Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 SEPT. 9, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH ECHOES JIM LEFEBVRE F or anyone who followed University of Notre Dame football in the pe- riod of 1980 to 2006, his voice was unmistakable and iconic. Calling special seasons and magical moments … Harry Oliver beating Mich- igan with a 51-yarder … Tim Brown's run to the Heisman in 1987 … Tony Rice and the national champions of 1988 … Rocket Ismail taking one to the house … Tom Zbikowski's punt return touch- down versus USC … Brady Quinn to Jeff Samardzija. Tony Roberts, who brought them all to Notre Dame fans across the country as the radio voice of the Fighting Irish, died at age 94, just a few hours before Notre Dame began the 2023 season ver- sus Navy Aug. 26. His was a Hall of Fame career in which he "did it all." A model of prepa- ration and professionalism, Roberts applied his considerable skills to a vast array of sporting events. Major League Baseball. National Basketball Association. The British Open. Several Olympics, winter and summer. And, of course, college football. Plenty of col- lege football. "Broadcasting Notre Dame football was the highlight of my 50 years in the business," Roberts said in a 2019 inter- view. "It made my career." Roberts broadcast more Notre Dame football games than any announcer in the 100 years that the Fighting Irish have been on the air. In addition, he called more Army-Navy games, in- cluding 33 in a row, than anyone, and more college football bowl games than anyone. Roberts played a little football as well, while in military service at Camp Drake in Japan from 1951-53. His team won the Armed Services championship two straight years, including one unbeaten season. A Chicago native, Roberts earned a degree in journalism from the city's Co- lumbia College and began his career like so many in radio and television — in a series of jobs with progressively larger stations and markets. Clinton in Iowa. Macomb, Decatur and Springfield in Illinois. Gary and Valparaiso in Indiana. It was those years in the smaller mar- kets when he really honed his craft. "I wanted to do it all, and I was doing what I wanted to do," he said. "When you're doing a high school football game, you tell yourself that it's a Notre Dame-Army game or a Notre Dame- Michigan game; you treat every game like a big game." In 1970, he made his breakthrough into the "big leagues" in Washington, where he called Senators baseball, Bul- lets basketball and Navy football. He was voted Washington, D.C., Sports- caster of the Year seven times before moving on to the Mutual network, which later became Westwood One/ CBS radio. In 1980, the move into the Notre Dame broadcast booth was a natural for someone already so accomplished. Rob- erts' list of career honors is extensive. He was inducted into the College Foot- ball Hall of Fame's broadcasting wing, the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame (the first announcer so honored). In 2016, he received the highest honor yet — induction into the Na- tional Radio Hall of Fame. And in 2019, he received the Rockne Communicator Award from the Knute Rockne Memo- rial Society. From 1980 to 2006, Roberts was the play-by-play radio voice of Fighting Irish football. He passed away Aug. 26 at the age of 94. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Tony Roberts Had A Voice That Was Synonymous With Irish Football