Top Bears radio announcers
Larrivee, Brickhouse, Thayer, Butkus, McConnell — their voices are linked with so many Bears memories.
Over the last 66 years, there have been 13 play-by-play announcers and commentators to work Bears radio broadcasts.
Comparing them, let alone ranking them, is a challenging task, even with the input of a select group of longtime listeners.
There were easy choices at the top and bottom, but the middle inevitably was squishy. The resulting list may be more of an argument starter than finisher.
Bears games were on the radio before Jack Brickhouse and Irv Kupcinet began their WGN-AM 720 run in 1953. But it’s difficult to summon memories of those announcers’ work, so they have been set aside.
Some of the announcing teams since ’53 have called Bears games for multiple stations. During that span, Bears games have been heard on WGN (1953-76, 1985-96), WMAQ-AM 670 (1997-99) and WBBM-AM 780 (1977-84, 2000-present). Since 2011, WBBM has simulcast games on WCFS-FM 105.9.
Ready to bear down? Let’s take it from the top:
1. Wayne Larrivee (1985-98)
Larrivee, who announced Chiefs game before coming to Chicago and who left the Bears to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming the voice of the archrival Packers, is one of the NFL’s best broadcasters. Period. His strong voice, command of the game and ability to convey urgency and excitement through tone and speed are as good as it gets. No one has done it better. Plus, Larrivee had the good fortune to be the voice of the Super Bowl champion 1985 Bears, whose clips NFL Films will be rerunning until the end of time, ensuring he’ll always be part of memories of that championship season.
2. Tom Thayer (1997-present)
Old No. 57 from the Super Bowl XX champs is on track next year to match Irv Kupcinet’s 24-season run as a Bears radio commentator, and there’s no reason to think he won’t surpass it. In terms of quality, he long ago lapped the commentator field. Thayer not only is tireless when it comes to preparation, but also possesses an ability few can match when it comes to seeing the whole field and analyzing plays in real time. What’s more, while his affection for the Bears is clear, that doesn’t mean he ignores breakdowns. He calls games with both his brains and his heart.
3. Joe McConnell (1977-84)
When the Bears moved from WGN-AM to WBBM-AM, general manager Jim Finks pushed to bring McConnell over from the Vikings to replace Jack Brickhouse as play-by-play man. (Finks also had come to the Bears from the Vikings.) The Bears acquired a classic football announcer with a strong voice and tremendous command of the game in McConnell, who might have continued in the role had WGN not wrested back the rights. All told, he spent 23 seasons with NFL teams, starting with the 1969 Broncos and including a second stint with the Vikings and hitches with the Colts and Oilers.
4. Jeff Joniak (2001-present)
Joniak doesn’t have a classic NFL voice and came to the Bears job with virtually no professional play-by-play experience, but he has channeled his enthusiasm and worked hard to become a solid play-by-play man. He is the beneficiary of great chemistry with Thayer, and by extension so are Bears fans who have heard signature utterances such as “Devin Hester, you are ridiculous!” and Joniak’s trademark closer when the Bears have a game securely put away: “Fade to black.”
5. Jack Brickhouse (1953-76)
There’s a deep well of affection for Brickhouse among Chicago fans, which, coupled with longevity, is why he ranks this high. Even his biggest fans, however, have to concede football was not his forte. Not even close. The upbeat charm Brickhouse brought to baseball didn’t help as he missed plays, botched player IDs and failed to grasp the game’s nuances. Everyone makes mistakes. But more than once, Brickhouse and broadcast partner Irv Kupcinet missed touchdown plays and subsequently called point-after kicks as field-goal tries. That’s an “oops” with a capital “eww.” Making Brickhouse’s shortcomings even more egregious, Bears home games were blacked out on television until the final two years of his 24-season run, so fans really needed the radio announcer to get it right.
6. Dick Butkus
The greatest living Bear’s time in the booth — interrupted by a stint as Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder’s successor on CBS’ “The NFL Today” and his ongoing acting career — had insights to offer, to be sure. But he often cast himself as a surrogate fan. Many loved him. Others had little use for his grunts and groans. If you want classic Butkus, check out YouTube. Someone posted an NFL Films clip of Wilber Marshall’s fumble-return touchdown that capped the January 1986 NFC title game shutout of the Rams that sent the ’85 Bears to the Super Bowl. Here’s how Butkus complemented Larrivee’s call: “He’s got the ball! Go! Go! Ha, ha, ha! … Way to go! Oh, man!” With snow beginning to fall on Soldier Field during that prelude to Super Bowl XX, Butkus said: “Not to get theatrical, but I mean how better can you write a script here, for crying out loud?” How better, indeed.
7. Dan Hampton (1995-96)
Hampton was the successor to Butkus the second time he left the Bears radio crew and quickly fit in with Hub Arkush and Wayne Larrivee. The high point of the Hall of Famer’s two-season stint may have come in his second week, when he seemed able to tell whether the Packers were going to pass based on how left tackle Ken Ruettgers lined up. Both the Bears and Packers said there was nothing to it, but Hampton managed to anticipate play after play. Hampton also could be downright colorful. “Barry Sanders reminds me of a dog dodging cars on a freeway,” he said during a Bears-Lions game. On the road in Green Bay, Hampton cracked, “It’s great to see the fall collection of Bruno Magli hunting boots.”
8. Brad Palmer (1977-84)
After teaming with Brent Musburger on WBBM-AM’s “Musburger-Palmer Sports Report” and before Tim Weigel dubbed him “The Professor,” the cigar-chomping Palmer brought a reporter’s eye to the booth, working with McConnell. Like Irv Kupcinet, his predecessor in the second chair in the Bears broadcast booth, Palmer offered more color commentary than analysis, but he did not watch the game through rose-colored glasses. With McConnell, he helped usher in a new era and style for Bears radio.
9. Gary Fencik (1990-93)
If three announcers in a booth is too many, four is almost a joke. But when Butkus returned from hiatus, poor Fencik wound up the fourth voice in WGN-AM’s booth. A Yale graduate with a Northwestern MBA, Fencik had plenty to offer but little room to offer it. Compounding problems, the former Bears safety had a voice too similar to fellow analyst Hub Arkush.
10. Hub Arkush (1988-2002)
Arkush, whose exit ended the 1985-2002 experiment of using more than two announcers, has the distinction of being the only Bears announcer to be heard on WGN-AM, WMAQ-AM and WBBM-AM. For a time, WGN gave him the added title of executive sports producer for all pro football programming. While he was a solid pregame and postgame host from 1985 to ’87, his skills as a journalist didn’t necessarily translate to analysis in a three-man booth where everyone had to fight to be heard. Alas, Arkush is less remembered for his sometimes pointed commentary than for yelling, “Ball! Ball!” when there was a fumble. And he didn’t help his standing with his awkwardly forceful bid to stifle fan criticism on coach Dick Jauron’s radio show.
11. Jim Hart (1985-89)
Hart, the longtime Cardinals quarterback who concluded his career with the Redskins, was a good analyst, especially when it came to technical aspects of the game. He was overshadowed by the larger-than-life Butkus alongside Larrivee. Who wouldn’t be? But he complemented the great middle linebacker better than he did Arkush, Butkus’ successor. In any case, Hart was as good a teammate off the field as he had been on it. The big difference was that in the broadcast booth, he wasn’t nearly as memorable.
12. Gary Bender (1999-2000)
Once an elite TV network broadcaster, Bender was a competent pro who never quite attached to either the team or its fans — and vice versa — for two forgettable seasons on play-by-play. It probably didn’t help that he was saddled with calling games for a couple of fifth-place Dick Jauron-coached teams that went a combined 11-21.
13. Irv Kupcinet (1953-76)
The longtime Chicago Sun-Times columnist was a quarterback with the 1935 Eagles and a former NFL referee. One game he officiated was the Bears’ 73-0 victory over the Redskins in the 1940 NFL championship game. But neither Kup’s reporting chops nor his football experience was in much evidence during Bears broadcasts, for which his most valuable contributions may have been lining up halftime guests. During games, Kup was content mostly to spout platitudes, rehash newspaper clippings, cheer on the Bears and parrot whatever Brickhouse said, which is why Bears fans of a certain age still say, “Dat’s right, Jack,” whenever Kupcinet’s name is mentioned.