Keith Jackson
Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018)[3] was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his career, he is best known for his coverage of college football from 1952 until 2006, and his distinctive voice,[4] "a throwback voice, deep and operatic. A voice that was to college football what Edward R. Murrow's was to war. It was the voice of ultimate authority in his profession."[5]
For other people named Keith Jackson, see Keith Jackson (disambiguation).
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
A farmer's son,[6] Jackson was born in Roopville, Georgia and grew up on a farm outside Carrollton, near the Alabama state line.[7] He was the only surviving child in a poor family and grew up listening to sports on the radio.[7] After enlisting and serving as a mechanic[6] in the United States Marine Corps, he attended Washington State University in Pullman under the G.I. Bill.[8] Jackson began as a political science major, but he became interested in broadcasting.[9] He graduated in 1954 with a degree in speech communications.[10]
Broadcast career[edit]
Though best known for his college football broadcasts, Jackson announced numerous other sports for ABC throughout his career, including Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, boxing, auto racing, PGA Tour golf, the USFL, and the Olympic Games. He briefly worked college basketball with Dick Vitale.[11] Jackson also served as the pregame, halftime, and postgame anchor for ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII in 1988. During his on-air tenure, he is credited with nicknaming the Rose Bowl as "The Grandaddy of Them All" and Michigan Stadium as "The Big House".[12]