Favorite Keith Jackson broadcasts
We lost a giant in the broadcasting world on Friday night. The great Keith Jackson passed away at the age of 89.
Instantly after hearing word of Jackson’s passing via Todd Harris’ Twitter, memories of my childhood started to crop up. I’ve always had dreams of being a broadcaster/journalist and Keith Jackson was an inspiring figure into what I know consider my career.
Keith Jackson called some great games. Here are my five favorite broadcasts that I watched live.
2006 BCS National Championship Game: #1 USC vs. #2 Texas (Keith Jackson’s final call)
This is one of the greatest college football games I’ve ever witnessed. The intros for the old ABC BCS intros were iconic and no one did them better than Keith Jackson.
HEEEEEE GOT IT!
2001 National Championship: #1 Miami vs. #2 Nebraska
The Miami Hurricanes defined swagger. I loved, loved, loved this Miami team. So many bad asses and they played with an edge. Whenever Miami is doing good in college football, I love it. Even to this day. Seeing them win a National Title again in Pasadena of all places was pretty special.
2001 Rose Bowl: Washington vs. Purdue
I really liked Washington with Marques Tuiasosopo. They travelled to Provo to play BYU in the opener of the 1999 season. I’m also a sucker for special Rose Bowl logos on helmets like the one’s Purdue had.
1998 National Championship: #1 Tennessee vs. #2 Florida State
How has this been nearly 20 years ago already? In a sport that has looked to fix how they crown a National Champion, it was a big deal having #1 vs. #2. This was supposed to be Keith’s final broadcast until he made a comeback.
2003: BYU at #3 USC
I couldn’t find the actual broadcast to this game. But this is the only game in my lifetime that Jackson called involving BYU. I was at this game in Los Angeles, but when I returned home to Salt Lake, my mom had recorded a copy of the game on VHS. (That was always stressful empowering someone else to run the recording of a game on a cassette player).
BYU gave the Trojans a scare, but ultimately came up short. This was the beginning of the USC dynasty.
If anyone has a link to this game, shoot me a DM or email.
Thanks for all the great memories Keith! May you rest in peace.
