Sean McDonough is one of sports television\u2019s most versatile broadcasters. He is a leading play-by-play commentator for ESPN college football and basketball games in addition to calling the annual Par 3 Contest at The Masters. McDonough returned to ESPN\u2019s college football broadcast team in 2018, where he calls a premier game each week, as well as one of the College Football Playoff Semifinals, and the National Championship on ESPN Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Previously the voice of Monday Night Football<\/em>, McDonough has covered the World Series, NCAA Final Four, the Olympic Games and all four major golf championships, among other marquee events during his accomplished career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A longtime voice on ESPN college sports, McDonough spent two seasons (2016-17) as the voice of Monday Night Football<\/em>, joining broadcasting stalwarts Keith Jackson, Frank Gifford, Al Michaels and Mike Tirico as just the fifth person to occupy the MNF play-by-play position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the college basketball season, McDonough calls ACC Big Monday<\/em> games. He has also called the NCAA Final Four on four occasions for ESPN International, including the past three years alongside Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas. For many years, McDonough, Bilas and Bill Raftery called Big Monday<\/em> BIG EAST games for ESPN. Their work included the historic six-overtime Syracuse-UConn BIG EAST Tournament game at Madison Square Garden in 2009. The telecast won the Global Media Award for \u201cBest Live Game or Event\u201d as presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McDonough has been with ESPN since 1989 \u2013 with the exception of 1996-99, when he worked exclusively for CBS. Before being named to the MNF<\/em> booth, he called Saturday afternoon ABC college football games from 2000-2015. In 2015, he had arguably the signature call of the season on the game-winning punt block and touchdown return as time expired in Michigan State\u2019s miraculous victory over archrival Michigan. For 2015, Sports Illustrated<\/em> named McDonough and partner Chris Spielman the Broadcast Team of the Year in the annual SI Media Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McDonough has also voiced ESPN\u2019s Major League Baseball Monday Night Baseball <\/em>telecasts, served as a host and hole announcer on ESPN\u2019s coverage of the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and other golf events, and he has provided play-by-play on the network for NHL, tennis, the College World Series, and college lacrosse, soccer and hockey. From 2013-15, he also called NFL games for ESPN Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McDonough was the television play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox from 1988-2004, during which time he was honored four times with the New England Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Play-by-Play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McDonough spent 10 years at CBS Sports and was the lead college football play-by-play announcer from 1997-99. In 1992 and 1993, he and Tim McCarver formed the network\u2019s lead Major League Baseball broadcast team, calling the All-Star Game, the National League Championship Series and the World Series. Those assignments included historic calls, including Joe Carter\u2019s series-ending walk-off home run in game 6 of the 1993 World Series for the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During his decade at CBS, McDonough provided commentary for a diverse array of sporting broadcasts, including men\u2019s and women\u2019s college basketball, NFL, The Masters and PGA Championship, and US Open Tennis. He worked 10 NCAA men\u2019s basketball tournaments, and he contributed to CBS\u2019 coverage of the Olympic Winter Games, calling the bobsled and luge competitions in 1992 and 1994 and ice hockey in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A native of Boston, McDonough graduated cum laude from Syracuse University in 1984. In May 2007, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Southern Vermont College in recognition of his career, community service and personal achievements. He was also the Commencement Speaker at the graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2014, McDonough was named to the Hall of Fame for WAER, Syracuse University\u2019s noncommercial radio station where he began his sports broadcasting career as a student. The Sports Media Center at Syracuse\u2019s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications also honored McDonough in July 2016 with the Marty Glickman Award. Presented annually to a Newhouse alum, \u201cThe Marty\u201d recognizes excellence in the field of sports media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McDonough\u2019s father is the late Will McDonough, the legendary Boston Globe<\/em> sportswriter who worked for NBC and CBS Sports. He also has two brothers with prominent roles in professional sports \u2013 Terry, vice president, player personnel for the NFL\u2019s Arizona Cardinals and Ryan, general manager of the NBA\u2019s Phoenix Suns. HBO Real Sports<\/em> profiled the three McDonough brothers in September 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2012, McDonough was diagnosed with Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome (SCDS), a rare condition that required surgery to repair a hole in the bone near his left ear. After a successful procedure and recovery, McDonough continues to raise awareness for SCDS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n