Jerry Punch
| Jerry Punch | |
|---|---|
Punch at the 2010 Indianapolis 500
|
|
| Born |
Jerry Punch August 20, 1953 Newton, North Carolina |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
North Carolina State University Wake Forest School of Medicine |
| Occupation | Sportscaster |
| Home town | Knoxville, Tennessee |
Jerry Punch, M.D., is an American auto racing and college football commentator on ESPN, as well as a physician. Punch also does local radio spots in Knoxville.
Punch grew up in Newton, North Carolina. He began his broadcasting career when he was selected to join the local radio station staff of Newton-Conover High School. The local radio station, WNNC in Newton, provided free air time to the local high school broadcasting organization with rotational assignments to the aspiring broadcast journalists. Students at the high school auditioned for the much sought after staff positions. Jerry was successful and was selected by fellow students to become a new reporter and, thus, he was permitted to participate in the weekly Saturday morning live broadcasts on WNNC.
Punch walked-on to the football team at NC State, serving as backup quarterback under coach Lou Holtz. Punch graduated magna cum laude in 1975 with a degree in zoology. He received a medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in 1979. Punch paid his college and medical school tuition through prize money earned racing at short tracks in North Carolina.
Prior to his radio television broadcasting career, Punch worked as an emergency medicine physician. He initially worked at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, near Daytona International Speedway, in 1982. He later served as the director of emergency medicine at Bunnell Community Hospital (now known as Florida Hospital Flagler) in Palm Coast, Florida. For a period of time, Punch's medical and broadcasting careers overlapped.
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