HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...
executive Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NFL and
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
games on CBS and the NBA for TNT. 2022 will be his 38th consecutive season doing NFL play by play, and 2022-23 will be his 37th year broadcasting the NBA. He is a two time National Sportscaster of the Year. Overall he is third all time in the total number of network sports broadcasts doing play by play of one of the four major sports. Until 2008, Harlan was the voice of Westwood One Radio's Final Four coverage. In 2010, he began serving as Westwood One's lead announcer for ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...
'', calling his first Super Bowl in Super Bowl XLV. He has broadcast 12 consecutive Super Bowls for Westwood One, Super Bowls XLV-LVI. Twelve is the most consecutively in radio, and television, network history (Jack Buck broadcast nine straight). 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. In 2017 and 2019, he was voted the National Sportscaster of the Year by his peers. In total, Harlan has broadcast 13 Super Bowls and five Final Fours. He is one of three broadcasters to have more than 3000 national network broadcasts in his career, along with Dick Stockton and Marv Albert, of the four major sports.


Biography

Harlan began broadcasting as a teenager for his alma mater Our Lady of Premontre High School's
high school radio High school radio are radio stations located at high schools and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision. The oldest extant high school AM radio station is AM 1450 KBPS in Portland, Oregon. Portland radio station KBPS, first ...
station,
WGBP-FM WGBP-FM was an FM high school radio station at Premontre High School in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The station operated on 90.1 MHz between 1975 and 1990. History On November 30, 1973, Premontre High School applied to build and operate a 10-wat ...
, 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 The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...
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 A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
or the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...
in pursuit of his communications/mass media degree, but a personal recommendation from broadcaster
Gary Bender Gary Nedrow Bender (born September 1, 1940) 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 Sun ...
to his dad Bob led Kevin to instead attend the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
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 protege in the making. Hedrick gave Harlan a sideline position his freshman year, eventually deeming him as his understudy and fill-in announcer on days where he had other commitments. Harlan graduated in 1982 with a broadcast journalism degree. 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 The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...
, for one year, then went on to call games for the NFL's
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
from 1985–93 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 The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
(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 ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
in 1992–93, NFL for Fox from 1994–97, 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 the Western Conference Finals. He began working for CBS in 1998 after four years at FOX.. In addition, Harlan has called Jacksonville Jaguars,
Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...
, and
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...
preseason games; boxing for
Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr. Mike Tyson vs. Buster Mathis Jr., billed as ''Presumption of Innocence'', was a professional boxing match contested on December 16, 1995. Background Mike Tyson had returned to boxing after a three-year prison stint with an 89-second victory ove ...
in 1995; basketball games during the now-defunct
Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...
, which were owned by
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
; college sports on
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
; 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. 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 calling the 2008 Eastern Conference Semifinals featuring the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
and 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 Central ...
, when Cavaliers superstar LeBron James drove to the basket and dunked as Celtics forward Kevin Garnett was rotating unsuccessfully to help on the drive. Harlan's call of the play:
Harlan: Garnett comes out on LeBron. Now they switch and here's Pierce again...a Smith screen. Posey will defend...OHHHHHH! LEBRON JAMES WITH ''NO REGARD'' FOR HUMAN LIFE!
September 12, 2016 – Harlan was the radio play-by-play man for Westwood One's coverage of the ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...
'' game between the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...
and the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC Wes ...
, 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".
"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!'' '' eferring to the security' ''Oh'', they got him, they’re coming from the left — Oh and they ''tackle'' him at the 40-yard line! '' auseWhew,'' that was the most exciting thing to happen tonight."
January 14, 2018 – Harlan called the NFC Divisional Match-up between the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
and
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
for
Westwood One Radio Westwood may refer to: Companies and brands * Westwood, Baillie, 19th-century engineering and shipbuilding company, London *Westwood One (1976–2011), a former American radio network based in New York City *Westwood One, an American radio and med ...
, where Stefon Diggs scored on a 61 yard touchdown pass from
Case Keenum Casey Austin Keenum (born February 17, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Houston, where he became the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing ya ...
as time expired, now known as the Minneapolis Miracle.
It's third down and 10. Keenum is in the gun from his own 39. Four man front, six in the secondary. Shotgun snap. He moves up, he moves up, he throws a long line drive on the near side, leaping to and catch made! It's made by – oh my goodness, it's gonna go in for the touchdown! Grabbed by Diggs! He broke a tackle! 61 yard touchdown throw! THE VIKINGS HAVE WON! THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS HAVE WON!
May 12, 2019 – Harlan called Game 7 of the 2019 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals with analyst
Greg Anthony Gregory Carlton Anthony (born November 15, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst for NBA TV and Turner Sports. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Anthony also cont ...
, where
Kawhi Leonard Kawhi Anthony Leonard ( ; born June 29, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A two-time NBA champion, he is a five-time All-Star with three All-NBA ...
hit a shot at the buzzer that bounced four times before falling in to win the game and advance the Toronto Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals. Harlan's call of the play:
Harlan: It's off to Leonard, defended by Simmons. Is this the dagger? '' all bounces four times on the rim, proceeds to go in as buzzer sounds' Harlan and Anthony: OHHHHHH! Harlan: GAME! SERIES! TORONTO HAS WON!
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 The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...
and
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
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 Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...
,
Thursday Night Football ''Thursday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''TNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that broadcast primarily on Thursday nights. Most of the games kick off at 8:15 Eastern Time (8:20 prior to 2 ...
, 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.”
November 10, 2019 – The following Sunday, Harlan was the play-by-play announcer for a game between the
Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
and
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...
. With Baltimore up 28–13 against Cincinnati, Ravens quarterback and MVP favorite
Lamar Jackson Lamar Demeatrice Jackson Jr. (born January 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at University of Louisville, Louisville, where he won the Heisma ...
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 Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...
! What a play! 47-yard touchdown run by the magical quarterback Lamar Jackson! WOW!"
December 29, 2019 – Harlan was the television play-by-play commentator for the Los Angeles Chargers at the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
when he began calling 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 p ...
at the
New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
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 Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...
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 Richard Joseph Gannon (born December 20, 1965) is an American former football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years. Gannon was born in ...
, 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!"'' February 7, 2021 – During
Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Confere ...
between the
Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...
and the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
, 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?'"


Personal life

Harlan has been married to his wife Ann for 35 years, and together they have four children and three grandchildren. Their daughter, Olivia, is a sideline reporter for ESPN and is married to NBA player Sam Dekker, also born in Wisconsin (in Sheboygan).


References


External links


CBS Sports profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlan, Kevin 1960 births Living people American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers Chicago Bears announcers College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Green Bay Packers announcers Kansas City Chiefs announcers Minnesota Timberwolves announcers NFL Europe broadcasters Missouri Tigers football announcers Missouri Tigers men's basketball announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters National Football League announcers Notre Dame Academy (Green Bay, Wisconsin) alumni Sacramento Kings announcers Sportspeople from Milwaukee University of Kansas alumni