Voice of Purdue football to call last game after 46 years on radio
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 11/20/2009
Provided by Sports Information
sponsored by
A Purdue legend will be calling his final game Saturday after years of doing what he loved.
Purdue broadcaster Joe McConnell will retire after Saturday’s game against Indiana after almost 47 years of broadcasting games. McConnell feels fortunate that he was able to live out his childhood dream and eventually get the opportunity to call games for his beloved Boilermakers.
“It will be bittersweet in a lot of ways,” McConnell said. “I was lucky enough in this lifetime to do the one thing I wanted to do all my life, and for me it’s a labor of love. I grew up a Boilermaker fan and grew up listening to John DeCamp, and at an early age I decided I wanted to do this for a living. I’ve kind of come full circle and have come back, and the last 15 years were spent in my old stomping grounds. I have a lot of mixed emotions for my last game.”
McConnell began his career at a radio station at Franklin College, from which he graduated, and was shortly offered a job with his idol DeCamp at Purdue. He then served as assistant sports information director for the team from 1965 to 1967 during the time of Purdue greats Bob Griese, Leroy Keyes and Jack Mollenkopf. McConnell then worked 23 years in the National Football League, seven season in the National Basketball Association and seven seasons in Major League Baseball until he finally returned to Purdue in 1994.
When asked what his favorite memory is from his vast career, he can’t help but name off historical events he has been a part of.
“I have so many (memories). I worked five NBA championship series for National NBA Radio. I worked three Super Bowls for the Minnesota Vikings, and they lost all three. I was on an ABA Championship team with the Pacers, which was the last time any team from Indiana won a professional basketball championship which was back in ’73. That was my first job working for the Pacers. Certainly Purdue’s Big Ten Championship back in 2000 and the Rose Bowl after that stands out. I called Walter Payton’s record breaking run, and that stands out. I worked the first Rose Bowl Purdue went to and the last one, so I go back with the program.”
Assistant Athletics Director of Communications Tom Schott believes that McConnell’s stories have created a strong bond between the two and is the reason why so many people are drawn to McConnell.
“What got us to be friends was his background,” Schott said. “I’m a fan of the history of sports, and I enjoyed his stories of calling games for the Bears and the White Sox and the Twins and all the big games he’s done. Just to hear those stories, for a play-by-play radio announcer wannabe early in life, it was a bit surreal for me. I’ve spent many bus rides and plane trips sitting next to him, just asking him questions about his memories.”
During last Saturday’s game against Michigan State, McConnell was recognized and presented with a plaque for the Joe McConnell radio booth at Ross-Ade Stadium. Athletic director Morgan Burke was shocked by the overwhelming response of the fans.
“I was struck when we did the radio booth deal at the first timeout,” Burke said. “The outpour of the crowd was really amazing. It wasn’t one of those cordial, polite claps. You could feel that people really had their heart and soul in it. I think if you’re someone who was born from 1985 on, that was the voice of Purdue. It will be big shoes to fill, and I’m not sure right now how we’re going to do that, but right now we’re going to celebrate Joe and what he did for Purdue.”
One of McConnell’s greatest attributes as a Purdue broadcaster was the fact that he was a fan of not only the game, but of the Boilermakers as well.
“He grew up a Purdue fan so he’s not an outsider and has a passion for Purdue,” Schott said. “He connected with the average fan in the stands because he was one at one point.
McConnell decided to retire, not because he was tired of the game, but because he felt like he could no longer travel the distances he once could. The thing he will miss the most about broadcasting is the people he has met along the way, including fellow broadcasters Pete Quinn and engineer Gary Kline, which he refers to as his family, and knows that walking away from his passion will be difficult to do.
“Earlier in my career, I did baseball, football and basketball for three different stations in the same market, 120 events a year,” McConnell said. “I had a game every day and that’s how I wanted it.”
In his profession, McConnell is considered a Hall of Fame broadcaster, and he will continue to watch the Boilermakers on Saturdays. His name and voice will continue to be a part of Purdue football for generations to come.