The Carolina Panthers named Anish Shroff their radio play-by-play voice on Wednesday, making him only the second person to have that job in team history. He’ll take over for Mick Mixon, who retired after the 2021 season.
Shroff was a guest on WFNZ’s The Mac Attack Thursday and was asked if the Panthers’ gig was one he sought out or if the team approached him since he’s been a longtime Charlotte resident while working for ESPN.
“It was something that I was actively seeking,” said Shroff. “I got a taste of doing some NFL last summer. I filled in for Steve Levy on a preseason broadcast for the Broncos while he was doing one of the ESPN preseason Monday games. So it was ‘Hey, this is kinda neat.’
“Then right around the same time, when I was contracted to do that game, shortly thereafter it was announced that Mick was retiring. Wes Durham is a really good friend of mine, so I pinged him. I’ve spoken to Bob Wischusen, asking ‘Hey, is this thing feasible? You guys do it, the travel I know can be crazy.’ They kinda gave me the lay of the land. Those two guys were unbelievable resources.”
Shroff added that when he became a full-time play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN, his family could have moved anywhere they wanted. But they had already been in Charlotte for six years and it was home. Both his wife and daughter love it there. He convinced his parents to move to the area. There was no reason to move anywhere else.
As mentioned, Bob Wischusen calls college football and basketball for ESPN while also working as the radio voice for the New York Jets. Wes Durham is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Atlanta Falcons, while also calling ACC Network football and basketball broadcasts. And Dave Pasch is another ESPN broadcaster who calls college sports but is also the radio play-by-play announcer for the Arizona Cardinals.
Now Shroff will join them in that double duty.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
