Thom Brennaman returns to Reds booth following vocal cord surgery
If you’re a sports fan to any degree, then you’ve undoubtedly heard the voice of Thom Brennaman.
Over a career spanning 30 years, Brennaman has been on the call of several memorable college football games, as well as NFL and MLB broadcasts for FOX Sports. He was also the radio voice of the Chicago Cubs in the early 90s and the first television voice for the Arizona Diamondbacks, before joining the Reds in 2006 as their television voice.
What we’re getting at is Thom Brennaman has carved out quite a career broadcasting on many of sports biggest stages. A career that stands alone from his Hall of Fame father, Marty Brennaman, who has called Reds games on the radio since 1974. Unfortunately, as a result of his success and the work he’s put in, he’s also put a lot of wear and tear on his vocal cords, which recently led him to undergo surgery to correct chronic hoarseness.
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Brennaman says the hoarseness began in spring training. He decided to have the procedure done in late May with an eye toward returning this season. On Saturday, almost two full months later, he was back in the Reds broadcast booth with a voice that’s still gaining strength but a passion that’s remained intact.
“They took a bunch of scar tissue off my vocal cords,” Brennaman told MLB.com on Friday. “You see a lot more of it in singers — opera, rock-and-rollers, the whole nine yards. It turned out great. It won’t be all the way back healthy for a little while. But thank God it’s a lot better this far along than we thought it would be, especially after we did the surgery. There was a little bit more to it than they thought when they went in to do it.”
The initial plan is for Brennaman to work a reduced Reds schedule the rest of the season, though that could certainly change based on how he feels. It seems his ultimate goal is to be full strength for the NFL season.
“We’ll see how it goes. That’s the plan,” Brennaman said. “It’s like any other surgery. The longer you go, theoretically, good lord willing it gets better. It probably won’t be as good tomorrow night as it hopefully will be a month from now. And a month from now, we’re 2 1/2 weeks from the start of football season. Hopefully in September, I’m able to do both — Reds and the NFL.”
Wherever Brennman is, people will be listening and no doubt judging to some degree.
Truth be told, he hasn’t always been the most well received broadcaster. His boisterous style doesn’t always mesh with viewers, and his effusive in-game praise for such athletes as Tim Tebow is still remembered and discussed perhaps more than any single call he’s made.
That’s never the desire of the broadcaster, but Brennaman doesn’t apologize for it either. It’s his style, and apparently that style works, because he possesses one of the truly unmistakable voices in today’s sporting landscape.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
