Keith Jackson, 1928-2018

Whoa, Nellie, we lost an all-time great.

Keith Max Jackson was born on October 18, 1928, in Roopville, Georgia, about 57 miles southwest of downtown Atlanta, and grew up on a farm in nearby Carrollton. He grew up in the Great Depression of the 1930s, and was the only one of his siblings who survived childhood. He was an athlete at Roopville High School -- but it was basketball that he played.

He was too young to serve in World War II, but too poor to go to college on his own. So he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps upon turning 18, and was discharged just in time to avoid combat in the Korean War.

On the G.I. Bill, he enrolled at... Washington State University. Wazzu? "Up on the Palouse"? Over 2,400 miles from home? They had the coursework he wanted, at a time when not many colleges did. He graduated in 1954, with a degree in speech communications. The fact that he did not go to a Southern school allowed him to broadcast Southern college football games with complete objectivity.

From 1954 to 1964, he broadcast on KOMO-Channel 4 in Seattle, covering, among other things, baseball games of the Seattle Rainiers of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, and football at the University of Washington -- Wazzu's arch-rival. U-Dub fans did not complain.

In 1958, he became the 1st American sports announcer to broadcast an event taking place in the Soviet Union, as the UW crew team raced a Soviet team. It turned out to be the 1st American sports victory on Russian or Soviet soil. That got the attention of the national networks, and when ABC bought KOMO from NBC in 1959, they hired Keith as a radio news correspondent for their radio network. By 1964, he was sports director of ABC Radio West.

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He also did American Football League games on ABC, from the AFL's founding in 1960 until 1964, after which the network signed a contract with NBC, leading to the Peacock Network becoming the AFC's main broadcaster until 1993.

Keith's pro football experience was mixed. When Monday Night Football began, Keith was named the anchor, with Howard Cosell and Don Meredith. The 1st game was on September 21, 1970, and the Cleveland Browns beat the New York Jets 31-20. After 1 season, Keith was replaced by Frank Gifford. ABC gave him the lead on United States Football League broadcasts in the 1983, '84 and '85 seasons, including broadcasting all 3 Championship Games.

He did other sports, too. He broadcast NBA games alongside Bill Russell. From 1987 to 1992, he did college basketball alongside Dick Vitale, before Dickie V became an ESPN mainstay. (ABC and ESPN were both bought by the Walt Disney Company around that time.) But, clearly, basketball was not his sport.

He was regularly featured on Wide World of Sports, including doing auto races alongside the retired Scottish racing champion Jackie Stewart, providing a rich contrast of accents. For ABC's Olympic Games broadcasts, he had to switch to his news background for the Black September terrorist attack at Munich in 1972.

He covered Mark Spitz's swimming Gold Medals in 1972, Bruce Jenner's decathlon win at Montreal in 1976, Eric Heiden's speed skating Gold Medals at Lake Placid in 1980, and the basketball Gold Medal won by Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing at Los Angeles in 1984. He had been offered hockey for Lake Placid 1980, but turned it down, allowing Al Michaels to become a legend.

He was part of ABC's Monday Night Baseball and postseason baseball teams, doing the World Series in odd-numbered years and the League Championship Series in even-numbered years. This allowed him to cover some big moments, including Chris Chambliss' Pennant-winning home run for the Yankees in 1976, Bucky Dent's home run in 1978, the Thurman Munson Memorial Game in 1979, and the 1986 NLCS between the Mets and the Houston Astros, including the 16-inning Game 6 that won the Pennant for the Mets.

On October 18, 1977, his 49th birthday, he broadcast Game 6 of the World Series, saying there was no place he'd rather be. And (the obviously unrelated) Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs to clinch the World Championship for the Yankees over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On October 7, 1978, he broadcast the annual Red River Rivalry showdown at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, watching Number 1-ranked Oklahoma beat Number 6 Texas, then flew to New York, and arrived at Yankee Stadium just in time to call Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, as the Yankees won another Pennant over the Kansas City Royals. On October 11, 1980, he did it again, calling Oklahoma vs. Texas at the Cotton Bowl (Texas won, 20-13), then flying to Houston to cover Game 4 of the epic 1980 National League Championship Series between the Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies, at the Astrodome. At least, that time, he didn't have as far to fly.

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But it is college football for which he is best known. ABC paired him up with several legends of the sport: Jackie Jensen (1966-67, the only man to win both a Rose Bowl and a World Series and the 1958 AL Most Valuable Player), Bud Wilkinson (1969-75, the legendary Oklahoma coach), Ara Parseghian (1975-80, the great Notre Dame coach), Frank Broyles (1978-85, the iconic Arkansas coach), Lynn Swann (1984-85, the star USC and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver), Bob Griese (1987-99, the only quarterback to lead Purdue to a Rose Bowl win and the only one to lead the Miami Dolphins to a Super Bowl win), and Dan Fouts (2002-05, the Oregon quarterback who became a Hall-of-Famer with the San Diego Chargers).

Like his fellow Southerner Walter "Red" Barber, perhaps the greatest baseball announcer of them all, Keith peppered his commentary with down-home-isms:

* Much as an exciting play made Phil Rizzuto and Harry Caray say, "Holy cow!", Richie Ashburn "Oh brother!", Dick Enberg "Oh my!", Dave Niehaus "Holy Toledo!", Dick Vitale, "It's awesome, baby!" and English soccer announcer John Motson "Goodness me!", Keith would let out a hearty, "Whoa, Nellie!" or, occasionally, "My goodness!"

Some people thought he picked up "Whoa, Nellie!" from Los Angeles broadcaster Dick Lane. (Not to be confused with the legendary football player of the same name, nicknamed "Night Train," who terrorized receivers in the 1950s.) But that wasn't it: "'Whoa, Nellie' came from my great-grandpa. He was a farmer... And then he would do something, drop something or whatever, and, often times, you'd hear him say, 'Whoa, Nellie!' That kind of stuff, and it kind of stuck to the little scruffy kid following him around."

* A dropped ball was a "Fum-blllllllle!"

* A penalty flag made him say, "Hold the phone!" If the foul was egregious enough for all the officials to throw their flags, he might say, "A ton of laundry on the field."

* Linemen, on either side of the ball, were "the big uglies in the trenches." A particularly big guy was a "hoss."

* At the other end of the spectrum: "He's a little-bitty thing, a bantam rooster. But he's young. If he keeps eatin' his cornbread, he'll be man-sized someday."

* I once heard him decry a runner's poor attempt at trying to get around tacklers, saying, "You can't be pussyfootin' around out there like a ballerina. You've got to run it north and south."

* Occasionally, he would be assigned to the Alabama-Tennessee game, always played on the 3rd Saturday in October, the time of the Harvest Moon -- and he would call it "a Possum-Huntin' Moon."

* One year, as the usual early-season inter-conference games were concluded, and it would be regular conference games the rest of the way, Keith said, "The social portion of the Big Ten schedule is over. From here on out, it's strictly meat and potatoes."

Yes, he was a Southerner, and he particularly liked to stretch out the name of Paul "Bear" Bryant's Crimson Tide: "Touchdown, Allllllabama!" But he liked going to the Midwest to call Big Ten games, and liked to stretch out the opening consonant in "Mmmmichigan!" And the Iowa Hawkeyes became "the Iowa Huckeyes."

He gave the stadiums in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry their nicknames: Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor was "the Big House," and Ohio Stadium in Columbus was "the Big Horseshoe on the Olentangy." And the winner would usually win the Big Ten title, and go to Pasadena, outside Los Angeles, to play the Pacific-Ten (now Pacific-Twelve) Champion in the Rose Bowl, the oldest bowl game, which he thus called "the Granddaddy of Them All."

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And what games he called. He called the 1974 Notre Dame-USC game. Just before halftime, Notre Dame led 24-0. USC scored 55 unanswered points to win, hastening Parseghian's retirement from sideline to broadcast booth.

He called the 1978 Gator Bowl, in which Clemson beat Ohio State. This was the game in which Ohio State coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman on the sideline after an interception, and the broadcast shows that neither Keith nor Ara saw the punch, not even on the instant replay. There were no sideline reporters at the time, to let them know what happened. Hayes was soon fired, and Keith was accused of trying to protect Woody. He wasn't, because he simply didn't know.

He explained: "If people go back and listen, I said, 'Let's look at the tape and see what happened." But we didn't see the tape, because the network was nickel-and-diming the operation at that time, with a bunch of green kids, and the tape was in New York, which did not feed to us in the booth. I saw it for the first time at noon the next day, on NBC."

He called 10 Number 1 vs. Number 2 games. The 1st was the 1st college football game I can remember watching, the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, January 1, 1979. Penn State, coached by Joe Paterno, was Number 1. Alabama was Number 2. Thanks to a goal-line stand, 'Bama beat Penn State 14-7, and took the National Championship.

Oddly, this was the 1st game the Bear coached without his famous houndstooth hat. Why? Because it was the 1st time Alabama had gotten to the Sugar Bowl since it was moved into the Superdome, and the Bear said his mama told him never to wear a hat indoors.

Keith called the 1981 Sugar Bowl, when Georgia, his home-State school, won the National Championship. Led by sensational freshman running back Herschel Walker, they beat Notre Dame. He called the 1983 Sugar Bowl, when Walker and Georgia were beaten by Penn State, winning Paterno's 1st National Championship after a few (allegedly unfair) near-misses.

He called the 1991 Florida State-Miami game, in which Number 2 Miami won because of a last-play field goal miss by Number 1 Florida State, the game known as Wide Right I. He called the Michigan-Ohio State game nearly every year, including in 1991, and when Desmond Howard broke off a long touchdown, it became clear that he would win a certain Trophy. When Howard reached the end zone, Keith said, "Hello, Heisman!" As if anticipating Keith's call, Howard struck the Heisman Trophy pose -- except he goofed: The figure in the Trophy tucks the ball under his left arm and holds out his right, as if to hold off defenders; Howard held out his left arm.

Keith called the 1992 "Iron Bowl" between Alabama and Auburn, Pat Dye's last game as Auburn coach, due to infractions, a game Alabama won. He called the 1993 Sugar Bowl, in which Alabama ended Miami's long winning streak to take their 1st post-Bear National Championship.

On Thanksgiving Day 1993, he went home to Atlanta, and called the Georgia-Georgia Tech game, a rivalry known as "Clean Old-Fashioned Hate." In his opening, he said, "This is the day when the waistline takes a whuppin', and ancient rivalries are replayed." Georgia led only 16-10 at the start of the 4th quarter, but ran up the score, and by the time it was 43-10, a fight broke out on the field. This was one of many times, in many rivalries, that Keith said, "These two teams just... don't... like each other!"

He called the 1994 Colorado-Michigan game, where Kordell Stewart's last-second bomb won the game for Colorado, a game known as "The Miracle at Michigan." He called the 1997 Sugar Bowl, where Florida got revenge for their regular-season loss to Florida State and won the National Championship.

When the Bowl Championship Series took over the deciding of the National Championship for the 1998 season, Keith announced his retirement. He was turning 70, and had intended to make the National Championship Game, the Fiesta Bowl on January 4, 1999, his last game. Tennessee was Number 1, and Florida State was Number 2. Tennessee won, 23-16. At one point, the Moon was shown overhead, and Griese said, "I'm surprised you didn't say that was a 'Possum Huntin' Moon.'" And Keith said, "Well, it's not possum-huntin' time!"

He thought he was done. He had maintained his off-season home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, which offered a view of the San Fernando Valley, and of the Rose Bowl stadium itself. He lived in that house with his wife, Turi Ann Johnsen. They had 3 children, Melanie Ann, Lindsey and Christopher. They, and multiple grandchildren, survive him.

People began to ask him if he would write a book. He said he would only sit down and work on one if he were to ever lose his golf swing. The book has never come. Hopefully, now that he's gone, someone will go through his stuff, and find it complete, ready to go to a publisher.

He thought he was done. But he couldn't stay away. He cut a deal with ABC to do only West Coast games, to cut down on his travel. He made 2 exceptions: The 100th games in the rivalries between Michigan and Ohio State, in 2003; and  between Oklahoma and Texas, in 2005. He did the National Championship game for the seasons of 2001 (Rose Bowl, therefore nearby, Miami beating Nebraska) and 2002 (Fiesta Bowl, therefore not especially long travel, Ohio State stunning Miami).

His status as an icon grew. In 1992, to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of their football program, Alabama asked him to record a voiceover for a special video. In 2006, Nebraska did the same. In 2010, the Big Ten Network asked him to host a series titled Big 10 Icons. He did a series of commercials titled The Legend of Gatorade.

In 1995, he recorded a commercial for Miller Lite beer, in which he played the minister officiating at a wedding between "that groom from Texas, Billy Clyde Humphrey, and his bride, a five-six debutante from Allllabama! Nell Peterson!" Of course, when it was time for them to kiss, he looked at Billy Clyde and Nell, and said, "Whoa, Nellie!"

In 2005, at age 78, he realized he was making more mistakes. He said he didn't want to die in a stadium parking lot. (This would become more poignant in 2009, when Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas died in the press box at Nationals Park in Washington.) He decided that his 53rd season of college football would be his last.

His timing was excellent: While it's hard to name any game as the definitive "greatest game ever played," his last game is usually considered the best college football game of the 21st Century thus far. On January 4, 2006, at the Rose Bowl, Number 2 Texas, led by quarterback Vince Young, ended the bid by Number 1 USC, with Heisman winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, for a 3rd straight National Championship, 41-38.

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Keith was elected to the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame. The committee that runs the Rose Bowl game and stadium named its press box the Keith Jackson Broadcast Center.

Keith Jackson died on Friday, January 12, 2018, at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89 years old.

People didn't wait to salute him after his death: He got plenty of plaudits while he still walked the Earth. In 1998, during the Michigan-Ohio State game, thinking that his retirement would stick, the Michigan band spelled out "THANKS KEITH" during its halftime show. Lloyd Carr, then, the Michigan coach, called him "a symbol of all the good things in college football."

Hayden Fry, the former coach at the University of Iowa, backed that up: "He's my hero. He stands for all the good things associated with college football."

Joe Paterno of Penn State, who saw even more college football than Keith did, said, "I don't think you could say that there is any one person who is not a coach, athletic director or administrator who has done more for college football than Keith Jackson." On another occasion, he said, "Keith Jackson and college football. You can't say one without the other."

In the last couple of days, the tributes have come fast, hard, and true:

* Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, and thus the big boss of ABC and ESPN: "When you heard his voice, you knew it was a big game. Keith was a true gentleman and a memorable presence."

* Darryl Dunn, general manager of the Rose Bowl stadium: "He was a John Wayne type. He told his old war stories, and it was priceless, because it was Keith Jackson. We were very blessed that we got to know Keith personally, and what people saw on air and on TV was exactly who he was. He talked to you like he was in your living room with you. That's who he was, a really nice person from Georgia who had a passion for college football and telling stories."

* Mike Greenberg of ESPN: "If you ask: 'What does college football sound like?' My answer is: 'Keith Jackson's voice.'"

* Bomani Jones of ESPN: "Think about how much of the overall aesthetic of college football is tied to Keith Jackson's voice. He was that important."

* Paul Finebaum, Southern radio icon: "Simply, the most iconic and memorable soundtrack ever to the game. And an incredible gentleman."

* Steve Kelley of The Seattle Times: "A voice that was to college football what Edward R. Murrow's was to war. It was the voice of ultimate authority in his profession."

* Bob Griese: "He never intruded on the game. It was always about the kids on the field. Never, never shining the light on himself. And that was one of the things that I most admired about him."

* Lynn Swann: "Not just the voice, but the spirit of college football."

* Desmond Howard: "Having a hard time finding the right words to express what the icon Keith Jackson meant to me personally, Michigan football and college football, in general."

* Marcus Allen, 1981 Heisman winner at USC: "Keith Jackson was the voice of college football."

* Tim Brown, 1987 Heisman winner at Notre Dame: "Keith Jackson was the fabric of College Football."

* Aaron Rodgers, University of California and Green Bay Packers quarterback: "Keith was the voice of my childhood Saturday football afternoons."

* J.J. Watt, University of Wisconsin and Houston Texans defensive end: "THE voice of college football and one of the most iconic voices of all time, RIP Keith Jackson. Thank you for all of the incredible Saturday's."

"If I've helped people enjoy the telecast, that's fine," he said. "That's my purpose."

Purpose fulfilled, Keith. Good night.

UPDATE: His final resting place is not publicly known.