Keith Jackson

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Keith Jackson (born October 18, 1928, in Roopville, Georgia) is an American sportscaster, known for his several decades of work with the ABC television network. Jackson called college football games with distinction for 40 years (1966-2006), earning him the nickname, "Mister College Football." Jackson's combination of homespun phrasings, unique vocal inflections, and exhaustive knowledge earned him lasting admiration in the college football community.

Jackson's presence as a college football broadcaster was felt across the United States, for a number of reasons. First, Jackson began his ABC career at a time when play-by-play men did not always have regular analysts. Coaching legends such as Joe Paterno and Woody Hayes would be Jackson's guest analysts during some of the notable games Jackson broadcast in the early 1970s. Paterno joined Jackson in the booth for the 1974 Michigan-Ohio State game in Columbus, while Hayes accompanied Jackson in the press box for the 1974 Notre Dame-USC game. Jackson was the main voice for college football in an era when guest analysts weren't viewed to be quite so necessary.

Another reason for Jackson's reach across the American landscape was the fact that he learned to embrace college football as a sport with regional passions but a nationwide appeal. Jackson once said on the air, during an ABC broadcast, that his favorite college football rivalry was Alabama at Tennessee--he loved seeing the "sea of orange" that greeted Alabama in Knoxville. Yet, when ABC won broadcast rights to the Rose Bowl in 1988 after NBC had aired the game for many years, Jackson--a native Southerner--chose to stop broadcasting the Sugar Bowl on a regular basis. Jackson switched to the Rose Bowl, played in Pasadena, Calif. He would occasionally broadcast the Sugar Bowl when the game decided the national title (as it did in 1993 and 1997), but in most years after 1988, Jackson covered the Rose Bowl. Jackson's connection with college football was not confined by geography, and that does much to explain why he became known as "Mister College Football."

Contents 1 Early life 2 Broadcast career 2.1 Monday Night Football 2.2 College football 2.3 Other assignments 3 Retirement 4 Film and Television Appearances 5 Notable broadcasts 6 External links

[edit] Early life

Jackson was was born and raised on a farm near the Georgia-Alabama state line. He is a long-time resident of California. After a stint in the Marines, he attended Washington State University. The fact that Jackson lived in two regions of the country in his youth is another reason why he learned to love college football on a national scale.

[edit] Broadcast career

Jackson began his career as a broadcaster at Washington State in 1952, when he called a radio game between Stanford and Washington State.

[edit] Monday Night Football

In 1970, Jackson was chosen to be the first play-by-play announcer on Monday Night Football, but he remained in that capacity only for the program's first season. In 1971, he was supplanted by Frank Gifford, who ABC considered then to have more star power than Jackson, and had been hired away from rival CBS.

[edit] College football

In his many years covering college football, Jackson has been paired with a wide variety of color commentators, including former Arkansas coach and athletic director Frank Broyles (1978-'86) and pro football legend Bob Griese (1987-'99). For many years, he was assigned by ABC to the primary national game of the week. His quirky expressions such as "Whoa, Nellie!" and "Fum-BLE!" are often the subject of comedic imitation (even by himself). He has often referred to offensive and defensive line players as the Big Uglies. Jackson is also credited with coining the nickname for Michigan Stadium, The Big House.

In the 1990s, Jackson recorded videos for the centennial of the Alabama Crimson Tide. In 2006, Jackson became the voice behind the Nebraska Cornhuskers' "Tunnel Walk" video. This video is played before every home game at Memorial Stadium.

[edit] Other assignments

Though best known for his college football broadcasts, Jackson announced numerous other sports for ABC throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, boxing, auto racing, and the Olympic Games. Jackson also served as the anchor for ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII in 1988.

Keith Jackson's most notable non-college football assignment was, arguably, his calling (alongside Tim McCarver) the now famous 16-inning long sixth game of the 1986 National League Championship Series between the New York Mets and Houston Astros.

Jackson was involved in the ABC coverage of the 1972 Summer Olympics and continued to contribute even when an attack by Palestinian terrorists transformed the coverage from that of a typical sporting event to that of a greater international and historical news event.

[edit] Retirement

Jackson announced his first retirement from college football at the end of the 1998 season and his intention to live full time at his home in California, with his last broadcast to have been the 1999 Fiesta Bowl for the National Championship between Tennessee and Florida State. He rescinded this decision the following fall and began to do a more limited schedule of games, teamed with Dan Fouts, almost exclusively sticking to venues on the West Coast, closer to his current home in British Columbia. One of the notable exceptions was the 2003 Michigan-Ohio State game, the 100th meeting between the two archrivals. Jackson decided to retire for good on April 27, 2006, with a phone call to the New York Times. "I'm finished with play-by-play forever," he stated. His last game call was the 2006 Rose Bowl featuring Texas vs. USC for the BCS National Championship.

[edit] Film and Television Appearances

Jackson has had a minor career as an actor, often either playing himself (as on an episode of Coach) or a sportscaster like himself, as in The Fortune Cookie (1966). He has also appeared in and narrated several sports documentaries. His play-by-play of the 1977 World Series is used in the background of the Spike Lee film, Summer of Sam (1999). Jackson once parodied his broadcast persona for a Bud Light beer commercial.

Jackson currently appears in commercials for Shoney's, a chain of family-style restaurants well-known in the Southeast, especially in his native Georgia. He's also appearing in "the legend of Gatorade" ads, which he humorously alluded to during his live coverage of the 2006 Rose Bowl. In 2006, he also was shown in a commercial for Ice Breakers' Ice Cubes with Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff, and Joey Lawrence, contributing his famous line "Whoa, Nellie!"

[edit] Notable broadcasts

• 1967: USC vs. UCLA
• 1971 Daytona 500 - Richard Petty won his 3rd Daytona 500.
• 1972 NBA Finals - Los Angeles Lakers won the title
• 1972 Summer Olympics- U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz wins seven gold medals
• 1975 Indianapolis 500 - Bobby Unser won the race that was shortned by rain.
• 1977 World Series - New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (including Reggie Jackson's 3 homers on 3 pitches)
• 1978: Gator Bowl Ohio State vs. Clemson (Woody Hayes' infamous last game)
• January 1979: Sugar Bowl - #2 University of Alabama vs. #1 Penn State
• 1980 Winter Olympics - U.S. speed skater Eric Heiden wins five gold medals
• January 1983: Sugar Bowl - #1 Georgia vs. #2 Penn State
• November 1984: West Virginia 17-No. 19 Penn State 14
• 1986 National League Championship Series - New York Mets vs. Houston Astros (Inc. 16 inn. Game 6)
• May 1987: NASCAR The Winston all-star race won by Dale Earnhardt
• November 1988: #1 Notre Dame vs. #2 USC
• January 1993: Sugar Bowl - #2 University of Alabama vs. #1 University of Miami
• 1994: Colorado at Michigan, the Westbrook Hail Mary game, eventual national champion Florida State, Florida
• 1997 Sugar Bowl for the National Championship: #1 Florida State, #3 Florida
• January 1,1998 Rose Bowl Michigan 21, Washington State 16
• January 4, 1999: Fiesta Bowl - Tennessee, Florida State (The first year of the Bowl Championship Series)
• January 4, 2002: Rose Bowl - Miami (FL) vs. Nebraska
• September 2, 2002: Auburn at USC
• November 30, 2002: Notre Dame at USC
• January 3, 2003: Fiesta Bowl - Miami (FL) vs. Ohio State
• November 2003: Nebraska at Colorado
• November 2003: Ohio State at Michigan
• September 2004: Colorado State at USC
• November 2005: "The Big Game" (Stanford vs. California)
• December 2005: Holiday Bowl - Oklahoma vs. Oregon
• January 4, 2006: Rose Bowl - Texas vs. USC

Preceded by None	Monday Night Football play-by-play man 1970	Succeeded by Frank Gifford
Preceded by Jim McKay	Television voice of the Indianapolis 500 1975	Succeeded by Jim McKay
Preceded by Joe Garagiola	World Series network television play-by-play announcer (with Al Michaels in 1979 and 1981; concurrent with Joe Garagiola in odd numbered years) 1977-1981	Succeeded by Joe Garagiola and Dick Enberg
Preceded by Chris Schenkel	Play-by-Play announcer, NBA Finals 1972-1973	Succeeded by Pat Summerall

[edit] External links

• Keith Jackson ABC Bio