James F. Mueller (May 23, 1943 – August 17, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was a radio announcer for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1975 to 1995, and was a sports anchor on Cleveland TV newscasts through most of the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life and education

Mueller was born on May 23, 1943, in

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

. He later moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and became a reservist in the

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

while playing

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He had a training camp stint with the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

of the

(NFL) after college, but it was ended by a severe ankle injury. He also played for a semi-professional team in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. After his football career, he worked for a time as a commercial airline pilot.

Broadcasting career

In 1968, Mueller became a

sports anchor In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

at WPTV-TV in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. Following three years there, he was hired by WHAS-TV in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, to anchor the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. sports reports. During this time, he also served as the Louisville Cardinals football announcer on the WHAS radio. In March 1972, he was recognized by governor Julian Carroll, who commissioned him a

Kentucky Colonel Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and is the most well-known of a number of honorary colonelcies conferred by United States governors. A Kentucky Colonel Commission (the certificate) is ...

, which is the highest title of honor in the state. In December 1972, Mueller moved to South Florida and became the noon and weekend sports anchor at

WTVJ WTVJ (channel 6) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Fort Lauderdale–licensed WSCV (ch ...

. He also was a play-by-play commentator for the

Miami Hurricanes football The Miami Hurricanes football team represents the University of Miami in college football. The Hurricanes compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Coastal Division of the Atlanti ...

team as well as preseason announcer for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

. In his two years at the station, Mueller did numerous CBS network reports covering

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, and other events including the

Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman, billed as ''The Sunshine Showdown'', was a professional boxing match in Kingston, Jamaica contested on January 22, 1973, for the WBA, WBC and '' The Ring'' heavyweight championships. Background In a matchup ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

match. On June 30, 1974, Mueller resigned from WJTV to become sports director at WJKW (now WJW), where he worked through 1983. From 1983 to 1987, he was the lead sports anchor at

WKYC WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's longti ...

. Mueller was named commentator for the

radio network in 1975, working alongside

Gib Shanley Gib Shanley (August 6, 1931 – April 6, 2008) was an American sportscaster, most prominently known as sports director for ABC affiliate WEWS-TV, Channel 5 in Cleveland, Ohio, and as the longtime play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Browns of ...

. He also occasionally did play-by-play radio announcing for both the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. In 1985, Mueller became part of the three-man radio crew for the Browns, with

Nev Chandler Neville A. "Nev" Chandler, Jr. (October 2, 1946 in Lakewood, Ohio – August 7, 1994 in Rocky River, Ohio) was a Cleveland, Ohio-area sports broadcaster. Life and career Chandler graduated from Rocky River High School and, in 1968, Northwestern ...

doing play-by-play, Mueller commentary, and

Doug Dieken Douglas Heye Dieken (born February 12, 1949) is a retired left tackle and radio color analyst for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). From 1971-2022, he had 51 years of association with the Browns in various capacities - ...

joining Mueller as an analyst. He remained a commentator with Cleveland until the franchise suspended in 1996. Mueller was commentator for some of the most memorable seasons in Browns history, including the 1980 "Kardiac Kids" and the Bernie Kosar era. When the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, Mueller was named public address announcer at the

Cleveland Browns Stadium FirstEnergy Stadium is a stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, primarily for American football. It is the home field of the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), and serves as a venue for other events such as college and h ...

. Mueller also served as the public address announcer at the Michigan International Speedway for 33 years until retiring in 2017. He additionally served as the commercial voice for the Mullinax Ford and Pat O'Brien

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

following his sportscasting career. Throughout his broadcasting career, Mueller had an impact on many people who went on to have successful sportscasting careers. John Telich, who was mentored by Mueller at WJKW, later said of him: "Jim was a godsend to me when I came to the station in 1980. He introduced me to everybody in town and I mean everyone because Jim was so well connected with athletes, coaches and front office people. Jim was exacting. He cared about the product and wanted to make sure that I, a young ambitious guy, had the same high standards. I will always be grateful for everything he did for me."

Personal life and death

Mueller was a big fan of auto racing, and went as far as to become a

Sports Car Club of America The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

(SCCA) driver. He was associated with the

Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...

organization. Mueller co-founded the Sports Media Associates of Cleveland and Ohio (SMACO) and was its first president for six years, before being named executive director for life in 1982. For 23 years, he hosted the Jim Mueller SMACO Charity Golf Classic, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various organizations. Mueller was inducted into the Radio/Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame of Ohio in 2005. Mueller died on August 17, 2022, at the age of 79. His death was announced by Jim Donovan, his successor as voice of the Cleveland Browns, at the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

–Cleveland Browns preseason game.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, Jim 1943 births 2022 deaths Cleveland Browns announcers Cleveland Indians announcers Cleveland Cavaliers announcers American sports announcers Sports commentators People from Owensboro, Kentucky Florida Gators football players United States Marine Corps reservists Players of American football from Kentucky Commercial aviators College football announcers American radio sports announcers Miami Hurricanes football announcers Miami Dolphins announcers American racing drivers