Kevin Harlan

Last updated
Kevin Harlan
Born (1960-06-21) June 21, 1960 (age 63)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. [1]
Education University of Kansas [2]
Years active1982–present
SpouseAnn
Children4, including Olivia
Parent Bob Harlan (father)
Sports commentary career
Genre Play-by-play
Sports

Kevin Robert Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, [3] and a three-time National Sportscaster of the Year (2017, 2019, 2023), he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and the NBA for TNT. [4] 2023 is his 39th consecutive season doing NFL play-by-play, and 2023–24 is his 37th year doing NBA play-by-play. He has broadcast 14 consecutive Super Bowls, the most in radio or television history. He is also the lead NFL radio voice nationally for Westwood One and Monday Night Football since 2009. Overall, he is third all time in the total number of network television sports broadcasts doing play-by-play for one of the four major sports. Harlan has also broadcast more than 500 NFL games on network TV, top 10 all time joining names like Al Michaels and Pat Summerall for play-by-play.

Contents

Until 2008, Harlan was the voice of Westwood One Radio's Final Four coverage of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. In 2009, he began serving as Westwood One's lead announcer for Monday Night Football, calling his first Super Bowl in Super Bowl XLV. Super Bowl 58 was his 14th consecutive Super Bowl for Westwood One (Super Bowls XLV–LVII), the most consecutively in radio and television network history. Harlan also broadcast the CBS HD feed of Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. He also calls the preseason games of his hometown Packers for the team's statewide television network since 2003. He is one of three broadcasters to have more than 3,000 career national network broadcasts of the four major professional sports, along with Dick Stockton and Marv Albert.

Biography

Harlan began broadcasting as a teenager for his alma mater Our Lady of Premontre High School's high school radio station, WGBP-FM, calling play-by-play for the school's boys' basketball, football and ice hockey teams. He was recently inducted into the school's Hall of Fame. He was a ball boy with the Green Bay Packers in his teens during the time that his father, Bob Harlan, was a Packers executive in the front office. He had originally pursued attending either the University of Wisconsin–Madison or the University of Notre Dame in pursuit of his communications/mass media degree, but a personal recommendation from broadcaster Gary Bender to his dad Bob led Kevin to instead attend the University of Kansas and its School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Harlan was introduced to the Jayhawks' primary basketball play-by-play announcer at the time, Tom Hedrick, who noted Harlan's zeal for sports broadcasting and immediately considered him a protégé in the making. Hedrick gave Harlan a sideline position his freshman year, eventually deeming him as his understudy and fill-in announcer on days when he had other commitments. [2] Harlan graduated in 1982 with a broadcast journalism degree. During his time at Kansas, he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. [5]

In 1982, right out of college, at age 22, Harlan became the TV and radio voice of the NBA's Kansas City Kings (now the Sacramento Kings). He was then a basketball announcer for his alma mater, the University of Kansas, for one year, then went on to call games for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs from 1985 to 1993 after several years hosting and producing surrounding pre-game and post-game programming while still in college. Harlan also split time with the University of Missouri (1986–89) calling football and basketball games, and worked as the play-by-play voice of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves for nine seasons (1989–98). On the network level, Harlan called NFL football for NBC in 1991, college football for ESPN in 1992–93, NFL for Fox from 1994 to 97–, and joined Turner Sports in 1996 to broadcast NBA playoff games (he would begin calling games throughout the entire season in 1997, which he continues to do to this day). Harlan broadcast his first NBA All Star game for TNT in 2022, as well as the Western Conference Finals. He began working for CBS in 1998 after four years at FOX. [1] [2]

In addition, Harlan has called Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers preseason games; boxing for Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr. in 1995; basketball games during the now-defunct Goodwill Games, which were owned by Time Warner; college sports on ESPN; and several bowl games during college football seasons. Harlan has also lent his voice on the NBA 2K video game series since 2005.

In 2017, Harlan was voted by his peers as National Sportscaster of the Year by the NSMA. [2] He again was voted National Sportscaster of the Year by the NSMA in 2019. He was also named 2019 National Sportscaster of the Year by The Athletic. In September 2019 Harlan was inducted into the Notre Dame Academy High School Hall of Fame (the former Premontre HS he attended in Green Bay, Wisconsin).

Notable calls

Harlan has a history of injecting humor into situations during games whenever he can, in addition to being able to dramatize even mundane moments not related to the game itself. These include:

May 12, 2008 – Harlan was the play-by-play announcer for TNT's coverage of the NBA second-round playoff game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. Boston led the series 2-1, and Cleveland was leading game four 82-75, when LeBron James drove the lane and finished with a vicious dunk, leading Harlan to exclaim: "LeBron James with no regard for human life!" [6]

September 12, 2016 – Harlan was the radio play-by-play man for Westwood One's coverage of the Monday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, where a fan ran onto the field. Harlan then proceeded to give a play-by-play of security chasing the man. Deadspin referred to the call as an "All Timer". [7]

"Hey, somebody has run out on the field. Some goofball in a hat and a red shirt. Now he takes off the shirt! He’s running down the middle by the 50, he’s at the 30! He’s bare-chested and... BANGING HIS CHEST?! Now he runs the opposite way! He runs to the 50, he runs to the 40, the guy is DRUNK! But there he goes! The 20 — they’re chasing him, but they’re not going to get him! Waving his arms, bare-chested; Somebody stop that man![Referring to the security]Oh, they got him, they’re coming from the left — Oh, and they tackle him at the 40-yard line! [Pause] Whew, that was the most exciting thing to happen tonight."

May 12, 2019 - Harlan was the play-by-play announcer for TNT's coverage of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Toronto Raptors. The game was tied at 90, and Toronto had possession with 4.2 seconds left. Kawhi Leonard received the ball and shot a dramatic buzzer beater that bounced off the rim four times before dropping in, winning the game and the series for Toronto.

It's off to Leonard, defended by Simmons... is this the dagger? (Pause as the ball bounces four times before going in)OHHHHHH!!! GAME!! SERIES!! TORONTO HAS WON!!! [8]

November 4, 2019 – Harlan was the radio play-by-play for Westwood One's coverage of a Monday Night Football game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants where a black cat ran onto the field midway in the second quarter.

"Oh, there's a cat, a black cat has taken the field. A black cat is running from the 20 to the nearside, the 10, from the 39 of Dallas here is a short throw down the middle caught by Engram. Caught at the 35 to the 30, now the cat running the other way and so is Engram at the 25 near the 24 yard line of the Dallas Cowboys. It's a catch-run of 15. Now the cat is stopped at the 50. ( Kurt Warner: So is it bad luck for the Giants, or bad luck for the Cowboys?) I don't know, I don't know but they've stopped play, and the players with hands on hips are watching the cat run and zig zag all over the field. The black cat is on the other end of the field. He's at the eight! (Warner: The cat doesn't know that it was last Thursday that was Halloween, Thursday Night Football, not Monday Night Football.) He's a little bit late. (Warner chuckles) Now he is sitting, and looking, now he's at the five... (Warner: Who brought the cat?) He's walking to the three, he's at the two... and the cat is in the CDW Red Zone, CDW, people who get it- Now a policeman, state troopers come on the field- AND THE CAT RUNS IN THE END ZONE! THAT IS A TOUCHDOWN! And the cat is elusive, kind of like Barkley and Elliott, but he didn’t know where to go! Look at it, they're trying to corner him, and they got him in the end zone. There are state troopers all around this cat which now climbs up into the stands, and the fans are running for their li- Now it goes back on the field again and it's running in the back of the end zone, and it runs up the tunnel.” [9] [10]

November 10, 2019 – The following Sunday, Harlan was the play-by-play announcer for a game between the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals. With Baltimore up 28–10 against Cincinnati, Ravens quarterback and MVP favorite Lamar Jackson used a spin move to elude several Bengals defenders for a 47-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach.

"Here's a second down and 3, Jackson takes it himself. Look at him dart back and forth- OHHHHHH! HE BROKE HIS ANKLES! NOW HE'S GOT AN ENTOURAGE! And he's got a touchdown! HE IS HOUDINI! What a play! 47-yard touchdown run by the magical quarterback Lamar Jackson! WOW!" [11]

December 29, 2019 – Harlan was the television play-by-play commentator for the Los Angeles Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs when he began calling the Miami Dolphins at the New England Patriots game in the Chargers vs Chiefs feed; with a New England loss, the Chiefs would claim the #2 seed in the playoffs and a bye week.

Meanwhile, Miami has first and goal down by four. And they're at the New England four yard line, first and goal. 29 seconds left. Here (in Kansas City) Butker kicks the extra point. And Fitzpatrick throws in the end zone, touchdown Miami! The Dolphins have just scored! Gesicki, the tight end, got a laser in the back of the end zone on a goal-to-go touchdown pass by Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to take a lead with 24 seconds to go! The extra point coming up for Miami, leading New England 26 to 24. And the crowd (in Kansas City) now knows it. ... What a throw by Fitzpatrick, what a touchdown run by Williams, on the last weekend of the regular season in the NFL!

Rich Gannon, the analyst in the booth with Harlan, asked Harlan "I'm getting confused, what game are you calling?", to which Harlan responded with a very enthusiastic "I'M CALLING BOTH GAMES!" [12] [13]

February 7, 2021 – During Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Harlan was the radio play-by-play announcer when, in the closing minutes of the game, a streaker ran onto the field. The streaker was a man dressed in an undersized women's pink one-piece thong-style swimsuit and a pair of dark athletic shorts.

"Someone has run on the field... some guy with a bra! And now, he's not being chased he's running down the middle the 40. Arms in the air in a victory salute. He's pulling down his pants PUT UP YOUR PANTS MY MAN! PUT UP THOSE PANTS! He's being chased to the 30, he breaks a tackle from a security guard, the 20, down the middle the ten, the five, he slides at the one... and they converge on him at the goal line! (pause) Pull up your pants, take off the bra and be a man! And the players with hands on hips at the other end of the field are looking at him and shaking their head, and saying, 'Why, oh, why is this taking place in a Super Bowl?'" [14]

March 16, 2023 - During the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Harlan was on the call, along with Dan Bonner and Stan Van Gundy when #13 Furman scored a go-ahead 3-pointer over #4 Virginia in the Round of 64 with 2.2 seconds to go due to a rogue pass from Virginia's Kihei Clark to Furman's Garrett Hien. Furman would win the game 68-67, giving them a win in their first tournament game since 1980. Video of Harlan making the call later went viral. [15]

"Clark in a straight-jacket-- HE THREW IT AWAY! (Bonner: "OH, HE DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!") HE THREW IT AWAY! HIEN, [JP] PEGUES! GOOD! FURMAN LEADS! TIMEOUT, VIRGINIA! DID WE JUST SEE WHAT WE THINK WE JUST SAW?!? WOW!

Personal life

Harlan has been married to his wife Ann for 36 years, and together they have four children and four grandchildren. Their daughter, Olivia, was a sideline reporter for ESPN, and now SkySports, throughout Europe. She is married to former NBA player Sam Dekker, who currently plays pro basketball in London and in the EuroLeague. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marv Albert</span> American sportscaster

Marv Albert is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also known as "the voice of the New York Knicks". Albert worked for Turner Sports as the lead announcer for NBA games on TNT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Nantz</span> American sportscaster

James William Nantz III is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA, and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has anchored CBS's coverage of the Masters Tournament since 1989 and been the lead play-by-play announcer on CBS's NFL coverage since 2004. He was also the lead broadcaster for the NCAA men's basketball tournament from 1990 to 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Gumbel</span> American sportscaster

Greg Gumbel is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports. The older brother of news and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, he became the first African-American announcer to call play-by-play of a major sports championship in the United States when he announced Super Bowl XXXV for the CBS network in 2001. Gumbel is currently the studio host for CBS' men's college basketball coverage and was a play-by-play broadcaster for the NFL on CBS until 2023.

Richard Edward Stokvis, known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV. In Boston, he called Celtics games for WBZ-TV and Red Sox games for WSBK-TV before transitioning to national broadcasting, which included calling the 1975 World Series for NBC and later, the NBA Finals for CBS. In a career that spanned over five decades, Stockton worked for several different networks, most prominently CBS Sports, Fox Sports, and Turner Sports.

Ray Eugene Scott was an American sportscaster, best known for his broadcasts for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). His brother Hal Scott was also a sportscaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Eagle</span> American sports announcer (born 1969)

Ian Eagle is an American sports announcer. He calls NBA, NFL, and college basketball games on CBS, TNT, and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network and French Open tennis for Tennis Channel. Other announcing experiences include Army–Navy football games, boxing, and NCAA track and field for CBS.

Howard David is an American sportscaster.

The NFL on Westwood One Sports is the branding for Cumulus Broadcasting subsidiary Westwood One's radio coverage of the National Football League. These games are distributed throughout the United States and Canada. The broadcasts were previously branded with the CBS Radio and Dial Global marques; CBS Radio was the original Westwood One's parent company and Dial Global purchased the company in 2011. Dial Global has since reverted its name to Westwood One after merging with Cumulus Media Networks.

Joel Meyers is an American sportscaster who is the play-by-play announcer of the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also is the lead host of "Above the Rim", which airs weekdays from 10am to 1pm ET on SiriusXM NBA Radio. He is also the preseason play-by-play announcer for the New Orleans Saints.

Bradley Ray Nessler is an American sportscaster, who currently calls college football and college basketball games for CBS Sports.

Wayne Larrivee is an American sportscaster. Larrivee is currently the radio play-by-play voice of the Green Bay Packers on the Packers Radio Network alongside color commentator Larry McCarren and calls college football and basketball for the Big Ten Network on television. Despite his current job with the Packers, Larrivee has long been associated with Chicago sports, having spent time as the voice of the Chicago Cubs, over a decade as the voice of the Chicago Bears and nearly twenty years as the television voice of the Chicago Bulls.

Spero Dedes is an American sportscaster. He is currently employed by CBS Sports, calling the NFL, NBA and college basketball as well as Turner Sports' coverage of the NBA. He has also worked as the preseason TV voice of the Los Angeles Chargers. Prior to joining CBS and Turner, he was the radio play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers (2005-2011) and a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Knicks from 2011 to 2014.

Gary Nedrow Bender is a retired American sportscaster and 2008 inductee into the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame. He officially retired, April 13, 2011, from Fox Sports Arizona after 18 years calling the NBA's Phoenix Suns games.

Kevin Paul Calabro is an American sportscaster based in Seattle, Washington. The longtime voice of the former Seattle SuperSonics NBA franchise, Calabro has primarily called NBA basketball but has also announced collegiate football and basketball as well as MLS soccer. From 2016 to 2020, he served as the television play-by-play voice for the Portland Trail Blazers. He rejoined the Portland Trail Blazers as the Play-By-Play Voice for the 2021-22 season after stepping down in 2020 to be with his family in order to avoid exposure to COVID-19. As of the 2015–16 season, Calabro is the lead play-by-play announcer for NBA on ESPN Radio, including NBA Finals games in 2007, 2014 and 2016 alongside personalities such as Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown. Calabro has done ESPN radio play-by-play for the NBA Conference Finals for a decade in addition to being a regular contributor to TNT's NBA broadcasts. Calabro worked college basketball and football games for the Pac-12 Network and postseason college basketball for Westwood One Sports, including NCAA tournament action.

Scott Graham is an American sportscaster, who was previously the play-by play television announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies. He also has worked with NFL Films and has hosted The NFL on Westwood One.

From 1985–1986, the NBC Radio Network was the official, national radio provider for National Football League games. The program succeeded the CBS Radio Network's package.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Burkhardt</span> American sportscaster

Kevin Burkhardt is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play voice for the NFL on Fox and lead studio host for Fox Major League Baseball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Fitzgerald</span> American sports broadcaster

Robert James Fitzgerald is an American sports broadcaster who is currently the TV play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Golden State Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area and was a co-host of the radio talk show Fitz and Brooks on KNBR with Rod Brooks.

Kevin Kugler is an American sportscaster who primarily works in radio broadcasting. Kugler is currently employed by Westwood One as its lead college basketball voice as well as one of its Sunday NFL voices, and by the Big Ten Network as a play-by-play man for college football and college basketball. Kugler is based out of Omaha, Nebraska, where he hosted a daily sports talk show on KOZN until 2012 when he left to focus on his other duties. He won the Nebraska Sportscaster of the Year award nine times.

References

  1. 1 2 "CBS Sports TV Team". Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dougherty, Pete (February 18, 2018). "Elite company for Green Bay's Kevin Harlan". Green Bay Press-Gazette . Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ Hiestand, Michael (May 4, 2012). "Announcer Kevin Harlan knows best of NBA and NCAA hoops worlds". USA Today. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ "NBA on TNT 05-06". TNT. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Sigma Chi - University of Kansas - Spring 2017 Newsletter".
  6. ↑ "LeBron James No Regard for Human Life". foxsports.com. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  7. ↑ Burke, Timothy (13 September 2016). "Kevin Harlan's Play-By-Play Radio Call Of The MNF Idiot On The Field Is An All-Timer". deadspin.com. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  8. ↑ Deitsch, Richard (May 29, 2023). "Kevin Harlan on calling the historic Heat-Celtics Game 7: 'I'm humbled'". theathletic.com. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  9. ↑ "Listen to Kevin Harlan's amazing call of black cat running on field during Cowboys-Giants". Touchdown Wire. USA Today Sports. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  10. ↑ "Tweet from Westwood One Sports". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
  11. ↑ Madu, Zito (2019-11-12). "The 3 victims of Lamar Jackson's spin move I feel most sorry for". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  12. ↑ "Kevin Harlan is a LEGEND for calling two games at once the Chiefs Game & the Patriots Game 🔥🔥🔥". YouTube. 2019-12-29. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  13. ↑ Warren Sharp (2019-12-29). "Warren Sharp on Twitter: "Kevin Harlan is OUTSTANDING."". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-03-17.
  14. ↑ "Kevin Harlan's Funny Commentary of a Fan Running on Field". YouTube. 2021-02-07. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  15. ↑ "Kevin Harlan's call of the Furman game-winner was ELECTRIC ⚡️". YouTube .
  16. ↑ "Olivia Harlan Bio". Atlanta Hawks. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
Preceded by Monday Night Football national radio play-by-play announcer
2010–present		Succeeded by
Incumbent
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.