Broadcasting legend Jackson dies at age 89
Keith Jackson laid down the soundtrack to Saturday for a generation of college-football fans with phrases such as his signature “Whoa, Nellie!”
From the World Series to the Olympics, NFL to NBA, he did it all over five decades as a sportscaster, but most appropriately his final assignment before retiring 12 years ago was one of the greatest college football games ever.
Jackson died Friday. He was 89.
A statement by ESPN, which consolidated with ABC Sports, Jackson’s longtime employer, announced his death Saturday. No cause was given. He was a longtime resident of Sherman Oaks, Calif., and died near his home.
Born Oct. 18, 1928, in west Georgia, near the Alabama border, Jackson was known for his smooth baritone voice, and his use of phrases such as “big uglies” for linemen gave his game calls a familiar feel.
“He was one of our giants,” longtime broadcaster Brent Musburger told The AP. “He could do anything and loved doing it.”
Jackson might be best known for his “Whoa, Nellie!” exclamation, but he didn’t overuse it. Borrowed from his great-grandfather, a farmer, the phrase was also part of a commercial Jackson did for Miller Lite in the mid-’90s. But it was no catchphrase.
“He never made anything up,” Musburger said. “That’s how Keith talked.”
In a 2013 Fox Sports interview, Jackson said his folksy language stemmed from his rural upbringing.
“I would go around and pluck things off the bush and see if I could find a different way to say some things. And the older I got, the more willing I was to go back into the Southern vernacular because some of it’s funny,” Jackson said.
ESPN “College GameDay” host Rece Davis, who grew up in Alabama, said listening to Jackson assured him it was OK for a national broadcaster to sound Southern.
“Some people become the voice of the sport through their expertise, which Keith certainly had. But it’s almost as if the good Lord created that voice, which sounds like what red clay ought to sound like if it could talk, to be the perfect voice for college football,” Davis told the AP.
Jackson is a member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and called more Rose Bowl games, 15, than any other announcer.
After serving four years in the Marine Corps, Jackson broadcast his first college-football game in 1952 as an undergraduate at Washington State. He worked in radio and television before joining ABC Sports in 1966.
Jackson first announced his retirement in 1998 but returned to work. He retired for good after the 2006 Rose Bowl, when he called Texas’ upset of Southern California for the BCS championship on Vince Young’s last-minute touchdown scramble.
“Fourth-and-5. The national championship on the line right here,” Jackson said right before Young took the snap on that memorable play. “He’s going for the cornerrrr. He’s got it! Vince. Young. Scores.”
The Rose Bowl stadium’s radio and TV booths were renamed in his honor two years ago. He is in the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame for his contributions to the New Year’s Day game, which he is credited with nicknaming “The Granddaddy of Them All.”
Jackson also was the first play-by-play announcer on ABC’s “Monday Night Football” before being replaced in the program’s second season by Frank Gifford.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Turi Ann.