Emerson Eugene Deckerhoff | |
---|---|
Born |
Jacksonville, Florida |
May 2, 1945
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Florida |
Known for | Voice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Voice of the Florida State Seminoles |
Spouse(s) | Ann Deckerhoff |
Children | 3 children, 6 grandchildren |
Emerson Eugene "Gene" Deckerhoff, Jr. (born May 2, 1945) is the radio play-by-play announcer of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a post he has held since 1989. He also has served as the longtime broadcaster of Florida State Seminoles athletics, including its football team (on the radio from 1979–present), its basketball team (on the radio from 1974–present), and its baseball team (on TV). For football games, Gene works alongside former FSU fullback William Floyd. For basketball games, Keith Jones serves as his color commentator.
He also has broadcast games for the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators and Tampa Bay Storm as a television play-by-play announcer. He also voices the P.A. announcer for EA Sports Madden NFL, NCAA Football and Arena Football video games.
Deckerhoff formerly hosted a 30-minute weekly TV show with former FSU head coach Bobby Bowden called "The Bobby Bowden Show" in which they reviewed the previous day's game. The show regularly featured a segment with Burt Reynolds, an FSU alum who played for the Seminole football team in the 1950s.
Gene has been covering both the Bucs and 'Noles concurrently since 1989. He and his wife travel from Tallahassee to Tampa during football season when Gene's teams are playing home games. Although this gives him an extremely busy weekend schedule (Saturday and Sunday games in different locations), he still manages to do it.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame, and in 2002 was inducted into the Florida State University Athletics Hall of Fame. It should also be noted that he graduated from the University of Florida, but was quoted as saying "I'm not a Gator - Period."[1]