Football

First African-American woman to call a nationally-televised college football game thanks Jesus for opportunity

By Jason Romano Oct 9, 2017
Tiffany Greene (left) calling the Alcorn State/Alabama State game on ESPNU with Jay Walker (right). (Photo Screengrab Credit: Bill Hofheimer - ESPN/Twitter)

Last Thursday, October 5, 2017, Tiffany Greene became the first African-American woman to call a nationally-televised college football game.

Along with Jay Walker, Greene called the Alcorn State vs Alabama State game, televised nationally in primetime on ESPNU.

“Thank you, Jesus! That’s what I first thought when I finished the broadcast,” Greene told Sports Illustrated. “Let me be clear it was not one of those ‘Thank God that’s over’ type deals, but literally ‘Thank you for the moment, the journey behind and the road ahead.’ I am doing exactly what I set out to do when I was five-years-old. Yes, I was five when I put my dream to paper declaring that I wanted to be a sportscaster. That little girl’s dream has come true some 30 years later, and that is what I thought about after the game and think about all the time.”

Tiffany began her broadcasting career as a student at Florida A&M calling men’s and women’s basketball games for the school. Greene then began her professional career working for Bright House Sports (now Spectrum Sports) before moving to FS1 to call Big East women’s basketball games in 2013 and 2014. According to Sports Illustrated, Greene has done work with ESPN since 2015 and this season, has called three college football games on ESPN3.

But this one was different. This was primetime. On ESPNU. And a chance to begin to pave the way for future African-American female broadcasters.

“We are living in a unique time,” Greene told Sports Illustrated. “The need to belong, to claim one group, one ideal over the other is quite prevalent. I’m delighted to stand in the booth as a black woman and call a college football game. I hope to keep doing more. It shows some people are beginning to change the way they think about minorities and women. I realize not everybody is on board, and that’s okay.”

You can read the entire Sports Illustrated story on Greene here as well as a 2015 writeup on Greene from the Tampa Tribune here. 

Tags: