Whoa, Nellie!

In honor of Keith Jackson.

- Loyd Mcintosh

REGARDED AS ONE OF THE BEST sports announcers of all time, Keith Jackson passed away at the age of 89 on January 12 of this year, less than a week after the NCAA College Football Playoff National Championship game—an appropriate time, considering how intertwined he was with the game. While Jackson covered many sports for ABC over his 54-year career, working from the booth at a college football stadium is where he belonged. He was the voice of college football.

Jackson began covering college football games for ABC in 1952, only missing one college season to be part of the inaugural season of NFL’s Monday Night Football in 1970. During his career, Jackson called 16 Sugar Bowls and 15 Rose Bowls. He also, of course, coined many terms that became catchphrases, including his signature expression “Whoa, Nellie!”—an expression he claimed actually came from announcer Dick Lane—and others, like “fum-BLE” and “Hold the phone!”—a phrase he normally dropped following a penalty flag. He is also credited with first describing Michigan Stadium as “The Big House”—a name that has been synonymous with the stadium for decades.