Personal life

Berman was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Peggy Shevell (née Tenenbaum), who worked as a reporter-researcher for Time magazine, and James Keliner Berman, a corporate executive vice president. Berman grew up in Irvington, New York. He was raised Jewish. During his childhood, he went to Camp Winnebago in Fayette, Maine. He enrolled at the Hackley School in 1970, and graduated Brown University in 1977 with a degree in history, where he was the sports director of the school's radio station, WBRU.

Berman married Katherine "Kathy" Alexinski in 1983. The couple have two children. Berman's father passed away on September 22, 2013, his mother on December 28, 2014.

Career

Berman's sportscasting career began at Hartford's WVIT-TV as a weekend sports anchor. He joined ESPN in 1979, a month after its founding, and has been with the network ever since. Along with Bob Ley, he is one of ESPN's longest-tenured employees. He is currently the host of Monday Night Countdown. In 1988 and 1989, he hosted ESPN's first game show, Boardwalk and Baseball's Super Bowl of Sports Trivia.

In December 2008, the Associated Press ran a long retrospective on Berman's 30-year career with ESPN. "He is our most important person," said Norby Williamson, ESPN's vice president of production. "He is the face of ESPN," he added. At the time, Berman noted that his contract with ESPN would expire on his 55th birthday, and that he did not see himself broadcasting into his 60s. In April 2010, however, ESPN extended Berman's contract for an undisclosed period of time, only noting that it was a multi-year deal. The contract was eventually revealed to expire at the end of 2016.

Berman was a season ticket holder for the Hartford Whalers, and was a strong supporter of the team's staying in Connecticut. He occasionally makes reference to the team, sometimes even by humming the team's theme song, Brass Bonanza. Berman has also become a strong backer of the Buffalo Bills in recent years. In an interview with Buffalo Bills reporter and play-by-play voice John Murphy on July 26, 2012, Berman acknowledged that you could call him a "Bills Booster". This sentiment is also echoed in Berman's on-air phrase, "No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!"

Style

Berman is well known for his various catchphrases and player nicknames. His mid-play prediction of a touchdown run as "He could...go...all...the...way!" is borrowed from Howard Cosell, and home run call of "Back-back-back-back" drawn from Red Barber. A trademark "Whoop!" is uttered during highlights when a player makes a quick move or causes someone to miss or make a mistake. Berman is perhaps best known for integrating puns into player nicknames, dubbing former Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bert Blyleven Bert "Be Home" Blyleven.

Berman adopts his alter ego, "The Swami," to make predictions on Sunday NFL Countdown. For seven consecutive years "The Swami" predicted a Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills, one or the other - but never both - making it during that span.

In other media

Berman appeared in Adam Sandler's 1998 comedy The Waterboy as well as Sandler's The Longest Yard in 2005 where he played himself as the play-by-play announcer of the prison football game. Berman also appeared as himself in Necessary Roughness in 1991, Little Big League in 1994, as well as Eddie and Kingpin in 1996. He made a cameo appearance in the 1995 Hootie and the Blowfish video for the single, "Only Wanna Be With You." Berman made a cameo in the 2013 comedy Grown Ups 2. Berman appears in Nutrisystem commercials with Don Shula, Dan Marino, Terry Bradshaw, and Mike Golic, using some of his trademark phrases and nicknames to show how much weight they lost.

Honors

• National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association National Sportscaster of the Year (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001)
• American Sportscasters Association Sportscaster of the Year - Studio Host (1995, 1997, 1998)
• CableACE Award Best Cable Sportscaster 1987, 1988, 1990
• 1997 "TV's Most Fascinating Stars" from People
• 2001 Maxwell Football Club's Reds Bagnell Award
• 2007 honorary degree from Brown University.
• 2009 Presented Ralph C. Wilson Jr. into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Received star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 24, 2010
• Received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award on July 12, 2010

Career timeline

• 1979-present: SportsCenter anchor (occasionally since 1990)
• 1985-present: Sunday NFL Countdown host
• 1985-present: NFL Draft host
• 1986-2014: U.S. Open Nightly Show host
• 1987-2005: NFL Primetime host
• 1987-2005: ESPN Sunday Night Football halftime host
• 1990-present: Baseball Tonight host (occasional)
• 1990-present: MLB on ESPN Play-by-Play (selected games)
• 1986-present: Home Run Derby Play-by-Play
• 1996-1999, 2006-present, and during NFL playoff between 1998 to 2005: Monday Night Football halftime host
• 2003-2014: U.S. Open host
• 2003-2004: NHL on ESPN and NHL on ABC studio co-host (Stanley Cup Finals)
• 2006-present: Monday Night Countdown host
• 2012-present: ESPN Monday Night Football #2 play-by-play

[ Source: Wikipedia ]