Verne Lundquist has not called a SEC college football game on CBS since 2016, but he is remembered by so many for his great calls of classic games over the years. He has had the chance to call so many great moments and still does every year at the 16th hole at The Masters, but the SEC holds a special place for him.
Lundquist was a guest on The Press Box podcast with Bryan Curtis and reflected on some of those classic calls and he said the assignment that he treasured the most was calling SEC games on Saturdays from 2000-2016:
“The SEC is in my view hands down the most significant, toughest conference in the country to win. In all the assignments I had throughout my career which still continues for one week a year, the one I treasured the most really of all the things I was lucky enough to do was the assignment of the SEC. I really, really treasure those moments.
“I so much buy into all the pomp and circumstance. I love the bands, I love the pom poms, I love pretending for 3.5 hours every Saturday afternoon that every student-athlete is also a student. That is a challenge at times.”
During their conversation, Lundquist told Curtis what he feels the responsibility of being a play-by-play person is and that was to give the viewer a reason to care about what they are watching.
“I believe that the responsibility of a play-by-play guy is to give the listener or the viewer a compelling reason to be invested in the game and you do that by anecdotal information, stories both good and bad about the competitors, the universities, the coaches, and give them a reason to be alert to want to care whether it is positive or negative and stay with you.
“Yes, the names and numbers are vitally important, down and distance vitally important, but anecdotal information and this is where the play-by-play guy has a responsibility much larger in this context than the analyst does.
“I find myself every Saturday afternoon watching our telecast or ESPN or NBC on Sunday night. I watch myself and pay attention to the lineups, but I don’t get anything out of them. If you get a guy dedicated to your school, he stays 4 years. Now with the possibility of transferring, you need a road map to find out where everyone is going. People are not familiar with these guys unless you are an alumnus or a loyal follower of a specific team. That’s the responsibility you have.”
Back in 1999, Lundquist went from being the number two announcer for the NFL on CBS to becoming the voice of SEC football when CBS brought in Dick Enberg to be the new number two announcer. At first, Lundquist didn’t want to do it, but he found the first SEC game he ever called to be a thrilling experience.
“I fought it. I didn’t want to do it. The rumors became so persistent that I called Sean McManus. We chatted and I told him my concerns and I said now, if you sign Dick, it wouldn’t affect me, would it? He did what executives did so well. He maneuvered sideways and he said he’s such a high-ticket item, I don’t think we would sign him…In the unlikely event that we would hire Dick Enberg, how would you feel about moving to the SEC?
“I said the appropriate things and said goodbye. We were in the kitchen in our home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and I looked at Nancy and I said honey, pack your bags for Tuscaloosa. My first game ever in the SEC was Florida-Tennessee. I had never been to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville. It was a thrilling experience.”
While Lundquist never tried too hard to be warm on air and he likes the nickname Uncle Verne given to him by Spencer Hall, he mentioned to Curtis that that persona can’t be manufactured by anyone.
“I think it’s the product of my environment growing up. It’s not something that’s manufactured. There’s an amazing quality of television. There’s something going on between the viewer and the person on the other side of the camera. I think this so-called wall is broken down in imperceptible ways. But, the essence of the person who is looking into the camera is conveyed to the person who is viewing. I’ll bet you that if you are watching a television set and you see someone on the air and you think he is an arrogant jerk, 90% of the time he is going to be an arrogant jerk….If you think somebody is going to be nice, they will be.
“I think those of us who choose to be public people have an obligation to be accessible to people. That’s what you aspire to and that’s what comes with the territory.”
