Thom Brennaman won't be broadcasting NFL games for FOX Sports anymore, and Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani thinks it would be a good idea if the Reds can him, too.
DeSclafani backed the club's decision to suspend Brennaman from his role as their play-by-play voice on FOX Sports Ohio for using a homophobic slur on the air during a Reds telecast Wednesday night.
“There’s no place for stuff like that, anywhere... It might be a better thing that he’s gone, to be honest,” DeSclafani said before Thursday night's game in St. Louis.
READ Brennaman's new letter of apology.
Brennaman's slur was widely condemned Thursday from the Reds clubhouse to the FOX Sports offices.
"My heart goes out to everyone that was offended by that, and in my opinion, everyone should be offended by it,” Reds manager David Bell said.
“FOX Sports is extremely disappointed with Thom’s remarks during Wednesday’s Cincinnati Reds telecast,” the network said in a statement. “The language used was abhorrent, unacceptable, and not representative of the values of FOX Sports. As it relates to Brennaman’s FOX NFL role, we are moving forward with our NFL schedule which will not include him.”
The son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, Thom has been with Fox Sports for the past 27 years, covering primarily baseball and football.
Brennaman had been a part of Fox’s NFL announcer lineup since they started televising the league in 1994. He was part of the No. 3 announcer team last season and was paired with analyst Chris Spielman and reporter Shannon Spake. He had also called Major League Baseball games for the network from 1996 to 2014.
Even though most regional networks still carry the Fox Sports name, they are not owned by Fox. Sinclair Broadcast Group bought them in 2019.
The Reds announcers were working from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Teams are not sending announcers to road games this season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
READ Evan Millward's column: "Thom Brennaman, help me understand"
