After his 37th March Madness, Nantz signed off with a heartfelt, appreciative goodbye.
“One thing I’ve learned through all this is everybody has a dream. Everybody has a story,” Nantz said as highlights of UConn’s celebration rolled. “Just try to find that story. Be kind.”
Analyst Bill Raftery complimented Nantz before the veteran broadcaster concluded with a message of gratitude.
“To you, everyone in the college game, our CBS family, my family, all the viewers — thank you for being my friend,” an audibly moved Nantz said.
It’s not the end of Nantz’s broadcasting career, however. He’s still the No. 1 golf announcer for CBS, and will anchor coverage of the Masters this weekend.
Nantz also signed a long-term deal to continue doing football games alongside Tony Romo. In November, he said he wasn’t close to retirement; he was simply shifting to the “Pat Summerall schedule.”
“Pat did the lead NFL game and he anchored the golf and he did it a long time and was brilliant,” Nantz said.
Most simply, Nantz simply wants to spend time with his own children, rather than the young people in the NCAA Tournament.
Nantz began working the tournament in 1986, and became the lead announcer back in 1991. Next year, he’ll be replaced in the lead chair by Ian Eagle, who has only been working the tournament since 1998.
It made sense for this to be Nantz’s final year. The Final Four was in Houston, home of Nantz’s alma mater. It’s also an odd year, meaning the alternating telecast landed on CBS instead of TBS.
And it was won by UConn, a program that won five titles during Nantz’s announcing career, tied with Duke for most in the Nantz era.
He won’t be doing any more games, but Nantz did go out with a shining moment.
