Edwards calls it a career as the team’s broadcaster
A steady stream of visitors made their way to the NESN broadcast booth on the Garden’s ninth floor early Tuesday evening, media friends and acquaintances of Jack Edwards wishing him well after he announced earlier in the day that he will retire at the end of NESN’s game coverage in the upcoming playoffs.
“It’s time for me to get off the ice,” a smiling, relaxed Edwards told a longtime media friend about an hour prior to puck drop against the Senators. “I’ve tried, but I can’t get the words out when I need them . . . so, time to go before I become the pylon out there.”
In a recent Globe story, Edwards detailed his extensive struggles with speech, dating back to last season, a work impediment that he finally decided was too daunting to continue in the play-by-play role he held for 19 years.
“Yeah,” said Edwards, a friend noting how hard he had worked in recent months, “. . . 40 minutes a day of speech therapy, and ...”
He stopped mid-sentence and recited a tongue-twister that he had worked on, over and over again, in months of speech therapy he hoped would keep him on a job he loved.
“Not fair for me to continue,” he said, noting he no longer could “perform at the standard” he set for himself. “Not fair to the players, the team . . . not fair to ownership, to NESN . . . and, most of all, not fair to the fans.”
Edwards, who grew in New Hampshire and graduated from the University of New Hampshire, will call at least four more games. He’ll surrender his spot at the mic at the completion of the upcoming best-of-seven series, when all regional sports networks go dark and Stanley Cup coverage becomes the networks’ domain (a long-time pet peeve of Edwards, by the way).
Edwards began his play-by-play career with NESN in 2005. After holding several reporting and anchor positions in New Hampshire and Providence, he came to Boston in the 1980s as a sports anchor and reporter at both WCVB and WHDH.
He also worked as a reporter for “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” and Olympic coverage on both ABC and CBS. He joined ESPN in 1991 as an anchor and reporter for “SportsCenter” and won an Emmy. He has also done play-by-play for ESPN’s coverage of hockey and soccer, including the 2002 World Cup and the Little League World Series.
Among the benefits of retirement, noted Edwards, will be the opportunity to have more time to enjoy skiing, particularly on the Vermont hills. And of course, more time for family and friends.
He’ll still watch the Bruins, albeit from the couch, and admitted he’ll probably still be in play-by-play mode when he tunes in, perhaps adding words he couldn’t use during his distinctive on-air narrative.
“When I’m watching, my wife has to leave the room . . . she can’t stand it,” he said. “You know, the refs, blown calls.”
The Bruins and NESN will conduct a nationwide search for the next play-by-play voice to join color commentator Andy Brickley for the 2024-25 season.