Human interest: Toby Rowland and the legacy of being the voice

The Voices of Oklahoma football bring life to a team that multiple generations of Sooners proudly claim as their own. The newest voice to join the lineup is the successor to Bob Barry Sr., Toby Rowland, who won the job as the underdog.

Toby Rowland re-signed his contract with the Sooners this past season, but to fans and Rowland, there is more than just being the voice.

The history of the job and those who’ve come before him are a constant reminder how honored he is to sit in such a prestigious chair, Rowland says he felt lucky but looked at Barry Sr. as reassurance he was doing the job justice.

Barry Sr. passed away a few months after Rowland claimed the post as his own but looks back at his mentor with respect and lessons learned.

Rowland starts game day by walking past a plaque. A plaque, which deems the six floor of the press box as the Bob Barry Sr. Broadcasting Level, is located next to the elevator.

Rowland says at the beginning of each radio show, he is working from the Barry Sr. broadcasting level, to bring attention back to the voice that has changed the job for many listeners and him.

He sits down in the same chair as Barry Sr. on Saturday morning and intricately highlights his new Spotter board. Rowland said he thinks of Bob as well as other former voices, when he sits in the chair, and he feels honored. The chair is sacred to Rowland.

Barry Sr. left a mark on Sooner football as well as Sooner fans through his ability to bring more to the job than just play calling on Saturdays.

Michael Dean, the former radio engineer for Barry Sr., spent 20 years alongside the Sooner voice but began listening to him as a third grader. Dean moved away from Oklahoma in elementary school but spent his summers in Norman listening to Barry Sr. on the radio.

Dean said he knew he wanted to work in radio. He would listen to Barry Sr. on the morning show on KNOR and compare him to the voices he heard in Kansas City while he was living there.

Dean said it was Barry Sr.’s delivery style while broadcasting football on radio that drew him into working in radio. He described the game with enough detail listeners could see the game.

“What made Bob good in 1961 when he started doing OU games, gosh 1961 I don’t think any games were on television, and that didn’t even started until the late ‘60s,” Dean said. “Bob would describe everything so that you could close your eyes and you could see the football field and you could see all the football players, and what was going on. He was just excellent at that.”

After ten years with the Sooners, Barry Sr. lost his job due to a contact change between broadcasting companies. Oklahoma State offered Barry Sr. and Jack Ogle the position in Stillwater, in hopes television personalities would be able to bring more on-air time to games.

Barry Sr. manned the play-by-play calling post in Stillwater for 19 years, making an impact on Cowboys fans regardless of considering himself a Sooner fan, born and bred.

Dean said one of Barry Sr.’s best qualities was his ability to bring the same talent to any team regardless of his allegiances on the field. The Sooner voice was able to be the Cowboy voice, and bring the same personable touch to each game.

Barry Sr. ended his time in Stillwater due to his wife’s deteriorating medical condition, and could no longer make the journey from Norman to Stillwater for home games. He re-signed with the Sooners in the fall of 1991, where he stayed until retiring in 2011.

Dean said the Sooners held a moment during the half of his last home game in Norman. Oklahoma honored him with a banner from the press box and declared the sixth floor the ‘Bob Barry Broadcast Level’. Barry Sr. walked onto Owen Field with 85,000 fans on their feet giving him a standing ovation for his time with the Sooners.

Dean said Barry Sr. had the same closing statement with the Cowboys during his final season in on the radio. The Sooners traveled to Stillwater, and a Cowboys marketing group produced a video tribute in which 65,000 odd fans stood to give Barry Sr. a standing ovation during the beginning of the second quarter.

The radio engineer said Barry Sr. made many feel as if he was their second father, and touched everyone he worked with, regardless of his role in their position at a news station or in the press box.

“Everyone who worked with him, around him or for him said the same thing. He became like a second father to all of those guys. It was true,” Dean said.

When the job opened up, Toby Rowland placed his application in the pile of handfuls of others who were gunning for a spot in the chair.

Rowland thought to be the play-by-play caller was the pinnacle of success for sports jobs and began pursuing it the moment he realized accounting was not his passion. He remembered working through debits and credits, then realizing he could not spend the rest of his life being an accountant.

He said he went straight to his father who asked what would be the greatest job he could have. Rowland told his father being a sports broadcaster would be the greatest job.

Rowland said if his father had told him that path was illogical, he would have listened to him because his opinion and support has been the most important part of his relationship with him. But Rowland’s father told him to go to what he was passionate about, sports.

He spent his time as a Sooner fan growing up in Mustang, Oklahoma before moving to Indiana before high school began. Rowland said he enjoyed being the only Sooner fan in his new town and came back to college in Oklahoma.

Rowland received a scholarship for basketball at Southern Nazarene University but did not play basketball all four years. After quitting basketball, he dedicated his time to immerse himself in journalism and learning to be a play-by-play analyst for SNU basketball games.

After graduation, Rowland started at News 9 in Oklahoma City where he moved from intern to reporter then to anchor where he was producing shows as well.

After ten years with the Griffin Communications station, Rowland was ready for the next possible step. He began the sideline reporter for the Sooners with Sooner Sports Productions, which was his stepping-stone to applying for the announcing position. Rowland started working with Barry Sr. and was able to begin his mentor relationship.

Rowland said he and Barry Sr. would talk after games, and soon it became a relationship in which Rowland would ask for tips about improvement but Barry Sr. continued with positive reinforcement.

After two years of Barry Sr. in the press box and Rowland on the sideline, Barry Sr. was hanging up the microphone for the last time and the hunt started for the next voice.

Looking back, Rowland said he is unsure whether Barry Sr. was involved in the hiring process or if his mentor recommended him for the job. As soon as Rowland was offered the position, and later accepted it, Barry Sr. endorsed him. The now Sooner voice said Barry Sr.’s endorsement meant a lot to him.

“As far as I know, Bob [did not] have anything to do with my hiring. If he recommended me, I was never told that. He did endorse me after I got the job which meant a lot to me,” Rowland said.

Greg Blackwood, Chief Photojournalist at News 9, was working with Rowland when the application process began. He said he did not see Rowland as the next Voice of the Sooners because he did not have the booming, robust voice for the job.

“Oh gosh no, I didn’t think Rowland was going to be the right fit for the job. He belonged in front of the camera,” Blackwood said.

Blackwood said it was not for a lack of talent, but he saw Rowland with an abundance of on-camera talent. He said Rowland remained creative in front of the camera with story approaches, but did not imagine him behind a microphone when he could connect with people seeing his face.

Blackwood said he remembered several moments standing out while working with Rowland. The photojournalist said Rowland was the most creative with any story and was able to produce stories from a different angle.

Blackwood said Rowland has never met a stranger, which made him fit for on-camera work. Rowland had an ability on camera to draw people in with being personable. Blackwood said his traits were those people used for “big times” but Rowland was able to use them during his daily work, enabling him to stand out.

Now, Rowland re-signed for the Sooners for another five years. Rowland said if he could have Barry Sr. back to guide him through this job, he would want him to be there to help him continue to grow.

When asked, Rowland is not sure what he would like to ask Barry Sr. if he had the chance.

“Hopefully, I don’t get too emotional talking about this. Please don’t make me cry, and then it will go downhill from here. Honestly, no one has asked me this question before,” Rowland said.

Rowland later said if he could ask Barry Sr. one question about the job, there is one particular question he would like to ask.

“Where are the best places to eat on the road?,” Rowland said.

Out of respect, Rowland said he has reserved Barry Sr. phrases for his late mentor. Although, he said, there have been listeners who wish Rowland would go back to the way Barry Sr. called games. The newest voice said he reserves those phrases for the voice who started them but has told listeners he will keep their opinions under consideration.

Dean stated in the five years Rowland has been the Voice, he has put his stamp on the job.

“Bob liked the way he changed things, he approved of [those changes],” Dean said.

Rowland has been able to make the working space on the Bob Barry Sr. Broadcasting Level the same as the way Barry Sr. left it. Dean and Blackwood said Rowland believes in those he works with, and he does not call attention to mistakes, as he knows his co-workers are there to do their best. Dean said Barry created the same caring, father-like atmosphere for those who worked alongside him.

Dean said Barry Sr. spent his last week describing everything as being good. He felt good, and he spent his time after retirement feeling good.

“Toby is not going to tell you this, the last conversation he had with Bob… he came up here for one of the pressers, and he was up here before the Kansas State game. I would record him doing a Sooner football history, and he visited with Toby and then visited with me,” Dean said.

Barry Sr. spent his last conversation with Rowland with Dean not far away, telling him how proud he was of Rowland for his contribution to the job, the chair, and the legacy. It was the beginning of Rowland’s first season, and Barry Sr. was nothing but proud of him for his ability to make the job unique. The former voice was proud of him for not seeking to make an impact, as it was the best way to do so.

Barry Sr. passed away six days after speaking to Rowland for the last time. Rowland said he thinks of those who have sat in the chair before him when he starts the day before a game. He reserves ‘Touchdown Sooners!’ for Barry Sr., as it was his signature.

Rowland thinks back on his mentor on game day, in particular, sitting in the same chair and walking past the plaque in his memory.

“The plaque is special. It’s a nice reminder sometimes just seeing his face,” Rowland said.

Robert Guyton “Bob” Barry Senior 1931–2011