The Orange Bowl included a high-profile guest at Hard Rock Stadium.
Iconic ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale was shown on the broadcast inside the venue for the highly anticipated game between Penn State and Notre Dame.
The 85-year-old was spotted standing in the crowd wearing a green pullover with a gold “ND” logo written on the chest standing with his wife, Lorraine, and ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro.
Vitale, in his lengthy health battle, announced Wednesday that his vocal cords are free of cancer and that he hopes to be calling games on TV soon.
“Just had scope of my vocal cords & I was very emotional with the great report by Dr ZEITELS,” Vitale wrote on his X account. “He said the vocal cords are cancer free & he feels I can return to my love of being at courtside for @espn.”
This came weeks after Vitale announced a PET scan came back clean.
Vitale underwent surgery in July after it was discovered he had cancerous lymph nodes, making it the fourth time he had been diagnosed with cancer.
He had missed the entire 2023-24 basketball season after a fight with vocal cord cancer, but in June, Vitale announced his intentions to return to the booth this coming season.
Vitale had posted a few times about Notre Dame over the last day-plus, saying he spoke with parents of Fighting Irish Football players last night.
His daughters, Terri and Sherri, both attended the school, and in 2015, Vitale and his wife gifted Notre Dame $1 million to help undergraduates in need.
