This piece of news broke tonight. ESPN’s Beth Mowins will become the second woman to call NFL play-by-play next month. Steve Corkran of RaiderBeat.com tweeted the news out:
.@bethmowins will handle play-by-play duties for #Raiders exhibition games. Former #Raiders WR Tim Brown also part of broadcast team.
— Steve Corkran (@CorkOnTheNFL) July 29, 2015
From the official press release from the Raiders, Mowins will call three preseason games with former Raiders wide receiver Tim Brown:
Veteran announcer Beth Mowins will handle the play-by-play duties and will be joined in the broadcast booth by Tim Brown, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2015, and former Raider and veteran television commentator Matt Millen. Nicole Zaloumis will provide sideline analysis, and JT the Brick will return, serving as host and sideline reporter for the telecasts.
While this is for preseason only, it’s still a big move. Mowins joins former Tampa news anchor Gayle Sierens who called one regular season game for NBC in 1987. Mowins has been calling college football play-by-play for the networks of ESPN since 2005. For a time, she and Pam Ward called college football, but in 2012, Mowins became the only woman to call play-by-play after Ward was taken off the sport.
In addition to college football, Mowins calls college basketball, the Women’s College World Series and was one of ESPN’s announcers for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany.
Last year, I had the opportunity to talk with Mowins for a podcast and we discussed her doing play-by-play.
Here’s wishing Beth nothing but the best in calling the Raiders next month.
