SmashMouth

Dan Dierdorf said he nearly didn’t work as an NFL broadcaster this year.


“The reality is, from a physical standpoint, it’s too much for me, especially the travel,” Dierdorf told SI.com from his home in St. Louis. “I have two artificial knees, two artificial hips, nerve damage in my legs, and it’s a struggle for me to walk. That’s the reality of it. Ask anyone who has seen me go through a press box.”

On Wednesday CBS announced that Dierdorf, the NFL’s longest tenured announcer, will retire from broadcasting at the end of the 2013 season. He has worked as an NFL broadcaster since 1984, a journey that started as a color analyst for KMOX’s Radio coverage of the St. Louis Cardinals and NFL games for CBS Radio Network. Dierdorf had a brief stint with CBS Sports from 1985 to ’87 before joining ABC’s Monday Night Football for 12 years. He returned to CBS Sports in 1999 and currently serves on the No. 2 team with play-by-play announcer Greg Gumbel after a long tenure with Dick Enberg.

The 64-year-old Dierdorf said his health and attitude are good but his body is breaking down regarding travel. He said he has been dropping hints for the past year to his friends and colleagues that this would be his last season in the booth and he called CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus last Wednesday to make it official. He will continue to work this season for CBS and will get at least one playoff assignment. Dierdorf praised his on-air partner Gumbel, his producer Mark Wolff and director Bob Fishman, citing them as family. “It was pretty obvious I caught Sean off-guard,” Dierdorf said. “I don’t know why he thought I was calling, but he didn’t think I was calling to tell him that. If another network called me and offered me some spectacular job, I just can’t do it. It’s not realistic. And in some ways it makes it easier. It makes it easier to leave knowing I can’t do it physically.”

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