WASHINGTON (7News) — The sports world and broadcasting community are mourning the passing of the legend, Charlie Neal.
Neal, 80, died on May 13 after a short illness.
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Neal, a friend of ours on our Sportstalk show on WJLA24/7News (formerly NewsChannel 8), was a guest numerous times.
Local sports journalist Lou Holder and Winston Hylton remember the life of broadcaster Charlie Neal. (7News)
Neal’s broadcasting journey began as a radio disc jockey in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pa. He then moved to our area, working as a sports anchor at WRC-TV (NBC) in 1971. He also had TV stops in Philadelphia, Detroit and New York City. However, it was while working in Detroit that he met Bob Johnson, who was in the process of starting Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1980.
It was at BET where Neal truly became a giant in the industry. Johnson made Neal the executive producer for sports at BET. Neal became the voice of sports on the network, including black college football and basketball games, reporting on major sporting events, and hosting sports talk shows. He created “The Budweiser Sports Report,” a weekly talk show that spawned later shows such as ESPN’s The Sports Reporters.
At the time, the show featured black journalists covering sports from across the country, including William C. Rhoden, Michael Wilbon, Ralph Wiley, Roy Johnson, David DuPree, Tony Paige, and Bryan Burwell.
Neal teamed up with former Jackson State cornerback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lem Barney as the color analyst for BET’s football coverage. Some consider Neal to be the Howard Cosell or Al Michaels of Black college sports. It was an open door for Neal to help showcase not only the games but also the athletes and schools that, at the time, were not getting much mainstream attention. Those players included Jerry Rice, Willie Totten, Doug Williams, Steve McNair and others. Neal’s meticulous attention to detail ranged from scheduling game broadcasts to knowing the athletes he was covering each and every week.
Neal’s reach extended to other sports and networks as well, including hosting halftime shows during NBA games for Turner Sports, covering the first-ever Goodwill Games in Moscow, track & field, and gymnastics for both Turner and CBS Sports.
Neal would anchor BET’s sports coverage until 2005, when the network dropped its sports department. However, ESPN launched ESPNU, featuring college sporting events and programming. Neal was on the network’s first football game broadcast, Morehouse vs. Benedict.
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He moved on from ESPNU to become the lead sports play-by-play announcer for an upstart network HBCU-Go TV sports in 2022.
Neal’s career and contributions to Black college athletics have earned him induction into the MEAC, CIAA, and Black College Football halls of fame.
Charlie Neal was truly a pioneer and champion of all sports, including Black college athletics.
