Mike Tirico, legendary sports broadcaster, honored with Marty Glickman Award

Mike Tirico, Newhouse School alumnus, was presented the Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media. Tirico is the fifth recipient of the award.

Dean Lorraine Branham highlighted how Newhouse "is the place people come to learn how to become great sportscasters". Tirico came through the broadcast journalism program and graduated in 1988.

The event continued with anecdotes from Newhouse Sports Media Center director Olivia Stomski, Syracuse Unviersity Athletic Director John Wildhack, as well as video clips from Floyd Little and Marv Albert congratulating Tirico.

The 2016 recipient, Sean McDonough, spoke about the legacy of sports broadcasting at Syracuse University.

"Syracuse is the cradle of sports broadcasting," McDonough said.

McDonough took over from Tirico as play-by-play commentator for Monday Night Football in 2016, and touched upon how Tirico told him there may be an opportunity to take over this position. He continued to share how Tirico was a leader multiple times when they worked together.

"Mike served as a mentor for me so many times," McDonough said.

Tirico, sporting a blue shirt with an orange tie, spoke about his time in the sports broadcasting industry ever since he began at Syracuse University.

"I wanted this to be from the heart," Tirico said when sharing he didn't prepare for his acceptance speech.

Tirico talked about his connections made when he was a student at Syracuse University, including the classrooms and his time at WAER.

"I bring up all the people, because each person matters and each person is part of the puzzle piece. And this award is now a new puzzle piece in my life," Tirico said.

Tirico currently works for NBC Sports, where he hosts Football Night in America and is the play-by play commentator for Notre Dame Football. He also hosted the British Open, the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Preakness events and numerous Thursday Night Football games.

Before NBC Sports, Tirico worked at ESPN for 26 years, covering the major sports here in the United States, as well as international events.

Wildhack, who was an ESPN executive, talked about Tirico's career at ESPN covering everything from basketball to football, soccer to golf.

"Everything that he did he did extraordinary well. His preparation is legenday. Nobody is better prepared than Mike," Wildhack said.

Wildhack was also able to speak about Tirico as a person, both on and off camera.

"Mike really cares about his friends. He's genuine, he's a real, real friend," Wildhack said.

"The reality is you can't leave Marty out and you can never leave Marty out." -McDonough about Glickman. #TheMarty

— NewsHouse Sports (@NewsHouseSports) November 14, 2017

This event was hosted on Syracuse Unviersity's campus for the first time. Previously, it was in New York City. This provided an opportunity for former recipients such as Beth Mowins and Bob Costas to return to campus, as well as for students to get to hear Tirico's speech.

Tirico touched upon the impact that Costas had on his interest in his sports broadcasting career.

"I'm really touched that Bob was able to make it here today. His legacy here was unbelievable," Tirico said. Tirico was the first recipient of the Bob Costas Scholarship in 1988.

Tirico praised the impact that Mowins has had this year, as she was the second women to be play-by-play for a nationally televised game for ESPN.

"I heard that her chart was going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and I thought 'That's my chart!," Tirico said, much to the amusement of the crowd.

The legendary broadcaster concluded how Newhouse continues its legacy of producing broadcasters in the sports industry.

"This school as a whole, this university, is going great places. There's no school like this group of alum, faculty, and students like Newhouse," Tirico said.

The award is named after Marty Glickman, who graduated from Syracuse University and was a pioneer for sports broadcasting. Tirico and others touched upon the impact Glickman had in his life.