Ron Franklin

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For the jockey, see Ron Franklin (jockey).

Ron Franklin
Born
Ronald Franklin

(1942-02-02)February 2, 1942
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 2022 (aged 79)
Alma materUniversity of Mississippi
Notable creditJake Wade Memorial Award
TitlePlay-by-Play Commentator / Co-Host Outdoors Events

Ronald Franklin (February 2, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American

sportscaster. He was employed by ESPN from 1987 to 2011. He was fired by ESPN on January 4, 2011, after making sexist comments to a colleague.[1] Franklin brought a wrongful termination suit[2] against his former employer, alleging breach of contract by ESPN. The parties settled out of court.[3]

Early life and career

Franklin grew up in

voice lessons. His family moved to Oxford, Mississippi when he was 14. He suffered a head injury in high school that resulted in the formation of a blood clot that ended his football career and made him ineligible for the military. Around the same time he found work as a teen disc jockey, which got him interested in combining his interests in broadcasting and sports.[4]

While a student at the University of Mississippi, Franklin worked the wake-up shift at a radio station, attended classes during the day, and then returned to the station in the evening to work on commercials. For further vocal training, he performed in college theater.[4] He was an alumni member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Prior to ESPN, he was basketball and football play-by-play commentator for the

KHOU-TV from 1971 to 1980, then with KPRC-TV
from 1980 to 1987.

ESPN

While at ESPN, he primarily worked as a

Big 12
games. His trademark call of a long run was "Has five! Has ten! Count it off at (final yardage)."

In college basketball, he was the primary ESPN play-by-play man with Fran Fraschilla for Big 12 games. The duo also called the NIT Championship. He also called the tennis French Open, college baseball and the U.S. Olympic Festival, He hosted in some years the Miss Texas USA Pageants.

He signed a contract extension with ESPN in 2006.

Holly Rowe incident

On October 1, 2005, during a game between Notre Dame and Purdue that Franklin was calling, sideline reporter Holly Rowe praised Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack for using all three timeouts on defense despite trailing by four touchdowns late in the game. "If the coaches are giving up," Rowe added, "What does that say to the players?" Franklin responded, "Holly, it's not giving up. It's 49–21, sweetheart."[5][6]

In response to that, Mo Davenport, senior coordinating producer for college football said, "It was an inappropriate comment, and we've communicated that to Ron. There's never a reason to say something so mean-spirited. Ron apologized. We dealt with it internally."[7]

Jeannine Edwards incident

After a production meeting prior to ESPN's telecast of the

Chick-fil-A Bowl on December 31, 2010, Franklin addressed sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards in a condescending tone as "sweet baby"; when she objected, Franklin called her an "asshole". The incident was reported to ESPN by Ed Cunningham, and ESPN tried to pull Franklin from the Chick Fil-A coverage that night but was unable; instead, Franklin was removed from ESPN Radio's coverage of the 2011 Fiesta Bowl the following day.[8][9]

Franklin apologized for his remarks the following Monday and said he deserved to be pulled from the Fiesta Bowl. However, ESPN fired Franklin the following day; in a statement, ESPN noted, "Based on what occurred last Friday, we have ended our relationship with him."[1]

Personal life and death

Franklin was married with one child. He lived in Austin, Texas.[citation needed] Franklin died on January 18, 2022, at the age of 79.[10]

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b Ron Franklin Fired: ESPN Axes Announcer After Sexist Comments: Report, Huffington Post, January 4, 2011.
  2. ^ "Ron Franklin sues ESPN for wrongful termination". USA Today. January 19, 2011.
  3. ^ The Oklahoman [dead link]
  4. ^ a b Cary Estes, MSM Feature – Ron Franklin: Local Vocal, Mississippi Sports Magazine, February 23, 2010, Accessed January 5, 2011.
  5. ^ "Ron Franklin Holly Rowe Incident". Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2019 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ Greenstein, Teddy (October 3, 2005). "Inside College Football". Chicago Tribune. pp. 3–13. Retrieved February 5, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Solomon, George (October 12, 2005). "Drawing stronger line between reporting, commentary". ESPN. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  8. ^ Jeannine Edwards: Ron Franklin called me 'sweet baby,' not 'sweet cakes', USAToday.com, January 3, 2011, Accessed January 3, 2011.
  9. ^ Michael McCarthy (January 3, 2011). "ESPN's Ron Franklin apologizes: I deserved to be taken off Fiesta Bowl". USA Today.com. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  10. ^ Longtime ESPN Commentator Has Died At 79
Sources
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