Nearly five years after his high-profile exit from his previous role as the Reds’ television voice, Thom Brennaman is making a comeback to Cincinnati’s airwaves. On Thursday, 700 WLW-AM announced that he will replace Mike McConnell as the host of the radio station’s weekday morning show, following McConnell’s retirement last month; his final broadcast is scheduled for this Monday.
Starting Monday, Brennaman will host the 5-9 a.m. morning news-talk program. He had previously followed in his father Marty Brennaman’s footsteps as the voice of the Reds for Fox Sports Ohio until his abrupt departure in 2020, when he was caught saying a homophobic slur while unknowingly on air. This incident gained further notoriety when he paused his apology to call a Nick Castellanos home run.
Thom Brennaman’s apology. pic.twitter.com/wp6PD8DBnC
— Michael Ritter (@MikeSteveRitter) August 20, 2020
Brennaman ultimately resigned more than a month after the incident and lost his role calling NFL games for Fox. He later returned to broadcasting, calling games for the Roberto Clemente League in Puerto Rico and high school football broadcasts for Chatterbox Sports, and is set to be a play-by-play announcer for The CW’s national college football broadcasts in 2024. Despite the circumstances of his departure from the Reds, Brennaman has openly expressed a desire to learn from his mistake, receiving praise from multiple LGBTQ+ activists for his efforts. In one of the early episodes of his Off the Bench show in 2022, he reflected on the journey he had taken in the two years since the incident.
In his reflection, he stated, “All I can do is what I’ve tried to do over the past two years, that’s learn and grow from the ignorant word I used in a flippant sort of way. Through my experiences and time with people in the gay community, I’ve learned a great deal. All you can do is the best you can do, and I’ve done that for two years, and I continue to learn and grow. I’m a better man today than the guy who sat up there in August of 2020; I’ll be a better broadcaster today than I was in August 2020 because of this whole experience and this whole journey.”
As he embarks on this radio gig, it marks a new chapter in Brennaman’s career, transitioning from sports to news. It represents an opportunity that holds significant meaning for the Ohio University alum, as he returns as a regular voice in the city he calls home.
