Rhonda Glenn, a local television news anchor who became the first female sportscaster at ESPN, has died. She was 68, and died Thursday in Florida after a long illness.
“Rhonda was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met in or out of my business,” ESPN’s Chris Berman told USA Today. “She had a smile and a gentle way about her that made everybody feel at home whether they were working with her, as I did in the early days of SportsCenter, or just sitting with and maybe having a bite to eat.”
After a career as a local news anchor, Glenn became the first woman to anchor sports at a national network when she joined “SportsCenter” in 1981, anchoring at times with Berman. In 2013, she reflected on those early days. “The difference then was that wherever I went, I was the only woman. I just felt, ‘Well, I can do this and I’m going to apply.'”
Glenn, an amateur golfer who competed twice in the U.S. Women’s Open, was a golf analyst at ABC Sports for 16 years, and later joined the USGA.