Hammond Returns to NBC Broadcast Booth

Tom Hammond, who appeared on last month's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships telecast on NBC while recovering from heart bypass surgery, will return to the broadcast booth Saturday for the Notre Dame-Rutgers football tilt. His surgery occurred less than two weeks before the Breeders' Cup was held at Arlington Park.

Hammond appeared on tape during the Breeders' Cup coverage, enabling him to keep his string of 19 straight Breeders' Cup appearances going. This year marked the first time he missed attending the event.

A native of Lexington, Ky., Hammond will do play-by-play on the football telecast. He missed Notre Dame's upset loss to Boston College. "Now I am ready to get up there and see for myself the state of affairs in the Notre Dame nation," Hammond said.