Cavaliers Play-by-Play Announcer Fred McLeod Dies at 67

[Rock Strongo]

Cavaliers Play-by-Play Announcer Fred McLeod Dies at 67

 

[dtgold88]

Awful news around Cleveland (and the NBA).

I hated they fired the previous guy and brought him in, but ended up really liking McLeod

 

[WiggyRuss]

Awful news around Cleveland (and the NBA).

I hated they fired the previous guy and brought him in, but ended up really liking McLeod

totally agree. Was bummed when Reghi was fired but i think in the end it was definitely the right move. McLeod was a great guy and a great ambassador of Cavs basketball.

 

[phantomfoul88]

McLeod was terrific in Detroit for 20 plus years. He just did the Lions preseason. Terribly sad, Rest in Peace Fred.

 

[dtgold88]

totally agree. Was bummed when Reghi was fired but i think in the end it was definitely the right move. McLeod was a great guy and a great ambassador of Cavs basketball.

wonder if they bring Reghi back (if he'd come back).

 

[Shanemansj13]

R.I.P really liked his commentary

 

[bksballer89]

R.I.P really liked his commentary

Me too. Not a fan of Carr but he was solid.

 

[Mecca of the “B” Team]

R.i.P.

He actually made post-Lebron Cavs broadcast bearable...

* Side eyes Carr *

 

[dtgold88]

R.I.P really liked his commentary

If you ever saw it, my favorite was the schtick he had with Richard Jefferson. Not sure what they called it. Maybe "Was it something I said"?

 

[dtgold88]

R.i.P.

He actually made post-Lebron Cavs broadcast bearable...

* Side eyes Carr *

Yeah....I like AC but have been hoping since RJ retired they'd make Richard Jefferson the color guy. But guessing he can do better on a national stage.

 

[bksballer89]

Yeah....I like AC but have been hoping since RJ retired they'd make Richard Jefferson the color guy. But guessing he can do better on a national stage.

He work for the Nets

 

[WiggyRuss]

Jason Lloyd- from The Athletic:

Where do you begin to tell the story of a man’s life? How do you properly define a legacy?

There was the way he adored his wife and family. The joy in his eyes when he mentioned his grandson and how quickly he’d show you the pictures. His voracious work ethic. His compassion for those around him. His patience.

Let’s start there. Compassion and patience. It’s the side you didn’t often get to see on telecasts but they were some of Fred McLeod’s defining qualities. Fred was the legendary play-by-play voice of Cavs telecasts who died Monday night apparently of a heart attack. He was 67.

Fred was a fanatic about exercise. He was a foodie with a sweet tooth. He hated seafood but loved chocolate cake and peanut butter cookies. It’s part of the reason why he was always working out and asking the Cavs’ training staff about new exercises and routines.

He also had the biggest heart of anyone in the organization. For that to be what failed him feels like a cruel joke.

“Never would you think this was the news you’d be hearing,” Allie Clifton said.

Clifton came to Cleveland in 2012 as a raw sideline reporter. Her first year was so difficult that she seriously considered walking away. She never had an explicit conversation with Fred about whether to stay or go, but his constant compassion and his steady hand made life tolerable during the moments when she felt most overwhelmed.

“I wasn’t sure if I belonged in the profession. It was my first sideline opportunity and it was a big jump for me and it was not good,” she said. “He was a constant uplift and encouragement. Fred would never allow me to pout. It was always, ‘Go get the next one.’ He’ll compliment you and keep you high when you’re high. There’s no other way about it for him. I never felt a reason to worry about whether he was in my corner. He was just always there.”

She left Cleveland for Los Angeles last summer. The last time she saw him was in March before the Cavs and Lakers played in L.A. She went to dinner with Fred and his wife, Beth. She saw the pictures of his grandson.

The McLeods were married 28 years and together for 30. They met during the NBA Finals in Detroit when he was working for a local affiliate and she was just starting her television career working for CBS Sports.

They adored each other and Beth often accompanied the team on road trips when her schedule allowed. Affectionately known as “Freddie,” McLeod was born in Strongsville and loved nothing more than working in his hometown. He was the weekend reporter for Fox 8 in the 1970s before leaving to take a job in San Francisco.

John Telich was working in Buffalo and, coincidentally, was the other finalist for the San Francisco job. When the station chose McLeod, Telich was brought back to his hometown in 1980 as McLeod’s replacement. Shortly after arriving back in Cleveland, Telich received a call from McLeod.

“I wish you nothing but the best. If there’s anything I can do to help you, let me know,” McLeod told him. “Then about two weeks later, he calls again and says, ‘I interviewed a couple guys with Cleveland ties. I’ll send you the tape if that’ll help you.’ I thought ‘Holy cow. What a great guy.’”

Sportscasters had to physically put tapes in envelopes and ship them on airplanes back then. Telich and McLeod spent years exchanging tapes, and a lifelong friendship was formed.

“I’m just so shocked about the whole thing,” Telich said.

McLeod was a tireless worker. He was a perfectionist. That work ethic is the first memory most everyone holds of him. He attended every practice. He watched more film than most players.

Jeff Phelps, his colleague at Fox Sports, watched him carry around manila folders stuffed full of stories and notes on every upcoming opponent. He meticulously studied game notes and feature stories on the stars and the guys at the end of the opposing bench. Each folder was at least 3 inches thick. For a four-game road trip, he was lugging around a foot of papers into hotels and onto airplanes.

“His bag weighed a freaking ton,” Phelps said.

 

[WiggyRuss]

It’s how he always had an extra nugget or one more fact about anyone on the floor during a telecast. He was always working.

“On road trips he would be the one person awake on the plane studying film and notes for upcoming games,” Kevin Love said. “Very seldom do you find someone invested in an organization as he was.”

McLeod was the perfect ambassador for the Cavs. He was brought back to Cleveland shortly after Dan Gilbert purchased the team. Gilbert deeply respected McLeod from his time with the Pistons and he quickly became part of the fabric of Cleveland.

Fred never said no. Whether they needed him to emcee an event or just shake hands and pose for pictures with corporate sponsors, McLeod was always available — so long as seafood wasn’t involved.

He hated the smell of fish so much that he skipped out on meals with the crew if they were having seafood. For years, his partner and close friend Austin Carr wouldn’t be able to order fish on planes because they sat together and the smell bothered Fred so badly. He avoided fish so much that Clifton thought he was allergic to it.

Then one night following a game a couple of years ago, Fred unknowingly ate lobster mac ’n’ cheese. The rest of the crew watched in astonishment. After he cleaned the bowl, one of his colleagues told him there was lobster in the dish.

“You would’ve thought he was going to throw it all up,” Clifton laughed. “He was so petrified he ate lobster.’”

These are the moments his colleagues and friends will miss. They joked that Fred’s brain was packed so full of basketball knowledge there wasn’t room for anything else. It’s why he kept losing items everywhere he went.

Fred was constantly leaving his phone on the plane or his laptop at the arena. Whenever the bus had to be held, the staff would joke about what Fred lost this time. Clifton would joke with him about how he could function this way.

“How do you come on air and look so put together and do this star broadcast every single night and have so much to say about the 15th guy on the opposing team,” Clifton would say. “But you don’t know where your cellphone is?”

He was emotional. He was genuine. He loved golf and he sobbed when the Cavs won the championship.

He stressed the importance of family as much as he stressed working hard and doing the job right. And he was trusted by everyone in the building — including every head coach (and there have been many). They all welcomed him into their practices.

“I can actually say I loved the guy,” former coach Mike Brown said. “He was about as warm and genuine as any human being can be. Especially for who he was and what he did. I loved having him around. He was so trustworthy and compassionate. As a head coach, if he was in my coaches’ meetings, I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all because of the trust and respect I had for him.”

 

[WiggyRuss]

Brown was always partial toward Beth and Fred because Fred would mention his sons, Elijah and Cameron, whenever he could during broadcasts.

“It wasn’t always just about Cleveland Cavaliers basketball. It was beyond that,” Brown said. “They touched my family.”

What will I remember about Fred? Two things.

While he of course could stay at team hotels on the road, Fred almost always stayed on his own away from the team so he could pile up rewards points. We often wound up at the same places. A few years ago while I was on the Cavs beat and traveling to every game, I came up with fake business cards for better hotel rates. Fred cackled when he heard about my scam and wanted in on it. So I came up with fake business cards for him, too. He was a “Storage and Visualization Administrator” for a company that often had deeply discounted rates at the hotel chain we both liked.

Beth knew about the gag, but enough time had passed that she forgot about it by the time she was cleaning out his car one day and found the phony business cards in his console. She was furious and thought he was into some sort of double life or investment scheme. She had the fake business cards on the counter, and when he got home, she pounced.

Fred laughed and reminded her that he got them from me. She was already smiling and couldn’t wait to tell me about it the next time I saw her at the arena.

I saw Beth again in the press box a few weeks ago during the Browns-Lions preseason game. Fred was doing preseason telecasts for the Lions but still quietly rooting for the Browns. We chatted about Fred and about The Athletic. She told me she was worried about Joe Vardon and me and whether we made the right choice by leaving legacy media jobs for this venture.

I smiled and assured her we were doing just fine. By the end of our conversation, she told me she felt better about it. We hugged and I told her I’d see them both again soon.

The last time I saw Fred was at the Browns facility a few days before that game. I snuck over to him during player interviews and asked him if he was lost or had taken a wrong turn. We chatted briefly, but then he wandered off with a random Browns player to ask one more question, secure one more nugget for his upcoming telecast.

That was Fred. A mentor and friend to so many. The hardest worker in town. Compassionate, patient and caring.

I miss him already.