A number of professional athletes have continued their careers in broadcasting after retiring from their sport of choice. Who, after all, knows the ins and outs of the games better than the ones who have played it and made entire careers out of it? Here are 32 of those ex-pros who have put down the ball (or racket or gloves or bat, etc.) and picked up a microphone instead.
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal won four NBA championships (three with the L.A. Lakers and one with the Miami Heat) during his 19 seasons as a pro basketball player. He also won a gold medal as part of Team USA in the 1996 Olympics. After retiring in 2011, he joined Inside the NBA as an analyst, where he remains over a decade later, though it's unknown what Shaq will do if Inside the NBA is canceled in 2025.
Daniel Cormier
Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier became the second fighter in the UFC to simultaneously hold titles in two weight classes (Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight) and the first to defend titles in more than one weight class. He first provided color commentary for a UFC Fight Night in 2016 and became a regular member of the UFC's crew of commentators upon his retirement in 2020.
Tara Lipinski
Tara Lipinski racked up a number of national and world championships, as well as a gold medal in the 1998 Olympics, which made her more than qualified to become one of the sport's leading commentators. She joined the NBC team in 2014, and while she's known for giving blunt feedback on the skaters' routines, we don't think that makes her mean; it just means she's good at her job.
Tom Brady
The greatest quarterback to ever play the game struck a lucrative deal to join the Fox NFL analysts long before he hung up his helmet for good. Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady got off to kind of a rough start as a color commentator for the 2024 football season, but even Shaquille O'Neal believes he'll only get better with time.
Rebecca Lobo
Rebecca Lobo was a member of the 1996 Olympics team, where she won the gold before going on to a career in the WNBA from 1997 to 2003. She remains heavily involved in the sport, serving as a reporter and analyst for ESPN for women's college and professional basketball.
Tim McCarver
Following a career as a Major League Baseball catcher from 1959 to 1980, which included two World Series titles (1964 and 1967) with the St. Louis Cardinals, Tim McCarver went into broadcasting, eventually landing at Fox Sports. He earned three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst and set a record for calling 23 World Series and 20 All-Star Games.
Dana Torres
Dana Torres represented the U.S. swim team in five Olympic Games, garnering 12 medals and setting three world records over the course of her career. Her final Olympics were in 2008, where at 41, she was the oldest swimmer on Team USA. After retiring from competitive swimming, she went on to work as an announcer for several networks including NBC, ESPN, TNT and Fox News. She also hosted a golf show.
Nastia Liukin
American gymnast Nastia Liukin is an analyst for the NBC Sports Group covering her event of expertise and has served as a commentator during the Olympics. This follows a career in which she earned five Olympic medals, including becoming the 2008 all-around champion; winning the all-around U.S. national championship four times; and was awarded nine World Championship medals.
Mary Carillo
Mary Carillo played professional tennis from 1977 to 1980, before injuries forced her into retirement. She then took her colorful personality to new heights, becoming a tennis broadcaster for USA Network, PBS, CBS Sports, HBO, NBC Sports, The Tennis Channel and more, including Olympics coverage from both Atlanta and Sydney, Australia. She then branched out to different sports, covering skiing during the 1992 Winter Olympics and has since done everything from human interest pieces to bobsled, luge, figure skating and even the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Cheryl Miller
After a successful college basketball career at USC and leading the United States to gold in the 1984 Olympics, Cheryl Miller was drafted by several professional leagues, including the men's United States Basketball League. After injuries ended her playing career, she continued as a WNBA coach and basketball broadcaster, most notably as an NBA sideline reporter for TNT Sports and NBA TV analyst.
Tony Romo
After spending 13 seasons as a Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo took to the booth, calling NFL games for CBS Sports. His football knowledge serves him well during broadcasts, as he's known for predicting what play an offense is going to run and even guessing what's being said in conversations between referees or coaches on the sidelines.
Tim Daggett
The Olympics may officially start with the Opening Ceremonies, but for gymnastics fans, it's not until you've heard Tim Daggett utter the words: “Gymnastics 101: Fly high and stick the landing.” Daggett was part of the first U.S. men's gymnastics team to win gold in 1985, where he scored a perfect 10 on the horizontal bar and also earned a bronze medal on the pommel horse. Since retiring, he has provided analysis for NBC for every Summer Olympics since Barcelona in 1992.
Terry Bradshaw
Terry Bradshaw spent 14 seasons as quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning four Super Bowls over a six-year period. However, just as many people likely know him for his boisterous personality as an analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday, which he's been a part of since 1994.
Charles Barkley
Charles Barkley was the "Round Mound of Rebound" for 16 years in the NBA, where he was part of two gold-medal Olympic teams. He went on to become an integral part of TNT's Inside the NBA, where he continues to share his unfiltered opinions and often trades barbs with Shaquille O'Neal.
Lisa Leslie
One of the greatest WNBA players of all time, Lisa Leslie holds the distinction of being the first player to dunk during a WNBA game. She won two Olympic gold medals and two WNBA championships with the Los Angeles Sparks. Since retiring, Leslie has worked as a sports commentator for networks including NBC and ABC, and in 2018 she joined Fox Sports Florida as an analyst on the Orlando Magic broadcasts.
Dominick Cruz
Many athletes take to broadcasting when their playing days are done, but not Dominick Cruz. He was still fighting for the UFC's Bantamweight belt, which he secured twice in his career, when he began providing color commentary for the UFC. Cruz proved that he knows how to get his arm raised, compiling a professional mixed martial arts record of 24 wins and just 4 losses.
Summer Sanders
Following a college career that included eight NCAA titles and three World Championship medals in 1991, swimmer Summer Sanders won four Olympic medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Her TV career began around the same time, as she provided swimming commentary for CBS and then NBC. Over the years she has helped cover the Winter Olympics, co-hosted NBA Inside Stuff for eight years, covered tennis and worked as a commentator for the Pac-12 Network.
Johnny Weir
Known these days as much for his style as his skills on the ice, Johnny Weir is one half of the dream team of figure skating commentary alongside Tara Lipinski. In addition to analyzing figure skating together for over a decade, Weir and Lipinski have been fashion analysts and correspondents for the Oscars, dog shows, the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl. This follows Weir's own career, in which he competed in two Winter Olympics, won bronze in the 2008 World Championships and was a U.S. National champion for three years straight.
John McEnroe
John McEnroe is infamous for having a temper on the tennis court, but his career speaks for itself, as he won 77 career singles titles, 77 doubles titles, and 1 mixed-doubles title during his ATP Tour career, including seven major singles titles and nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles. Post-retirement, he began providing commentary for networks including ESPN, CBS, NBC, USA and the BBC.
Laurie Hernandez
Laurie Hernandez's competition days as a gymnast resulted in a gold medal in the team competition at the 2016 Summer Games and silver on the balance beam. She also won the junior all-around at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Those who watched Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics got to hear Hernandez provide commentary during NBC's live daytime broadcast.
Troy Aikman
Troy Aikman was a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys, where he played quarterback for 12 seasons. He went on to serve as the color commentator for NFL on Fox for 20 years until 2021, and has been calling Monday Night Football alongside Joe Buck since 2022.
Rowdy Gaines
Rowdy Gaines, aka "The Voice of Swimming," had a successful career in the pool, winning three Olympic gold medals in 1984 and setting 10 world records in his six years of competition. Gaines has since covered swimming at every Olympics since 1992 and also serves as an analyst for NBC.
Bob Uecker
Bob Uecker spent five years as a catcher in the MLB, winning a World Series with the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals, but he's more widely known for the career that came after. In 2024 at 90 years old, Uecker began his 54th season broadcasting for the Milwaukee Brewers. He's also appeared at WrestleMania as a commentator and had a hilarious role as a play-by-play announcer in the Major League movies.
Teddy Atlas
After a back injury forced Teddy Atlas to quit boxing, he turned to training and eventually broadcast, serving as a longtime commentator for ESPN and providing analysis for NBC during the Olympics from 2000 to 2016.
Chiney Ogwumike
Much of Chiney Ogwumike's basketball-playing and broadcasting careers have happened simultaneously. After the power forward was drafted first overall in 2014 to the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, Ogwumike went on to sign a multi-year contract with ESPN in 2018 as a full-time basketball analyst. In 2020 she became the first Black woman and first WNBA player to host a national radio show for the sports entertainment network.
Bill Walton
NBA star Bill Walton, who passed away in May 2024 at age 71, enjoyed a long career in basketball, winning two NBA championships (1977 with the Portland Trail Blazers and 1986 with the Boston Celtics). He overcame a stutter to become a color commentator for several decades, working for CBS, NBC, ABC/ESPN, the L.A. Clippers, the Sacramento Kings and the Pac-12 Network.
John Madden
John Madden contributed so much to the sport of football, he's got a video game to ensure we never forget. After being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1958, a knee injury ended his career before he ever played a game. He coached for years before settling into his role as an analyst, sharing his wisdom on all four major TV networks. He became one of the most well-known voices amongst NFL fans and won 16 Sports Emmy Awards prior to his death in 2021.
Candace Parker
Candace Parker was the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA draft, going to the Los Angeles Sparks, where she spent 13 seasons and won one championship. She then played for the Chicago Sky and Las Vegas Aces, picking up a title at each of those stops as well. Parker announced her retirement in April 2024, but her broadcasting career was already in full swing. In 2018 she began providing analysis for NBA on TNT and has worked on NBA TV and the NCAA Tournament, including the men's championship game. In 2023, she became the first woman to provide color commentary for an NBA All-Star Game.
Tim Tebow
Tim Tebow played three seasons in the NFL, mostly playing quarterback but also tight end later in his career. He also tried his hand at Major League Baseball, where he jumped around to several minor league teams before retiring. In 2017 he began contributing college football commentary regularly on the SEC Network and ESPN.
Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping began his professional MMA career in 2004, ultimately winning The Ultimate Fighter 3's light heavyweight tournament. He went on to a UFC career that lasted until 2017, during which he held the Middleweight belt and the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight title. In 2019 he made his color commentary debut for the UFC, making his way to the big pay-per-view fights a year later.
Cris Collinsworth
After an eight-season NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals, wide receiver Cris Collinsworth went into broadcasting, a career that has earned him 17 Sports Emmys. Collinsworth notably became the color commentator for NBC's Sunday Night Football when John Madden retired in 2009 and also voices the commentary on several editions of the Madden video game.
Doug Collins
After an eight-year career with the Philadelphia 76ers, Doug Collins held several broadcasting positions. In addition to serving as an NBA analyst for 76ers and New York Knicks broadcasts, he's worked for CBS, NBC, TBS, TNT and ABC/ESPN. He also lent his basketball expertise to coverage of the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.