UFC Announcer Mike Goldberg Fails Miserably In NFL Broadcasting Debut
Mike Goldberg has enjoyed a lengthy career in broadcasting and is known primarily for his announcing work with the UFC.
He's performed play-by-play duties for several NHL teams, and his résumé also boasts an announcing credit with the Lingerie Football League, a fact that is at once interesting and amusing.
LFL was a great idea, if only they didn't actually have to play the game. Had they stopped at the photo shoot, Goldberg could have gotten away with being Goldbert.
However, Goldberg was tasked with play-by-play responsibilities for a recent Fox broadcast of a game between the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings.
Suffice it to say, he did not fare well.
While Goldberg has dabbled in college football, this was his first foray into the professional version. Considering it was his NFL debut, most reasonable fans and critics would perhaps be willing to overlook a few stumbles or a general lack of polish. But by all accounts, Goldberg was just flat-out awful.
From struggling with down and distance to simply forgetting what team players and coaches were affiliated with, this was a thorough butchering from start to finish.
As incompetent as Goldberg was, his reaction afterwards via social media only exacerbated the issue. Some helpful fans absolutely brutalized the UFC veteran by simply pointing out many of the verbal gaffes committed in the Fox booth on Sunday.
Here's a random sampling:
Mike Goldberg got faked out about who had the ball on his first play as an NFL on FOX play-by-play man.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) October 12, 2014
Goldberg - "There's a penalty...and they cleaned it up...and now it's 1st down. 1st down on the penalty." What happened??? #Vikings #Lions
— Keith Leventhal (@KeithLeventhal) October 12, 2014
Live from downtown St. Paul? Downtown St. Paul is like 20 minutes away from downtown Minneapolis. Geography much MIke Goldberg?
— Will Ojanen (@WillsWorldMN) October 12, 2014
Goldberg, who has apparently lashed out at critics in the past, could not help himself, throwing out a bit of profanity in a series of tweets that were quickly deleted.
This frustration is certainly understandable, albeit not particularly bright considering his occupation.
Goldberg is a broadcasting veteran, but simply did not seem prepared or capable of handling his NFL debut. An occasional mistake is one thing, but identifying Golden Tate as a member of the Minnesota Vikings indicates a dearth of knowledge on the subject of professional football.
In the aftermath of his poor performance and subsequent Twitter nonsense, Fox has removed Goldberg from his scheduled broadcast of the Vikings-Bills game this coming Sunday.
Goldberg has since addressed the situation, apologizing and thanking Fox in the process.
However, despite the mea culpa, Goldberg may never see the inside of an NFL stadium again, at least in a professional capacity.