In life, we all set high expectations for ourselves that are greater than what others expect from us. That holds true for Chris Fowler, who is not only the voice of tennis on ESPN, but the voice of college football as well.
Fowler was a guest on The Ryen Russillo Podcast and he told Russillo that he is always looking to improve, but that college football is also the most challenging sport to call because of how it has changed over the years.
“I think you always have to improve. I still want to get better at it. I still think I can. I think I need to. I felt it has been tough to improve in football the last few years because we had the COVID year with empty stadiums, no energy, no access to players and coaches like we had before. I felt it was impossible to meet that standard. I had to sort of modify it a bit. 2021, it got a little bit better.”
“It is totally different than covering tennis. Tennis, you prepare not having to relearn the personalities and the names. I think college football, personally, is the most challenging sport to call. The tempo offenses in college have made it different. We can’t have a broadcast sound like Keith Jackson sounded or Curt Gowdy or Brent [Musberger]. Things have changed so much that the audience has changed, the tempo of the sport has changed (faster and louder). Then, still trying to layer in, prepare better, be more efficient.”
Fowler has high expectations for himself and he even admitted that he didn’t live up to those standards during the broadcast of Notre Dame-Ohio State. Even though he was also calling likely the final matches of Serena Williams’ career during that week, he would not use that as an excuse.
“I didn’t meet my standard at Ohio State-Notre Dame. Just wasn’t good enough. Was bothered by it. No excuses, but you are doing tennis for 4 days. Serena’s matches took a ton of energy. It is the first time I’ve done that particular job in about 9 months, so I thought I sucked in certain places in that game in ways that you hope not too many viewers noticed, but I certainly noticed. I don’t know if Kirk [Herbstreit] felt to that degree, but I think we felt it could have been a lot better. It was cool to go back the next day and call tennis and cleanse the palate…I think I can do a pretty good job. I am trying to meet my own standard and that’s really what matters to me.”
In terms of calling both tennis and college football, Fowler said it’s easier to lay out for the crowd in tennis because it is not what he calls a see it, say it sport like football is.
“Part of it is it’s hard to yell over the crowd. At the US Open, it is so loud that if you try to talk right after a point or when they’re going crazy, you just get smothered….Football is a see it, say it sport. It moves so quickly. When you see it, you have only a split second to filter it. In tennis, when you watch a point unfold, if it’s a lengthy rally, you might have 10 things pop into your head but then it continues…You are constantly editing it in your head and sometimes you end up saying nothing at the end of a point because the point speaks for itself.
“I think the crowd largely speaks for itself and the pictures largely speak for themselves in tennis and I enjoy that piece of it.”
