The sports world was saddened on Friday by the sudden passing of legendary sports broadcaster Dick Enberg.
Enberg was one of the most recognizable voices in sports as he spent over 35 years as a national broadcaster for CBS and NBC calling MLB, NBA, college football, tennis, college basketball, and NFL games. He has ties to the Chicago Bears as during his time as lead announcer for NBC and CBS he had the call for some of the most memorable moments in Bears history.
Most Bears fans will remember that it was Enberg and color analysis Merlin Olsen who called Super Bowl XX in which the 1985 Bears routed the New England Patriots 46-10. The most memorable moment of the game was defensive tackle William “The Refrigerator” Perry scored a one-yard touchdown with Enberg providing the signature call of ” Perry….that one registered three point eight”.
The call not only emphasized Perry’s size, but all the humor of a such a large player scoring a touchdown.
A year earlier in 1984, it was Enberg and Olson who had the privilege of watching the Bears defense show the nation just how good they were in a highly anticipated game against the Los Angeles Raiders.
The Raiders were the defending champions and many around the country believed that they featured the best defense in the NFL. In front of a national audience, Enberg called what many believed to be one of the hardest hitting games in NFL history. Three quarterbacks were knocked from the game as the Bears lost Jim McMahon for the season and the Raiders nearly were forced to send their punter in at quarterback in a 17-6 Bears victory.
The last iconic Bears moment that Enberg was the voice to came at the end of the famous 2001 Bears season. In the last game of the season, defensive tackle Keith Traylor intercepted a screen pass for a 67-yard return. The play was fitting for a season that saw such wild and unbelievable plays leading to the Bears first division title in 11 years. Enberg’s call of the interception return is memorable is because of the humor and excitement he shares while describe Traylor’s run back.
https://youtu.be/73dW4740ILE
For every classic sports moment, the moment is magnified more by the announcer’s call of the play. Over his career as a national broadcaster, Enberg was the voice to many of those famous moments. From the 1970s to 2010, he voiced Super Bowls, World Series games, and Wimbledon matches representing just how versatile he was.
His ability to call all different sports and ability to heighten the play through just the right words only made his more cherished and loved by sports fans.
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