It's been nearly four years since former Cincinnati Reds announcer Thom Brennaman was caught on a hot mic referring to an unknown location as "one of the fag capitals of the world," an incident that led to one of the more memorable on-air apologies in the history of television, and also an extended pause in Brennaman's career. But now, as reported by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, the 60-year-old Brennaman will be returning to the airwaves for the first time since uttering a slur. Starting next month, Brennaman will be the lead broadcaster for nationally televised college football games on The CW. Marchand's story is pretty funny. It's clearly attempting to deliver the news of Brennaman's return alongside a narrative about how chastened he was and how much personal growth and self-reflection he's done over the last four years, but the thrust of the story is at odds with most of the details it provides. For example, Marchand quickly tosses off a vague assertion about the "work [Brennaman] has done reaching out to the gay community, both in Cincinnati and nationally," while providing zero specifics about the nature and length of that work. "It was mainly about listening to people," is all Brennaman has to say about his outreach work.

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