The voice of the Ducks
Jerry Allen has been the play-by-play announcer for University of Oregon football team for 37 years. He grew up in Grants Pass, went to what was then Southern Oregon College, and worked in Southern Oregon prior to his position as the “Voice of the Ducks.”
Q: What was growing up in Grants Pass like?
Jerry: Grants Pass was a small logging community. It hadn’t been discovered yet by retirees. There was one main road through town, and one bridge over the Rogue River. The Caveman Bridge was the gateway to Oregon Caves, the Redwoods, and the Pacific Ocean. It was small-town America, everybody knew everybody, and you could get to wherever walking or on a bicycle. It was fun growing up in a small community; it felt safe. As a kid you could leave in the morning and not get home until dinner, and your parents didn’t worry about where you were.
Q: Were you a sports guy in school?
Jerry: I was a sports guy, but I wasn’t very big. I was six-feet tall and 114 pounds in high school. I was so skinny I had to run around in the shower to get wet. I wasn’t much of a football prospect. I thought I could be a punter, but there was another guy on the team named Tom Blanchard. Pretty tough competition—he had a long career in the NFL as a punter. I played a little basketball. I was pretty good in track and field, but I got mono my senior year and couldn’t finish the track season. When I fell into broadcasting I got into sports even more, doing stats and some play-by-play at Grants Pass High.
Q: How did you get into radio?
Jerry: I worked as a soda jerk at the Grants Pass Pharmacy on Sixth Street my junior year. Right across the street was a music shop. One lunch break, I walked across the street to look through the records. I was into the Beatles, Beach Boys, all the popular music. I’m standing next to this guy, he’s going through albums too, he looks at me,
“You like music?”
“Yeah, I love music.”
“Do you like Rock and Top 40?”
“Oh yeah, I really like it.”
“Would you ever want to be a DJ?”
“That would be my dream job!”
“You want to come and learn about it?”
He invited me to the local radio station, KAGI, and hired me. I did odd jobs, errands, and office stuff, but they let me practice in the production room. My senior year I had a weekend job, on-air. When I graduated from high school, I got a full-time job, on-air. One of those many blessings in my life. Crazy! Wow, I was a disc jockey! I put the records on, queued ’em up, read the weather, the sports, and the news. I’d go to work at eight in the morning for a 10-2 shift. I wouldn’t get home sometimes until eight or nine at night. I just loved it.
Q: How did you start broadcasting sports?
Jerry: Cliff Murray was doing the play-by-play for Grants Pass High School at KAGI, both football and basketball. Sports were big in Grants Pass. I was his stats guy, and he’d put me on the pregame show, maybe halftime, or the post-game and let me talk a bit. He’d let me do a little play-by-play for a couple of minutes. It was so much fun. I would have done it for free, but they were paying me.
Q: And after high school?
Jerry: I was hooked on radio, but I also wanted to go to college. I kept my job at KAGI and Tuesdays and Thursdays I would drive to Southern Oregon College in Ashland. I got to help start the first radio station on campus, KSOR, a small FM station. Southern Oregon College used it as a classroom to train disc jockeys and announcers. Dave Allen was the speech and communications professor who guided us.
I got a job in Medford, at KYJC, which was a Top 40 station. Then I got a chance to go to Eugene to a larger station. That’s where I met my wife, a total coincidence. She was at the station with a friend, a call came in and I couldn’t answer it. So, she answered, walked into the studio and gave me the message, “There’s a lost cat. Can you announce it?” I looked at her, stunned and said, “Oh my gosh, I think I’m in love.” Two weeks later we were engaged and got married six months after that. That was 53 years ago. It was meant to be. Another blessing! I moved back to Medford with my new wife, and we lived there for 17 years until I got the Oregon Ducks job.
Q: How did the University of Oregon job happen?
Jerry: In Medford, I picked up some part-time jobs doing high school play-by-play for Crater, Eagle Point, and Medford. The station manager at KYJC announced at a staff meeting, “We’re going to start doing high school sports and need somebody to do play-by-play. Does anybody have any experience?” My hand immediately shot up, “Me, me, me, me. I can do it.” Nobody else raised their hand. He said, “Okay, you can be our play-by-play guy.” That’s how I started announcing Medford Black Tornado football and basketball. Quickly, we put together a top-notch broadcast team. Mark Bayless had a wireless mic on the field. Bruce Holt was my analyst. BG Gould was the statistician, and Kevin “Lurch” Martin was in the booth with me. We had a full broadcast team for high school sports, which was unheard of back then.
Medford Black Tornado football teams were in the playoffs almost every year. So, I got heard. Broadcasters submitted tapes to do the play-by-play for Oregon high school championship games, in football and basketball. I was selected several times. I got known a bit more. Blazer Cable decided to televise high school championship football and basketball games on the Blazer cable network. I was invited to do those games with Pat Lafferty. It was a short stint of TV.
At the end of the 1985 football season the Ducks went to Japan to play
in the Mirage Bowl. Hal Ramey was the play-by-play announcer for the Ducks. Bill Byrne, Oregon Athletic Director, called me, “Hal is going with the football team to Japan, and we have a couple of exhibition basketball games while he’s gone. Could you do those games for us?” I said, “Let me think about it.” [Laugher] I studied my rear end off, did two basketball games on the Oregon Sports Network. That was the thrill of my life. Two years later Byrne called to say, “Our radio guy is headed back to San Francisco. We’re going to take our radio broadcasts in-house, develop our own network, and sell advertising. Would you like to join us as the play-by-play announcer?” It was another one of those blessings in my life.
Q: What’s involved in your preparation for a Duck’s football game?
Jerry: It starts in the summer. I read everything I can about college football. I focus on the PAC 12 and the teams on the Duck’s schedule. I look at previous year’s records, players, recruits, and coaches. When fall camp starts in early August, I go to practice every day. I start memorizing names, numbers, body sizes, and mannerisms of the Duck’s players. Every Sunday during the season, I review all the games from the previous day, especially the PAC 12. Who played Oregon State? How did UCLA or Washington look? I take notes about what we may want to talk about during the next broadcast. Monday, I get the depth charts updated for Oregon and the next opponent. I start by penciling on my spotting board names of the starters: center, guards, tackles, wide receivers, running backs, all the offensive players. I do the same thing for defense, in pencil. Then I go back in colored pen, and redo it. That’s my process of memorization. I tape it to my spotting board, and then study their current stats. I look at last year stats: how many receptions, interceptions, yards, touchdowns, carries, average yards, quarterback sacks. All those go on the board. It’s like studying for a final exam. If you work at it every day during the week, when you get to game day, it’s easy.
Q: How has being the Voice of the Ducks helped you discover your own voice?
Jerry: Being an announcer provides a platform. People know I’m a Duck, there’s no doubt about it, but I also respect the athletes and coaches we’re playing. Those kids work just as hard and hurt just as bad as the Oregon kids. I try to be positive, not just a homer. I want to be fair, tell the truth, and not make excuses.
Q: What does Oregon football do for the fans?
Jerry: Football, and sports in general, are distractions from the tough parts of life. It lets you forget about bills, or kids being sick or not going on vacation. All that stuff goes away for three, four, or five hours on a Saturday while you put your heart into the game. And it builds friendships and comradery. We come together as a community around our Oregon Ducks.
Q: How will joining the Big 10 impact Oregon football?
Jerry: I don’t think it’ll change Oregon football. If Oregon had joined the Big 10, 15, or 20 years ago it would have been a struggle because Oregon wasn’t built to be a Big 10-style football team. West Coast football was flashy and spread out. The Big 10 was bigger, powerful, “we are going to run it at you and smack you.” The Big 10 has adjusted some to that wide open West Coast game. Oregon has adjusted with bigger faster players. Oregon, two or three years ago, built themselves to not only play, but be successful in the Big 10.
Q: What hobbies or passions do you have?
Jerry: I’m an outdoor camping and fishing guy. We have an RV now. My wife’s idea of camping is indoors. Fishing and spending time with my children, and my 10 grandkids is great. Most of them live here and we do a lot of things together. My wife has been key to our family, she’s my true pass
Q: How do you describe Southern Oregon?
Jerry: Southern Oregon is still small town America. The Rogue Valley is compact. It’s grown and changed, but it’s still comfortable. The Rogue River goes right through Grants Pass and is only a couple of miles outside of Medford. Southern Oregon is the gateway to the mountain lakes and Crater Lake.
Q: What’s clearer to you now?
Jerry: That’s a tough question. I put my job first. There were times I felt I had to say “yes” to every request. If I could go back and do things over again, I’d have said “no” to some requests and “yes” to my family.
Q: What’s work at University of Oregon been like?
Jerry: I have been so fortunate to have worked with wonderful people at Oregon. Everybody, staff, students, players, and coaches have been remarkably nice. There’s an expectation for a job well done, but everyone is easy to work with and respectful. I haven’t worked with a coach that I didn’t get along with. This has been a crazy successful run for me. When I was hired, there had been three or four announcers before me in the previous eight years. The Register Guard interviewed two or three of them, and to a man their recommendation was, “Tell him to leave his bags packed. He won’t be there long.” Really? Everybody has been so nice, even under pressure. The biggest reason for my longevity is our broadcast team. Mike Jorgenson, who played for the Ducks, has been with me as an analyst for 36 years. Statistician John Lundquist has been part of our team from the start. It’s been a dream job. Blessed doesn’t even begin to describe my life.
Story by Steve Boyarsky
Photography by Steve Boyarsky & Scott Phillips
