Rich Brenner, who was a sports reporter and anchor in the Triangle area for WRAL and WTVD in the late 1970s and 1980s, has died of a heart attack at the age of 65.<\/p>\n
After his time in the Triangle, Brenner moved to Greensboro to be sports director for WGHP, a position he held for more than two decades. Brenner died at the American Red Cross “Salute to Heroes” event in Greensboro Monday night.<\/p>\n
Brenner was known for his enthusiasm, his use of filmed highlights and his love of NASCAR. We attended several of the same events over the years and I found him to be very similar to the way he was on camera, which was, again, enthusiastic and fun loving. It’s ironic that on Monday I just watched an old video from the late 1980s of him covering the Diet Pepsi Tournament of Champions basketball event in Charlotte for Raycom. I thought how nice it was to be transported back to a time with a young Rich Brenner interviewing sports figures. And I wondered how he was doing.<\/p>\n
“Rich stood out because he was always so professional,” said Dane Huffman, who worked in sports at the Raleigh News & Observer and WRAL and now works for NBC17. “When I worked at WRAL, people there still talked about points he had made and what he had taught them, even though it was decades since he had worked there.”<\/p>\n
Huffman, who started CapitalSportsNC.com said that Brenner cared about sports but most of all he cared about strong journalism. “He loved seeing young people enter the field and had a real enthusiasm for sharing what he knew,” he said. “He had a gift for making those people around him better, and the viewers benefited in ways that went far beyond what they saw on camera.”<\/p>\n
Rich Brenner died at the age of 65 leaving behind a wife, a son, a daughter and two grandchildren. I only learned after his death that he served in the Marines. Thank you for your service to your country, your community and the sports world. You will be missed.<\/p>\n