For the first time in 31 years, Chris Berman was not spending a fall Sunday glued to a lineup of NFL games.
The ESPN icon, who had served as host of “Sunday NFL Countdown” since the network’s inception in 1979, instead was an ocean away from NFL stadiums during opening weekend, playing golf with a group of seven friends in Northern Ireland.
“I have yet to call Verizon to see if I can get the games over there,” Berman told Sports Business Daily ahead of the golf trip. “I know I’ll get the soccer scores at least.”
After ESPN cut Berman’s responsibilities on the set of its football shows, replacing him with young upstart Samantha Ponder on “NFL Countdown,” semi-retirement unexpectedly started as a time of grave mourning. Berman’s wife, Kathy, died in a car accident in Connecticut in May, and in the months since, the father of two has been doing his best to focus his attention on hobbies that bring him comfort.
What’s more, when he’s playing golf, he’s not thinking about how much he misses talking football with his longtime friends at ESPN.
“Because of Kathy’s tragedy, I haven’t sat here agonizing over it,” Berman said of NFL broadcasts.“When I’m in one of those pot bunkers and they’re about to kick off, that’s when I’ll miss the fellas,” he added. “Rather than worry about what I’m going to say about the Packers and the Seahawks, I’ll be worried about how I’m going to get the hell out of that pot bunker.”
Berman, 62, is expected to be back on American soil just in time for Week 2. Even though Berman said he ordered “NFL Sunday Ticket” for his home TV, one of football’s most famous voices plans to take this season one week at a time from the new setting.
“[Retired NFL analyst] Tom Jackson tells me that I’m going to enjoy it more each month it goes on,” he said. “He hasn’t lied to me yet.”
“The Swami” will feel at home at least one night a week, leading features on the most memorable games in “Monday Night Football” history during ESPN’s pregame show. Starting Monday night before the Saints-Vikings game, Berman will narrate a piece on the Saints’ first game at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina, against the Falcons in 2006.
“I fell in love with football a long time ago as a fan at Shea Stadium and then watching all the time,” he said. “For almost 40 years, I’ve been able to see the games — certainly the 30-plus that I was on duty on Sundays. This will reconnect me with how I fell in love with the game as a 10- or 15-year-old. I’m OK with that.”