Part of becoming a great broadcaster is having a great vocabulary and finding ways to vary your verbiage. That is why a regular feature on this site will be “Announcer Alterations” where we take short clips of pre-existing play-by-play synced to video and come up with five different ways to call the same sequence of events.
I’ve fallen off posting these since I started my new gig but things have calmed down enough that I can get back to my normal writing schedule. With Nebraska’s 5-0 start I again picked a famous Cornhusker play to adjust. This one features the call of Kent Pavelka broadcasting Tommie Frazier’s 75 yard run against Florida in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl.
The Original Call
Option to the right, Tommie on the keeper, hits the corner. Twenty Five, thirty. Eludes a tackler thirty five, Tommie Frazier thirty seven, thirty eight, thirty nine. Forty! FORTY FIVE, FIFTY, FORTY FIVE, FORTY, THIRTY FIVE, THIRTY! HE’S GONNA GO! HOLY COW! TOUCHDOWN TOMMIE FRAZIIIEEERRRR!
Five Different Ways To Make The Call
Option play right, Frazier keeps it. Turns the corner to the twenty five. Stacked up on the numbers by a swarm of Gators. Keeps the pistons pumping AND BREAKS FREE AT THE FORTY. HIGH STEPS A DEFENDER AT THE FORTY FIVE. NOTHING BUT GREEN GRASS IN FRONT OF HIM! TOMMIE FRAZIER IN FOR A SEVENTY FIVE YARD TOUCHDOWN!
Frazier with the leather running the option right. Finds a seam and steers it downhill at the twenty five. Surrounded by defenders on the numbers at the thirty five. Keeps the butter churning AND SLIPS OUT THE BACK END OF THE PILE AT THE FORTY. JUMPS AN ANKLE TACKLE AT THE FORTY FIVE. MIDFIELD. FORTY FIVE. SMOOTH SAILING AHEAD FOR FRAZIER. GOAL LINE AND PUNCH UP SIX!
Frazier option right. Turns the corner at the twenty five. Charges into a gathering of gators on the numbers. Keeps the engine pumping across the forty. BLASTS THROUGH WOULD BE TACKLERS! HOPS OVER A DIVING TACKLER AT THE FORTY FIVE. SWITCHES TO JET FUEL AT THE FIFTY! FORTY FIVE! CATCH HIM IF YOU CAN! FRAZIER SCORES FROM SEVENTY FIVE YARDS OUT!
Frazier runs the option right. Keeps it himself around the corner and slingshots forward at the twenty five. Careens into a crowd at the thirty five. Chops the cleats as he breaks a tackle to the forty. SPURS HIS HORSE AND GALLOPS ACROSS THE CENTER LINE! FORTY FIVE, FORTY! SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR AS FRAZIER HANGS ANOTHER SIX ON FLORIDA!
Frazier strings the option play right. Hastens forward at the twenty five. Turns into a horde of Florida defenders on the numbers at the thirty five. Sheds tacklers and keeps pushing forward. BREAKS ANOTHER TACKLE AND ESCAPES INTO THE CLEAR! THE FIFTY! FORTY FIVE! AND FRAZIER INTO THE ENDZONE TO PULL SIX MORE TEETH FROM THE GATOR DEFENSE!
