"Whoa, Nellie!" Keith Jackson was a one of a kind

Do you ever have another one of those days where you discover another part of your
childhood and for that matter adulthood gone?

That moment came on Saturday morning as I was running errands. I looked at my
Facebook news feed on my phone and one of my friends posted that iconic sportscaster
Keith Jackson died at age 89.

Jackson was a play-by-play broadcaster for a variety of sports but is best known for his
work as a college football broadcaster. When you heard his voice, you knew it was college
football Saturday. Jackson’s broadcasting work included Major League Baseball, NBA,
boxing, auto racing, PGA golf, the USFL and Olympic Games.

His voice was a mixture of intelligence, folksy and distinctive with a deep cadence.
The tone of Jackson’s voice was considered akin to Edward R. Murrow reporting on
World War II. Though I mean no disrespect to others, Jackson was the authority when
it came to college football and everyone else was batting second.

Jackson’s evolution to iconic status is one I find incredibly fascinating. Jackson grew up
on a farm in Georgia, just outside the Alabama state line. He was the lone surviving child
in a poor family and grew up listening to sports on the radio. After enlisting and serving
in the U.S. Marine Corps, he attended Washington State University under the G.I. Bill. He
became interested in broadcasting and the rest, as they say, is history.

Like many legendary broadcasters, Jackson had his go-to expressions. With Marv Albert,
you have “YES, and it counts!” With Dick Enberg, it was “OH my!” With Bill King, it was
“HOLY Toledo!” I could give endless examples but in the interest of space, I’ll focus on
Jackson because of timeliness. First there was “Whoa, Nellie!” If there was a fumble,
Jackson would inflect “Fum-BLE!” My other favorite when there was a penalty was “Hold
the phonnnnnne!” It wasn’t so much the words but the inflections.

He would commonly refer to offensive and defensive linemen as the “Big Uglies.” I
remember watching one game where the camera cut away to a full moon. Jackson in
his deep Southern drawl uttered, “That there is a possum huntin’ moon.” Jackson was
also known for describing big bodied guys as “That guy is as big as a hus (meaning
horse).” Among other things, Jackson was known for coining the phrase “The Big
House” in reference to Michigan Stadium.

There were a couple of other phrases I remember that were more isolated. I forget the
teams that were involved but that’s immaterial. One of such games involved a blowout
and in the fourth quarter, coaches on both sides pulling their starters from the game.
The camera panned to a star player and Jackson goes, “If he lights a cigar, he ain’t
comin’ back.” Another game involved a running back fighting really hard for extra
yardage and while describing the action, Jackson utters, “He’s a fightin’ and a scratchin’
and a kickin’ and a churnin’”

Jackson’s passing resonates for me on a different level. Though I have spent most of
my life in Napa, CA, I got my Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Nebraska in
Journalism. I won’t go into the current state of Nebraska football other than saying we
are like a fallen champ trying to rise from the canvas. I lived in Lincoln, NE, from
1994-1998. The Huskers won three National Championships in four years. That era was
one of greatness I will never forget. Since Jackson was the lead voice of college football,
I had the pleasure of hearing him do a number of Nebraska games.

However, even if Jackson was not broadcasting your team’s game, you would watch to
hear any phrases or stories Jackson would tell. Even as generations changed, Jackson
still had an old-fashioned but yet wide-eyed love for the sport. That quality is significant
because if any organization can bring out your cynical side, it is the NCAA. Jackson,
however, shunned controversy -- or at least he addressed such issues at no more of
a level than he needed. In short, Jackson stayed true to being a member of the media
rather than a story-breaking journalist.

Jackson was set to retire after the 1998 season but later had a change of heart. ABC
suggested that Jackson concentrate on Pac 10 games so as to limit his travel, in part
due to advancing age, so as to stay close to his Southern California home.

We were treated to seven more years of the iconic one and his final game was the
Rose Bowl, otherwise known as “The Granddaddy of Them All.” His final game was
the 2006 Rose Bowl as Texas rallied to defeat USC 41-38, one of the best games in
college football history.

Though he had not been in a broadcast booth since that night, I have no doubt that when
I watch my first college football game next season, I will be thinking of Keith Jackson.

I might have to christen the season by yelling at my TV, “Whoa, Nellie!”