/

Jimmy Roberts, who has received critical acclaim for his “Olympic Moments” segments, serves as NBC Sports’ interviewer and essayist on its golf and tennis coverage. During NBC’s PGA Tour coverage, Roberts contributes regular “News & Notes” features that highlight hot topics from the world of golf. He has contributed features and interviews to NBC’s coverage of the U.S. Open championships and also appears on NBC’s coverage of the Championships, Wimbledon.

Roberts joined NBC Sports in May 2000 after a long and much-honored career at ABC and ESPN. He debuted as part of the network’s coverage of the 100th U.S. Open from Pebble Beach and made an immediate impact, contributing stirring features on the Payne Stewart Memorial, Jack Nicklaus’ final U.S. Open round; and the 50th anniversary of Ben Hogan’s U.S. Open win at Merion. “Jimmy is a latter day version of Jack Whitaker,” said Tom Roy, NBC Sports’ Golf Producer and Former Executive Producer . “He’s a brilliant wordsmith and a skilled interviewer. His pieces really get you to care about the competitors.”

Roberts has also handled reporting assignments for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games; the 2000 American League Division Series and ALCS; the Presidents Cup (where he interviewed President Bill Clinton); and the Breeders’ Cup. Roberts won an Emmy Award for his writing on his “Olympic Moments” features during both NBC’s coverage of the Sydney and Salt Lake Olympics. He also serves as studio host for NBC’s overage of Notre Dame football.

A 13-time Sports Emmy Award winner, Roberts joined ESPN in June 1988. His assignments as a SportsCenter correspondent included the World Series, the NBA Finals, heavyweight championship bouts, the Super Bowl and the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics. Roberts was also a regular contributor to ESPN's “Outside the Lines” series. Roberts won 11 Sports Emmys at ESPN, most recently in the Individual Achievement category for his 1993 reports with then-heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe on a trip to Somalia, S. Africa and The Vatican.

In 1987 and '88, Roberts served as a writer and producer of features at ABC Sports. Prior to that he was an assignment editor and producer for ABC News (1985-87), where he coordinated and supervised coverage of sports for the division as well as producing stories for ABC News broadcasts. In 1984, he worked for Howard Cosell on ABC's SportsBeat, writing and producing feature segments. Roberts earned two Emmy awards in 1984 while with ABC Sports: A special award for sports journalism for his contributions to ABC SportsBeat, and for his work as an associate director for the 1984 Summer Olympics. He also was awarded with an Emmy in 1988 for his work on ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Roberts holds the dubious distinction of having left the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey game prior to the triumphant comeback of the U.S. team. When the girl Roberts was hoping to see at the game was a no-show, he left – an anecdote he often works into speaking engagements.

From 1975-1977 he served as a staff reporter for the Westchester/Rockland (N.Y.) newspapers.

Roberts earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in radio/television and film from the University of Maryland in 1979. One of Roberts’ Emmy Awards is on display at renowned campus hangout, R.J. Bentley’s Filling Station in College Park, where as an undergraduate Roberts was an original employee.

Roberts lives in the New York area with his wife, Sandra Mayer and their three sons.

More news

Hunter Martin / Getty Images

Rose holds on to win BMW

GolfChannel: Justin Rose chipped in for birdie on the 17th hole and hung on to win the BMW Championship on Sunday.

PGT: Thompson, 16, is youngest winner in LPGA history

Headlines

• Label

GolfChannel: Tiger eligible for his own event

PGT: Britain & Ireland wins Seve Trophy

Blake wins Champions Tour playoff

United States retains PGA Cup

British Open standout Lewis turns pro

PGT: Furyk motivated to make Presidents Cup team

PGT: End of era not the end of Tiger, Donald says

Vote: Will Tiger ever win another major title?