Chris Berman signed a contract extension with ESPN earlier this month, making him the first ESPN talent to spend 50 years at the network. The 70-year-old Berman is one of the founding fathers of the network and has been closely associated with ESPN’s coverage of the NFL since 1981. While Berman has never left ESPN during his tenure, there were several instances where he was offered jobs with other networks and one Major League Baseball team.
Recently, Berman was a guest of Pardon My Take with Dan “Big Cat” Katz and Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger, and he described how in the late 1980s he was offered the opportunity to become the television voice of the San Francisco Giants.
“The owner of the San Francisco Giants, his name was Bob Lurie,” explained Berman. “He goes ‘next year we’re going to hire, and that’s going to be our hire. We think you’d be a great San Francisco Giants play by play guy. I’d not done it other than Brown baseball, but it was one of my goals to do the Giants.’”
Moreover, the famed SportsCenter anchor described his meeting with Lurie taking place at the 21 Club in San Francisco when the offer was made to him. While he told Lurie that ESPN had just acquired NFL rights and that he would be the main guy, they never discussed salary. Nevertheless, the allure of moving to the Bay Area was enticing to Berman. Subsequently, he described his phone call a couple of days later to turn down the job.
“I said Mr. Lurie, I can’t believe I’m telling you this. It’s been my life’s dream, but I’m going to have to turn it down,” said Berman. “He said, and here’s what a good guy he was. ‘After you told me yesterday about ESPN about the NFL, and you’re the host, you’re Brent Musburger. You made the right decision.’”
Furthermore, Berman explained that his favorite city is San Francisco and has been for his entire adult life. He said he doesn’t regret the decision to turn down the offer and is happy he has been with ESPN for going on five decades.
“I’m a Taurus. I’m stubborn, I ain’t leaving,” joked Berman.
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