Sports Announcer Who Resigned After On-Air Slur Back in the Game

Sports announcer Thom Brennaman, who resigned after using an anti-LGTBQ slur on an open mic last August, is headed back to the airwaves, reports Yahoo! Sports.

Brennaman, who was a longtime announcer for the Cincinnati Reds, "has been hired to announce baseball in the Roberto Clemente League in Puerto Rico," Yahoo! Sports reported.

"Brennaman will serve as the league's play-by-play man for the 2020-21 season," the article added, noting that the season began Dec. 8

Brennaman's 27-year career with Fox Sports as the announcer for the Reds came to an end after he was heard on-air talking about "one of the fag capitals of the world." His words were broadcast mid-comment as the sports broadcast resumed following a commercial break.

As reported at the time, the comment went out over the air at the start of the seventh inning of the first game of an Aug. 19 doubleheader. Brennaman acknowledged the gravity of the gaffe a couple of hours later, just as the fifth inning of the second game was about to commence, telling listeners, "I don't know if I'm going to be putting on this headset again."

He also tendered an apology, saying, "I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of.

"If I have hurt anyone out there, I can't tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry."

Brennaman went off the air at that point, with Jim Day taking over as the game's fifth inning commenced. He was initially suspended, but just over a month later he announced his resignation, saying, "My family and I have decided that I am going to step away from my role as the television voice of the Cincinnati Reds."

The president for the Cincinnati Reds, Phil Castellini, predicted last October that Brennaman would be back, though not for the Reds.

Castellini recounted how Brennaman's tenure with the team came to an end following the gaffe, telling the media, "He knew exactly what the organization had to do and why. We were at the end of a contract year. That's when he came to us and said, 'I think I need to move on and repair my own damage done.'

"He's done a ton of that and is making a lot of great relationships," Castellini added.