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Joseph Fredrick McConnell (March 10, 1939 – April 8, 2018) was an American sports announcer.

Early life and career

McConnell was born in Rochester, Indiana, and grew up in Goodland, Indiana. He was a 1962 graduate of Franklin College, and his broadcasting career began in 1962 at Purdue's campus radio station, WBAA. McConnell served as assistant sports information director at Purdue from 1965 to 1967.

Broadcasting experience

McConnell's experience includes 23 seasons in the National Football League as the voice of the Denver Broncos (1969), Minnesota Vikings (1971–76 and 1985–87), Chicago Bears[1] (1977–84), Indianapolis Colts (1992-94) and Tennessee Oilers[2] (1997–98); seven seasons in the National Basketball Association as the voice of the Phoenix Suns (1970–72) and Indiana Pacers[1] (1972–77); and seven seasons in Major League Baseball as the voice of the Minnesota Twins (1978–79) and Chicago White Sox (1980-84).[3] McConnell also spent five seasons (1991–95) as lead voice for the NBA Radio Network.

He has broadcast three Super Bowls, the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association championships, the NBA All-Star Game and the American League Championship Series. Additionally, McConnell has broadcast Northwestern football (1988) and Indiana State (1978–79), DePaul (1984–88), Illinois (1987–88), Notre Dame (1987–88) and Northwestern men's basketball (1989–94).

Joe McConnell had most recently served for 15 seasons as play-by-play announcer for Purdue football, from 1995 to 2009.[4]

Awards and honors

He was honored with the AP/UPI Play-by-Play Sportscaster of the Year Award five times and was the Indiana Sportscaster of the Year in 2000 and the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year in 1981.

In 2006, he received a nomination for the National Football Foundation's Chris Schenkel Award, presented to a college football broadcaster.[5] Upon his retirement, at halftime of his final broadcast of the game between Purdue and Indiana University on November 21, 2009, he was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash,[6] the highest award that the Indiana governor can bestow, award by Governor Mitch Daniels.

In 2017, McConnell's was elected to the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame.[7]

Death and legacy

McConnell died on April 8, 2018, in Indianapolis, Indiana, at age 79.[8]

Upon his retirement as the voice of the Boilermakers, Purdue Athletics named the visiting team radio booth at Ross-Ade Stadium for McConnell.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Bears' Announcer". Times Daily. United Press International. 1977-04-19. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
  2. ^ Organ, Mike. "Original voice of the Tennessee Titans/Oilers Joe McConnell dies". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  3. ^ "White Sox fire play-by-play announcer Joe McConnell". St. Petersburg Times. 1984-10-17. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
  4. ^ Editor, Laura Henry, Assistant Sports (19 November 2009). "Voice of Purdue football to call last game after 46 years on radio". Purdue Exponent. Retrieved 2020-11-17. ((cite web)): |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Broadcast News". Purdue University. 2006-09-18. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2010-09-26.
  6. ^ Rosenthal, Phil (9 April 2018). "Joe McConnell, former voice of the Bears and White Sox, has died". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  7. ^ "Tracking the Boilermakers". Purdue University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  8. ^ "Former White Sox broadcaster McConnell dies". MLB. 2018-04-08. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  9. ^ Carmin, Mike. "Longtime Purdue football radio voice passes away". Journal and Courier. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
Preceded byFred Manfra National radio play-by-play announcer, NBA Finals 1991–1995 Succeeded byBrent Musburger
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