CBS Sports' longtime NFL analyst Dan Dierdorf will retire following this season, it was announced Wednesday.
Dierdorf is the longest-tenured NFL analyst on television, which he has done for the past 30 years. He has worked on CBS' number two broadcast team with play-by-play man Greg Gumbel since 2006.
"I have been blessed to spend my entire life in the game I love," said Dierdorf. "I had an opportunity to go from the field directly to the broadcast booth where I have had the privilege of working with the giants of our business including Ray Scott, Lindsey Nelson, Jack Buck, Dick Stockton, Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Verne Lundquist, Dick Enberg and lastly, my partner, Greg Gumbel. It has become a challenge for me to travel to a different NFL city every week, so it's time to step aside. This has been a wonderful ride as I really have lived the dream."
Dierdorf was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996 and was the 2008 recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. Dierdorf's broadcasting career began in 1984 as a color analyst for St. Louis' KMOX radio coverage of the then-St. Louis Cardinals NFL team, following a 13-year career with the team as an offensive lineman.
He was a play-by-play announcer for CBS' NFL broadcasts in 1985 before switching back to color analysis in 1986. In 1987 Dierdorf joined ABC's Monday Night Football for 12 years, before returning to CBS Sports in 1999.
"For 43 NFL seasons Dan Dierdorf has been a consummate professional both on the field and in the broadcast booth," said Sean McManus, chairman, CBS Sports. "Very few people in any profession can boast a Hall of Fame playing career and Hall of Fame broadcasting career. Dan, without question, is one of them. His CBS Sports family will miss him on Sundays, but we wish him all the best in his retirement."
