The Browns have a huge decision on their hands.
That is, they need to figure out who will replace the great Jim Donovan, who was forced to retire as Browns radio play-by-play announcer after 25 years so as to focus completely on his health following the fact his cancer has returned with aggression, as he put it.
The Browns’ task appears to be two-fold in that they must find someone for Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Dallas Cowboys at newly-named Huntington Bank Field and for the rest of the 16-game schedule. It’s likely they will piecemeal it together like they did last season after Donovan stepped away for health reasons, getting different people each week. If so, then, while they’re doing this, they also have to find a permanent replacement going forward beginning in 2025.
Or, if they think they have the right person for both now and the future, then they can go ahead and make the hire now. Because of what happened last year with Donovan, they knew that they could be facing the situation again and no doubt began making a short list of potential candidates.
I would love to see one of three men get the job — that is, if they want it — in Paul Keels, Chris Rose and Andrew Siciliano, all of whom subbed in the booth last year.
A Cincinnati native who has done Cincinnati Bengals preseason games on TV, Keels has been the iconic radio voice of Ohio State football and men’s basketball games for 25 years. His booming voice and tremendous skills make him the No. 1 prospect. Could he do both jobs? Sure, if the Buckeyes and Browns are both willing to cooperate.
Rose is a Shaker Heights native who is a longtime voice on the NFL Network. He loves the Browns, and his ability to interject a little humor, as Donovan did, is real attractive.
Siciliano was let go by the NFL Network over the summer in a stunningly poor decision. His dad was a huge Browns fan who talked with him often about the team while he was growing up.
We’ll see what happens.
But this much we know, and it is that whoever gets the job has gigantic shoes to fill. Jim
Donovan might well have been the best play-by-play man in the NFL.
Steve King
