In the moment when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed in a Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, the focus immediately turned from the matchup with playoff implications to Hamlin’s well-being. Within 10 seconds of his collapse, medical personnel were on the field to give Hamlin CPR and other treatments pivotal to his health and safety. An ambulance then transported him to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with his teammates, opponents and the sports world in a state of nervous anticipation. Joe Buck was narrating the moment on ESPN, making sure he did not speculate on the injury and remaining cognizant of this wholly unprecedented situation.
Amid his first season calling Monday Night Football on ESPN alongside his longtime broadcast partner Troy Aikman, Buck was challenged to clearly and concisely delineate the scenario as the world anxiously awaited updates. In the final hour of the broadcast when the injury occurred, 23.9 million people were watching the game, one of the highest figures the sports property posted all season. The National Football League ended up suspending the game, which shortly thereafter was canceled because of the circumstances, and an alternate plan was deviated regarding playoff scenarios.
Usually, Buck is tasked with keeping viewers informed about game action and setting up his analyst to give his expertise. In moments of elevated grandeur and importance, he tries to call the game just as how he would want to see it if he were watching at home. He is part of a collaboration between the commentators, producers, directors, technical team and camerapeople, fostering the synergy needed to ensure their broadcast is at the highest level.
“I don’t want somebody just over-talking,” Buck said. “I want to be able to hear the crowd – good and bad. I want to be able to hear the natural sound of the quarterback at the line of scrimmage and the hitting with all the audio and microphones we have down there. That’s the way I do it.”
Buck knew he wanted to be a play-by-play announcer from a young age since he is the son of legendary broadcaster Jack Buck, who called St. Louis Cardinals baseball games and NFL games on radio. He admired his father and everything that went into his on-air performance, inspiring him to pursue a career in sports media. Buck, unlike most aspiring broadcasters, gained real-world experience in following his father and leaning into his nascent passion for sports and the industry as a whole.
“I came along at a time when my dad was ready to kind of take a kid with him to work, so I was on Cardinals’ road trips when I was a little kid,” Buck said. “[I was] flying on team charters and being around a broadcast and everything else that is involved with that. It lit a fire in me that really eliminated any other possibility of me doing anything else. This is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
With his father as his mentor, Buck knows he had a distinct advantage over other people looking to work into the industry. He matriculated at Indiana University Bloomington where, prior to his enrollment, had accumulated vast esoteric knowledge and experience in the industry. In fact, Buck worked with an FM radio station as a high school senior to deliver early morning sports updates. He continued to hone his craft as a college student and helped out at KMOX radio in St. Louis during the summers.
Buck never made it to his college graduation though, as the industry came calling on him to serve as the new play-by-play announcer for the Louisville Redbirds. Yet he acknowledges that his early play-by-play tapes were “awful” and that he was likely hired to work in the role because of nepotism.
“I owe that all to my last name,” Buck said. “I owe everything else to my last name because I wouldn’t have been around it as a little kid and I wouldn’t have learned the business at my dad’s side without being Jack Buck’s son.”
During his early years working professionally, Buck remained captivated by baseball and also called college men’s basketball games for the University of Missouri Tigers. In 1994 at the age of 25, Buck received a fortuitous chance to establish himself on the national stage by calling NFL games on FOX. Despite following the league as a fan and never previously calling a game, Buck was offered one of the openings – in addition to others such as Kenny Albert (son of broadcaster Marv Albert), Thom Brennaman (son of broadcaster Marty Brennaman) and Kevin Harlan (son of former Green Bay Packers CEO Bob Harlan). The goal, he conjured, was to hire progeny of famed broadcasters and aim to develop them into bonafide stars in the industry.
Buck recalls feeling like he did well in the audition for the role, but quickly felt out of place before his first broadcast at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill. He is thankful social media did not exist in those early years, estimating that it could have shattered his self-confidence and discouraged him from trying new things.
Thankfully for Buck, the only way for viewers to get in touch with him at that time was through letters. He was encouraged by industry pundits who thought he was doing a good job, but at the same time tried to muffle the outside noise and remain focused on what he could control. Buck broadcast football games with color commentator Tim Green, but put those duties on pause soon after being named lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball games on FOX.
Buck was paired with former catcher Tim McCarver, forming a duo that proceeded to call 24 World Series and 22 Major League Baseball All-Star Games. In this role, Buck set a new record for the youngest person ever to call a World Series, bringing baseball fans Fall Classic action at the age of 27. McCarver, who recently passed away at the age of 81 due to heart failure, was a second father for Buck, giving him assurance that the broadcast would sound polished and professional because of his abilities as an analyst.
“I think there was a lot of mutual respect, but I had to earn his,” Buck said. “He had mine right away, but I had to earn his. He never made it hard on me, but I think as time went on, he realized that I could handle the job. We got into that first World Series and we felt like we did everything together. It wasn’t him or me; it was us, and that’s the only way to do it.”
Over the years, Buck called a plethora of indelible moments that live in baseball lore, providing a soundtrack to seminal moments in the game’s history. Most notably, Buck graced the microphone when St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese crushed a walk-off home run in extra innings during Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. The impact of the hit, which continues to endure the test of time, was effectuated by taking a minimalistic approach in putting a script to the moment. Instead of an elaborate, detailed description, Buck took a line out of his father’s playbook, saying: “We will see you tomorrow night.” Then, the pictures and sounds of the moment take over..
“Don’t be afraid of dead air,” Buck said. “I think in young announcers’ minds, if you’re not saying something, the audience thinks you don’t know what to say. That’s not the case.”
In addition to the home run by Freese, Buck called World Series championships and the end of lengthy droughts for three franchises – the Boston Red Sox in 2004; the Chicago White Sox in 2005; and the Chicago Cubs in 2016.
The 2001 NFL season marked the conclusion of Pat Summerall’s broadcasting career, and also the last game John Madden called as a member of FOX Sports. To begin the next season, Buck returned to NFL on FOX broadcasts and was paired with Aikman, a three-time Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback. From the beginning, Buck and Aikman were able to form a unique, on-air chemistry differentiating themselves from other broadcast booths around the NFL. Buck ascertains that it helps that he and Aikman have two daughters, an array of life experiences and ponder over things in similar manners.
“In a business where sometimes you have to worry about who’s trying to stick the knife in you, he and I have got each other’s back,” Buck said. “It’s so important, but we have fun. I’ve never walked into a meeting room or a broadcast booth with Troy and been like, ‘Oh my gosh, here we go again.’ It’s always exciting to be around a good friend and tackle the game that’s out in front of us.”
Buck and Aikman have called 18 NFC Championships and six Super Bowls together.. Whether it is calling the New York Giants’ win over the undefeated New England Patriots or the Patriots’ comeback win over the Atlanta Falcons, calling the Super Bowl is not comparable to most other sporting events.
“There’s so much buildup and there’s so much hype,” Buck said. “You’re sitting around talking about the same game for two weeks before they have it. You have this build during the month of January, and everybody’s waiting. It’s like, ‘Can they just kick this thing off?’ because you’re tired of thinking about it [and] talking about it.”
Buck will not be calling another Super Bowl until LXI (February 2027), as he departed FOX Sports prior to the start of last season to join Aikman on Monday Night Football on ESPN. Upon Aikman’s departure, Buck was faced with the decision of either pairing with a new color commentator (and potentially inking a contract extension) or leaving FOX Sports to join Aikman at ESPN. He chose the latter and is grateful to FOX Sports for letting him get out of his contract one year early.
“I think everybody got what they wanted,” Buck said. “I think FOX got a reset – they have two new booths that I’m sure they really like – and I have the same partner at a new place on a new night with a property [that] I grew up knowing how special it was: Monday Night Football. It’s like one of those great sports trades that works out for everybody.”
Coincidentally, FOX Sports had the rights to the Super Bowl this year and approached the game with its new booth of Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen dealing with speculation regarding Tom Brady’s future involvement.
Before what turned out to be his final NFL regular season game, Buck and Aikman were having a conversation with Brady to prepare for the playoff tilt between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys. Towards the end of the conversation, Buck asked Brady if he would be excited being on the other side of the conference calls, as he is expected to slot into FOX Sports’ lead broadcast booth in 2024. Brady replied that he wanted to talk to him and Aikman about broadcasting, affirming that he would need help determining how to perform the job.
“I would do [that] in a heartbeat with all the help he’s given us over the years,” Buck said of Brady. “….There’s going to be a bit of a learning curve for Tom. I expect him to do it and do it well, but it’s a weird kind of thing to do. There’s a bit of acting involved. It’s a presentation as much as just knowing football. I’m sure he’ll be great, but I’m anxious to see.”
In essence, Buck knows “anybody would be an idiot to bet against him” despite it being something new, and is excited to see how the situation turns out. As it pertains to this past season though, FOX Sports aimed to cultivate a new sound. By assimilating a broadcast booth with minimal experience working together into a Super Bowl to conclude their first season, the network took a calculated risk that ended up paying dividends in the ratings.
“They were in a great spot, and then they had to just go do it and they did,” Buck said. “They started out great; they were already working together; and they’re longtime friends. I thought they really nailed what they needed to nail, and that is the big moments, especially in a Super Bowl.”
Burkhardt had been calling NFL games on FOX Sports since 2013, and was offered advice from Buck in being elevated to the lead broadcast booth. He did the same for Joe Davis, the new lead broadcaster for MLB games on FOX, including the All-Star Game and the World Series, ensuring he is available while not coercing them to listen to his advice. It aligns with the tactic his father took with him as a kid.
“My dad was never the guy who was pushing advice or saying, ‘I’ve done it, so here’s the way I would do that,’” Buck said. “If [they] asked me, I’d give [them] all I got. That, to me, is the right thing to do; you pay it forward.”
ESPN recently made changes to Buck’s Monday Night Football team, naming Steve Ackels as the broadcast’s new producer and Derek Mobley as its new director, replacing Phil Dean and Jimmy Platt, respectively.
“I’ve never worked with either one of them just like I hadn’t worked with Phil Dean and Jimmy Platt prior to last year,” Buck said of the move. “It comes with some unknowns, but it comes with a hell of a lot of excitement too.”
Preparing for a typical Monday night game contrasts with the kind of preparation he would amass while at FOX Sports since all of the Sunday games are completed before kickoff. Throughout the week, Buck receives emails containing all published articles about both teams and reads to familiarize himself with both teams and determine the key storylines. He then puts together basic information about each player on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, prints it out and writes additional notes by hand about each player. Even if he does not end up using the information on the air, having the dexterity to compendiously elocute information and think quickly makes the art of broadcasting much easier.
“I would say 90% of your preparation falls by the wayside because the games don’t go the way you think every time; rarely do they go anywhere close to how I expect them to go,” Buck said. “….You go into the booth and open your eyes and watch the game. If something fits with your preparation, say it; and if it doesn’t, don’t force it.”
Throughout his time both as a consumer of sports media and industry professional, Buck has understood the magnitude of broadcasting Monday night NFL games. As a child, he remembers watching his father call Monday night games on the CBS Radio Network with Hank Stram, but frequently found himself thinking about what was going on just a few booths down the press level. Of course, situated in that booth was the trio of Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford calling Monday Night Football on ABC, presenting the matchup to an audience of millions of viewers across the country.
Even though annual NFL television ratings were down by 3%, Monday Night Football performed strong compared to the competition, especially by pairing the primary telecast with the alternate broadcast with Hall of Fame quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. Even though Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli (dubbed the “ManningCast”) diminishes viewership of the traditional broadcast, Buck is not bothered by it and instead encouraged by the innovation and commitment ESPN has made to the league.
“For ESPN to make the investment to bring those guys and have them on ESPN2 while we do ESPN, I think [it is] a major statement to the NFL that they’re going to throw everything they can at Monday night,” Buck said. “I think there is a future for it. I do think that they captured lightning in a bottle with Peyton and Eli being brothers.”
As part of the new $110 billion media rights deal announced by the NFL in March 2021, ESPN got flex scheduling for Monday Night Football beginning at the start of the upcoming season, which will allow the broadcast to present games with the potential to impact playoff positioning in the prime time slot.
“When you’re doing 5-win teams in Week 13; 14; 15, that’s not a good thing for a standalone night,” Buck said. “It’s not a good thing for anybody. Having the ability to flex out of that game will be nice. I don’t think that the league will go crazy and just flex out game after game after game, but if there’s one there that just isn’t competitive and has nothing to do with anything in the standings, at least you have the chance to switch that game.
“I think we’re going to have a better schedule this year, which I think leads to better ratings which leads to happy people at ESPN, but that remains to be seen,” Buck added. “I’m not planning on doing anything other than what I’ve done for the last 30 years broadcasting the NFL.”
Outside of broadcasting football games, Buck holds a golf tournament each year to benefit the St. Louis Children’s Hospital and fund its imaging center, named in his honor. The inspiration to begin this event came when one of his daughters had to take a sweat test to be checked for cystic fibrosis. When he was sitting in the lobby and watching nurses, doctors and volunteers work in high-stakes situations involving the lives of children, Buck told his wife that he would help the hospital if he was ever in the position to be able to.
Hale Irwin, a former professional golfer, used to hold a tournament benefiting the hospital but retired after 25 years, meaning that they needed to find someone else to keep the tradition alive. When Buck was asked, he did not hesitate to agree to take the reins of holding the event. He looks forward to Monday, June 5 and raising money to make sure the hospital can continue carrying out its duties and be there for those in need of its services.
“We’ve gone in and made the imaging center kind of interactive for kids at a nervous time for kids and parents going in for MRIs, CAT scans or whatever,” Buck said. “We’ve kind of turned it into a sports stadium-looking waiting room that kind of distracts the kids and the parents…. My part of it is small; I’m just honored to have my name on it. It’s an important day personally, but it’s a much bigger day than that practically speaking for the hospital.”
Sports broadcasting is very much a niche craft, and the fundamentals become more recondite when narrowing it down to specific sports. When building a career in the industry though, Buck implores aspiring broadcasters to do more than just solely focus on the craft, instead urging them to amass a knowledge extending beyond sports. Additionally, it is essential to discover people one can trust for feedback and critique oneself at the same time while refraining from listening to critics on social media.
Ultimately, it boils down to developing a unique style that appeals to viewers and bringing them the game while recognizing your place in the grand scheme of things. Not all the viewers particularly care about the broadcasters themselves and sports media, meaning it is crucial to perform the role appropriately and be distinctive.
“‘When you get into this, you’ve got to realize that if you get hit by a bus going into a stadium, they’re still going to play the game,’” Buck recalls his father telling him. “‘They’re not going to stop it because the announcer got run over. Broadcast accordingly.’ I feel the same way with all that movement that happened last year. I think everybody does a good job at the upper levels and people have a little bit different styles from one another.”
Derek Futterman is a contributing editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, find him on X @derekfutterman.
