Steve Levy (; born March 12, 1965) is an American
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and sportscaster for
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 ...
. He is known for his work broadcasting college football, ''
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 ...
'' and the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
.
Early life and career
Levy went to
John F. Kennedy High School in
Bellmore, New York, and then graduated in 1987 from the
State University of New York at Oswego with a degree in communications and broadcasting.
Before working for ESPN, he worked in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in radio and/or television for
WFAN WFAN may refer to:
* WFAN (AM)
WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, with a sports radio format, branded "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New Y ...
,
MSG Network,
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS New York, is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–lic ...
,
WABC-AM, and
WNBC-AM.
He is Jewish.
ESPN (1993–present)
Levy has been with ESPN since August 1, 1993.
At ESPN, he usually works on ''
SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
'', and has hosted the late night edition on Monday night during the NFL season, following ''
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 ...
''. He covered
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
regular season and playoff games before the network lost the rights to televise the league's games. He also previously covered the network's college football coverage for four seasons, 1999–2002, returning to this role in 2016. He also served as a fill-in play-by-play commentator for
Wednesday Night Baseball
''Wednesday Night Baseball'' is a live game telecast of Major League Baseball during Wednesday nights in the regular season on ESPN or ESPN2. From 1990 to 2021, ESPN generally aired weekly games on Wednesday nights. Beginning with the 2022 Maj ...
. He served as ESPN's lead play-by-play announcer for the
XFL in 2020.
National Hockey League
Levy is a prolific and well-known NHL broadcaster. He has earned the nickname "Mr. Extra Period" for having called three of the longest televised games in NHL history, all of which have been playoff games, two of which he teamed up with
Darren Pang: a
1996
1996 was designated as:
* International Year for the Eradication of Poverty
Events January
* January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
game between the
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
and the
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...
that went four overtimes; a
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
contest that also featured the Penguins, this time playing the
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...
, which went five overtimes; and a
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
matchup between the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Mighty may refer to:
Businesses
*Mighty Audio, an American company known for its product ''Mighty'', a portable audio player
*Mighty Animation, an animation studio based in Guadalajara, Mexico
Films
*''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy–drama
* ''The ...
and the
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...
, which also went five overtimes, and lasted six hours. The only two games to go longer took place before the era of television.
''Monday Night Football''
In 2019, Levy called one of ESPN's ''
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 ...
'' matchups in week 1 alongside his broadcast partners
Brian Griese and
Louis Riddick. The following year, the trio were named to the lead ''Monday Night Football'' crew, which lasted until the hiring of
Joe Buck
Joseph Francis Buck (born April 25, 1969) is an American sportscaster for ESPN.
The son of sportscaster Jack Buck, he worked for Fox Sports from its 1994 inception through 2022, including roles as lead play-by-play announcer for Fox's Nati ...
and
Troy Aikman
Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from the Oklahoma Sooners, he play ...
in 2022. Levy was paired with Riddick and
Dan Orlovsky
Dan Orlovsky (born August 18, 1983) is an American American football, football analyst for ESPN and former professional football player. He played as a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily as a backup.
Or ...
as MNF's second announcing crew when the NFL announced two MNF games beginning in 2022, before being replaced by
Chris Fowler the next year.
Other appearances
Levy has appeared in a print advertisement for Swiss watchmaker
Raymond Weil. He appeared as himself in a pair of 2005 films, covering the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
in
spring training
Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
in ''
Fever Pitch'', and the
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 172 countries. Special Ol ...
in ''
The Ringer''. He also appeared in ''
The Game Plan'', released in 2007 and ''
Parental Guidance'', released in 2012. Levy performed a cameo role in the interactive video for the
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
classic "
Like A Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhauste ...
".
Levy, Pang, and
Barry Melrose called the
2016 World Cup of Hockey
The 2016 World Cup of Hockey (abbreviated WCH2016) was an international ice hockey tournament. It was the third installment of the National Hockey League (NHL)-sanctioned competition, 12 years after the second World Cup of Hockey in 2004. It was ...
on ESPN.
Levy performed as a
play-by-play commentator for the ''
Puppy Bowl
The ''Puppy Bowl'' is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football game similar to the Super Bowl, using Puppy, puppies. Shown each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at ...
'' in 2021.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Steve
1965 births
Living people
American sports journalists
National Hockey League broadcasters
College football announcers
ESPN people
NFL announcers
Major League Baseball broadcasters
XFL (2020–2023) broadcasters
John F. Kennedy High School (Bellmore, New York) alumni
State University of New York at Oswego alumni
Jewish American sports announcers