Sitting high atop Neyland Stadium in the visitor’s broadcast perch, where the wedged-in University of Alabama radio team was preparing to broadcast the Crimson Tide’s game against Tennessee this season, Tom Roberts reflected on some of his previous trips to Knoxville.
There had been a lot of them over the years, which always had the same determining factor for how good of a trip it would be. That included the first one in 1966, when Roberts was working as the assistant sports editor of the Crimson White student newspaper.
“We left Tuscaloosa at 7 a.m. in a pouring rain, and it rained all day and all through the game,” he said. “That was the one we won when Gary Wright, right down here, kicked it wide right, and we beat the Vols.
“It was wonderful.”
While that game was also highlighted by a 14-play drive led by renowned quarterback Kenny Stabler, with kicker Steve Davis making a 17-yard field goal with 3 minutes and 23 seconds to go for an 11-10 final score, little did Roberts know that it was just the beginning of an illustrious career with Alabama football.
From national championships to highlight after highlight after highlight, Roberts has been there for them all, along with the various coaches and standout players. From being the network’s statistician, a position that he held until turning it over to his son Brian in 1998, he’s nearly the only thing that they all have in common.
“In the summer of ’79, Charlie Thornton called me and said, ‘Tommy, we need someone to do scores on the network. Would you be interested?’ I tell people all of the time, after I got up off the floor I said, ‘Yes! I’ll be happy to do it.’ I never asked what it would pay or if they would pay for my travel or anything. I was just excited to be on the radio network.”
For years Thornton was Alabama’s assistant athletic director and Alabama’s chief fundraiser, but perhaps best known as being a co-host of the Bear Bryant Show. Meanwhile, Roberts’ “day job” at the time was at WVTM-TV in Birmingham, where over the years he served as a producer, assignment editor, assistant news director, news and sports anchor/reporter. He continued to work in the news and sports departments until taking over as the station’s news director from 1994-99.
On Saturdays, though, he was at Bryant-Denny Stadium or wherever the Crimson Tide was scheduled to play, and his enthusiasm has never waivered.
Nevertheless, when Alabama hosts Auburn this week it’ll be Roberts’ last home game in the broadcast booth. At the end of this season he’s retiring as Director of Broadcasting at Crimson Tide Sports Network, a role held since 1999.
While some know him as the host of the game-day broadcast, the pre-game and halftime shows, and the man behind the microphone for both “Hey Coach” and “The Nick Saban Show,” Roberts has also been the network’s key person behind the scenes as well.
He’s the one who has worked out the contracts with all of the radio stations throughout the state and region to carry Crimson Tide broadcasts – from Nashville to Apalachicola, Fla. — which annually brings in millions in revenue.
“He’s been our leader both on the air and off, seemingly forever,” said Eli Gold, who is now in his third decade as the voice of the Crimson Tide. “He’s done it all, he’s been part of it forever,”
“There’s nobody who doesn’t know Tom Roberts’ voice. We’ll miss him.”
In turn, Roberts will miss the others on the broadcast team as well, especially the dinner buddies. Among the things the Crimson Tide radio road crew is especially known for is eating at the most desirable restaurant the night before road games. At many places they don’t even need a reservation anymore.
“I’m going to miss the atmosphere on the road,” Roberts said. “I’ll won’t miss the trips. I’ll miss eating. We have a great place to eat in every town we go to. I’m going to miss those.”
Well, Roberts still plans to eat well, just in different circumstances as he and his new wife hope to travel a lot, but also spend more time with their families. Many of the stories he could tell would be worth a lot more than any tip he could leave.
Among the scores of prized memories the national championship games stand out, including Alabama’s win over Miami for the 1992 title and the dominating victory over Notre Dame at the end of the 2012 season. There’s all the venues, the bowls he’s worked, and the games against that “other” traditional opponent as well.
“Wins over Auburn come in there pretty close, too, because they are the rival, and after Cam Newton in Tuscaloosa it became No. 1 on my list,” Roberts said. “Tennessee had always been No. 1 to me. It’s kind of 1 and 1A, now.”
Roberts doesn’t know yet when and where his last game broadcast will originate, only that it’ll be over the next couple of months depending on how well the Crimson Tide finishes up this season. Perhaps it’ll be at a bowl game, but he can’t help but wonder what being part of the inaugural College Football Playoff would be like, with semifinal games at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, and then the championship at A&T Stadium in Texas.
“Obviously I’d love to be playing Jan. 12th in Dallas,” Roberts said. “It would be so wonderful to close it out with a national championship. But if we don’t it won’t be the end of the world because I’ve seen so many great teams, great coaches, great players down through the years. It’s fun regardless.”
Outside of that?
“A win over Auburn,” he answered as a final wish. “You’d love your last regular-season game to be a win over the arch-rival.”
So for now Alabama’s 34-20 victory on Oct. 25 is holding him over: The final time he made the trek to Tennessee, sat in that radio booth and watched the fans in orange try and deal with another loss.
“It is fun to win them, and this place, Tennessee is the most fun of all,” he said. “It’s so much fun to win in this stadium.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
