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Cleveland sports talk host Bruce Drennan announces he's retiring at end of year

'Drennan Live' host Bruce Drennan announced on Monday that he'll retire at the end of the year.

CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.

One of the most prominent voices in Cleveland sports talk is hanging it up. At the start of Monday's episode of "Drennan Live," the show's namesake, Bruce Drennan, announced that he will be retiring at the end of the month, citing health issues.

Drennan's final show on Bally Sports Great Lakes will be on Dec. 30.

"I've been sick. I got run down. Stressed out. As a result, I was susceptible. It gave me time to reflect, contemplate with my beloved wife Jackie," Drennan said. "And I've always said to you, as long as I've maintained my health and my energy level -- there's nothing wrong with the energy level -- but my health, your health, is the most important thing. With that being said, I'm announcing at the beginning of today's show that we will continue doing 'Drennan Live' until the end of the month. And then, I'm going to hang it up."

Drennan said his final shows will include phone calls and interviews with people who have been influential and instrumental in his career.

A native of Chicago, Drennan has been a fixture on the Cleveland sports talk scene since his days as an afternoon host on WBBG AM 1260 in the late 1970s. Drennan went on to call television broadcasts for the Cleveland Indians and Cavaliers before taking over as the morning drive sports anchor and weekend host on WWWE AM 1100 and ultimately replaced the legendary Pete Franklin as the host of the long-running "Sportsline."

In 2001, Drennan moved to WKNR 850 to host the station's morning drive sports talk show but was fired after an FBI and IRS raid on his house regarding a sports gambling investigation in 2004. In 2006, he pled guilty to a plea bargain after being charged with two counts of filing false tax returns and was sentenced to five months in federal prison.

Following his release in 2007, Drennan returned to broadcasting as the television host of "All Bets Are Off" on Sports Time Ohio -- both of which have since rebranded as "Drennan Live" and Bally Sports Great Lakes, respectively. In his 14 years hosting the show, Drennan has recived national attention for his fiery rants and interactions with callers, including this past May, when he called a caller a "stupid idiot" following the Indians' season-opening loss, as well as his signature sign off "I love ya, Cleveland!"

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