Bob Trumpy, who parlayed a 10-year career in the NFL as a tight end with the Cincinnati Bengals into a Hall of Fame broadcasting career, has died. He was 80.
Trumpy caught the first touchdown pass in the history of the Bengals franchise in 1968, when the team was a member of the American Football League.
Loading twitter content…
Over the next decade, Trumpy would make two AFL All-Star teams and two NFL Pro Bowls. He retired as a player after the 1977 season with 298 catches for 4,600 yards and 35 touchdowns.
More news: Super Bowl Champion, Two-Time All-Star, Dies
Trumpy began his long national broadcasting career in 1978 as an NFL color analyst for NBC Sports. He held the role until 1997, paired with Dick Enberg on NBC’s top announcing crew. The duo called Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII.
Trumpy received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio & Television Award in 2014 for “longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.”
Loading twitter content…
Trumpy played the 1966 season with the University of Utah, then was activated into the Navy during the Vietnam War. After discharge, he moved to Southern California and briefly worked as a bill collector before the 1968 American Football League draft.
More news: Former Giants, Rams, USC Star Dies at 69
“I’ve known Bob since we started here and he had an extraordinary career as both a player and a broadcaster,” Bengals president Mike Brown said in a statement released by the team. “He was an exceptional and rare tight end who could get downfield and split zone coverages. Speed was his hallmark. He was as fast as any wide receiver and was a deep threat. That was rare for a tight end then and it’s rare now.
“As a broadcaster, he made his mark both locally and nationally, and excelled at sports other than football in a career that was as successful as what he accomplished on the field. He did it all very well and I regret his passing.”
In 1999, Trumpy joined Westwood One Radio Sports as the Sunday Night Football analyst and served in that role through his retirement after the 2007 season.
For more NFL news, visit Newsweek Sports.