Ron Franklin Ron Franklin ( born February 2 , 1942 in Jackson , Mississippi ) is an American sportscaster , most notably with ESPN , where he was employed from 1987 - 2011 . He was fired by ESPN on January 4 , 2011 after allegedly making sexist comments to and then berating a colleague . Early life and career . Franklin grew up in Hazelhurst , Mississippi . His mother allowed him to play sports in school as long as he also agreed to take voice lessons . His family moved to Oxford , Mississippi when he was 14 . He suffered a head injury in high school that resulted in the formation of a blood clot that ended his football career made him ineligible for the military . Around the same time he found work as a teen disc jockey , which got him interested in combining his interests in broadcasting and sports . While a student at the University of Mississippi , Franklin worked the wake - up shift at a radio station , attended classes during the day , and then returned to the station in the evening to work on commercials . For further vocal training , he performed in college theater . He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity . Prior to ESPN , he was basketball and football play - by - play commentator for the University of Texas from 1983 to 1988 . He was the play - by - play voice of the Houston Oilers from 1977 to 1982 . He also worked as sports director for four different local news stations : KSWS in Roswell , New Mexico in 1965 , KVOO in Tulsa , Oklahoma from 1967 to 1971 , KHOU - TV and KPRC - TV , both in Houston , Texas from 1971 to 1980 and 1980 to 1987 respectively . ESPN . While at ESPN , he primarily worked as a play - by - play commentator for ESPN ' s coverage of college basketball and college football . From 1987 to 2005 , he anchored " ESPN College Football Primetime " primarily with Mike Gottfried . In 2006 , he moved to ESPN2 College Football Primetime with Ed Cunningham . In 2007 , that crew moved to ESPN on ABC to call mainly Big 12 games . In college basketball , he is the primary ESPN play - by - play man with Fran Fraschilla for Big 12 games . The duo also calls the NIT Championship . He has also called the tennis French Open , college baseball and the U . S . Olympic Festival . He signed a contract extension with ESPN in 2006 . Holly Rowe incident . On October 1 , 2005 , according to the Chicago Tribune , during a game between Notre Dame and Purdue that Franklin was calling , sideline reporter Holly Rowe praised Purdue defensive coordinator Brock Spack for using all three timeouts on defense despite trailing by four touchdowns late in the game . " If the coaches are giving up , " Rowe added , " what does that say to the players ? " Franklin responded : " Holly , it ' s not giving up . It ' s 49 – 21 , sweetheart . " In response to that , Mo Davenport , senior coordinating producer for college football said , " It was an inappropriate comment , and we ' ve communicated that to Ron . There ' s never a reason to say something so mean - spirited . Ron apologized . We dealt with it internally . " Ever since Franklin was dropped from the Saturday primetime games on ESPN in 2005 , some fans and bloggers , including Richard Deitsch of SI . com , have expressed their displeasure with the demotion . Jeannine Edwards incident . During a production meeting prior to ESPN ' s telecast of the Chick - fil - A Bowl on December 31 , 2010 , Franklin addressed sideline reporter Jeannine Edwards in a condescending tone as " sweet baby " ; when she objected , Franklin called her an " asshole " . The incident was reported to ESPN by another colleague , and ESPN tried to pull Franklin from the Chick Fil - A coverage that night but was unable ; instead , Franklin was removed from ESPN Radio ' s coverage of the 2011 Fiesta Bowl the following day . Franklin apologized for his remarks the following Monday and said he deserved to be pulled from the Fiesta Bowl . However , ESPN fired Franklin the following day ; in a statement , ESPN noted , " Based on what occurred last Friday , we have ended our relationship with him . " Personal life . Franklin is married with one child . He lives in Austin , Texas .