ESPN’s sixth longest-tenured announcer returns to college sports
ESPN announced Monday that Dr. Jerry Punch signed a new contract to remain with the Worldwide Leader in Sports, where he is one of the network’s longest-tenured announcers.
Punch, who moved to television in 1982 after working for Motor Racing Network, has been associated with ESPN since 1984, primarily as a motorsports announcer and pit reporter. From 1989 to 2006, Punch served as a college sports announcer and sideline reporter, and he will return to covering college athletics with his new deal.
“ESPN has been my home for a long time and I’m grateful for the opportunities presented to me to remain part of the team,” Punch said. “I love the passion of college sports and look forward to helping bring those stories to our viewers and to reconnecting with the college coaches and staffs I’ve enjoyed relationships with over the years.”
His first telecast will be on ESPNU on Jan. 15. Fittingly, it will be the Murray State Racers vs. Belmont in an Ohio Valley Conference basketball game.
Punch also will continue to cover motorsports as a pit reporter on ABC’s Indianapolis 500 and other IndyCar Series races.
The former emergency room physician who walked onto North Carolina State’s football team as a backup quarterback under Lou Holtz has had the sixth-longest continuous career at ESPN, following Bob Ley, Cliff Drysdale, Chris Berman, Dick Vitale and Mike Patrick.
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