Longtime NBC Sports and ESPN broadcaster Jim Simpson dies at 88

Longtime NBC Sports and ESPN broadcaster Jim Simpson died Wednesday at the age of 88.

Simpson, who worked as NBC’s No. 2 play-by-play man in the 1960s and ’70s, was a frequent broadcaster of the Orange Bowl. He joined ESPN when it launched in 1979 and called the first college football game in network history.

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During his career, Simpson also called college basketball, as well as MLB, AFL and NFL games, including Super Bowl I.

A recipient of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports, Simpson was also selected to the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2000.

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