the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and 1992 NCAA men's tournament. Additionally, he called speed-skating at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

ESPN and ABC Sports

Nessler's career with ESPN began in 1992 with college basketball games, as well as Big Ten and Thursday night football contests, and expanded with the addition of

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...

assignments in 1997. Nessler has appeared annually as a commentator in

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

' '' NCAA Football series'' with

Kirk Herbstreit Kirk Edward Herbstreit (; born August 19, 1969) is an American sportscaster and former college football player. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), College GameDay'', a television program covering college f ...

. His voice (along with that of his broadcast partner,

Dick Vitale Richard "Dick" John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadc ...

) was featured in the

'' NCAA March Madness'' video game series.

College football

In 1997, when Nessler began calling college football for ABC, he was regarded as the #3 play-by-play man, behind

Keith Jackson Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018) was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his caree ...

and

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was the original host of their ...

. He was promoted to #2 upon Jackson's scaling back to West Coast games in 1999, and then became the #1 Saturday afternoon play-by-play man from 2006 through the 2008 season. In July 2009,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

announced that Nessler would move to the top play-by-play man for ESPN's coverage of college football, being primarily responsible for ESPN's ''Saturday Primetime'' game airing at 7:45 PM Eastern Time. Nessler originally worked with Gary Danielson as his college football color man when he began working for ABC in 1997, but from 1999 to 2008, called games alongside

Bob Griese Robert Allen Griese ( ; born February 3, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He earned All-American hono ...

(who traded positions with Danielson). Starting in 2006, Paul Maguire joined Nessler and Griese as a third color commentator for the Saturday afternoon college telecasts. Upon the announcement of Nessler's move to ESPN's ''Saturday Primetime'' telecasts, it was announced that he would also be teamed with former

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

quarterback Todd Blackledge and sideline reporter

Erin Andrews Erin Jill Andrews (born May 4, 1978) is an American sportscaster and television personality. She rose to prominence as a correspondent on the American cable sports channel ESPN after joining the network in 2004. She later joined Fox Sports in 2 ...

beginning with the 2009 college football season; this crew called the January 1, 2010, Capital One Bowl on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

NBA and college basketball

From 2002 to 2004, Nessler was a broadcaster for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, including calling the

2003 NBA Finals The 2003 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2002–03 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference ...

. During this particular period, Nessler was accused (particularly by

Richard Sandomir Richard Elliot Sandomir (born September 4, 1957) is an American journalist who is an obituary writer for ''The New York Times''. He wrote about sports, male-pattern hair loss and television; he is the author of several books including ''Bald Like ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'') of not knowing game strategy well, lacking rhythm and enthusiasm in his game call, not bringing out the best in his partners (i.e.,

Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...

and

Tom Tolbert Thomas Byron Tolbert Jr. (born October 16, 1965) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional basketball player. He played a total of seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After retiring from basketball, Tolbert ...

), too often ignoring the score, and tending to stammer. Starting in 2006, Nessler had provided play-by-play for SEC games on ''

Super Tuesday Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominatin ...

'' and Thursday Night Showcase, alongside Sean Farnham or

(and formerly

Jimmy Dykes James Joseph Dykes (November 10, 1896 – June 15, 1976) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third and second baseman from through , most notably as a member of the Philadelp ...

) and sideline reporter Heather Cox. He covered Saturday afternoon games for

during the regular college basketball season, and previously appeared on

''Monday Night Football''

On September 11, 2006, ESPN began its coverage of ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' with a Week 1 doubleheader. Nessler teamed with

Ron Jaworski Ronald Vincent Jaworski (born March 23, 1951), nicknamed "Jaws", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He played college football for the Youngstown State Pengui ...

, Dick Vermeil, and

Bonnie Bernstein Bonnie Lynn Bernstein (born August 16, 1970) is an American sports journalist and media executive. She has been named one of the most accomplished female sportscasters in history by the American Sportscasters Association, spending nearly 20 yea ...

to call the second game, featuring the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. On September 13, 2010, Nessler again worked a ''Monday Night Football'' game, teaming with

Trent Dilfer Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the UAB Blazers football team. Dilfer previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He achieved ...

and

Suzy Kolber Suzy Kolber (; born ) is an American football sideline reporter, co- producer, and a former ESPN sports anchor and reporter. She was one of the original anchors of ESPN2 when it launched in 1993. Three years later, she left ESPN2 to join Fox Sp ...

to call the

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

in the second game of that night's Week 1 doubleheader. On September 12, 2011, Nessler and Dilfer called the

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the second game of the Week 1 doubleheader; the game included a 63-yard field goal kicked by Oakland's

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...

, which tied the NFL record at the time.

NFL Network

In May 2011, Nessler was hired by

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League NTP and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and N ...

to call its ''

Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to ...

'' telecasts, on which he was teamed with analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

for an eight-game package. In 2012 and 2013, Nessler continued to call the game package, expanded to thirteen games, before

took over responsibility for the package in the

2014 NFL season The 2014 NFL season was the 95th season in the history of the National Football League (NFL) and the 49th of the Super Bowl era. The season began on Thursday, September 4, 2014, with the annual kickoff game featuring the defending Super Bowl ...

Return to CBS

On May 31, 2016,

announced that Nessler would return to the network to serve as lead play-by-play announcer for SEC college football games beginning in the 2017 season, replacing the outgoing

Verne Lundquist Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American former sportscaster known for his long career with CBS Sports. Early life Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before ...

. He was then reunited with Danielson, with whom he had worked at ESPN and ABC from 1992 to 1999. Nessler's first SEC game for CBS was

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

on November 5, 2016. He assumed duties as CBS' lead college football announcer for the

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

one month later. Since 2022, the Nessler and Danielson duo have been joined weekly by Jenny Dell and former NFL referee

Gene Steratore Eugene Joseph Steratore (; born February 8, 1963) is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 2003 until his retirement from the NFL in June 2018. He also worked as a National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

. He also provides play-by-play for

for the network, usually teaming with analyst

Bill Raftery William Joseph Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an American basketball analyst and former college basketball coach. Early life and playing years Born William Joseph Raftery in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in nearby Kearny, Raftery grew up i ...

. In 2018, Nessler called his first NCAA March Madness on TBS.

Personal life

Nessler is a graduate of

Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

. Nessler lives in the

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

area with his wife and family.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nessler, Brad 1956 births Living people American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Atlanta Falcons announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets basketball Miami Dolphins announcers Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni Minnesota Timberwolves announcers Minnesota Vikings announcers NBA broadcasters NFL announcers NFL Network people NFL Europe broadcasters Olympic Games broadcasters People from St. Charles, Minnesota Women's college basketball announcers in the United States