John Ward was part of a culture that made southern football great
Longtime Tennessee Vols radio broadcaster John Ward, who passed away at age 87, was a major example of why the South fell in love with football.
When John Ward, who passed away on Wednesday, took the reigns as the Tennessee football radio broadcaster in 1968, SEC football was undergoing a major culture change. The Vols had recruited their first black player, Lester McClain, the year before. And 1968 would be the year he was going to take the field.
Any college football historian will tell you that the pride of southern football can really be traced back to the 1926 Rose Bowl, when the Alabama Crimson Tide shocked the Washington Huskies 20-19. Up until that point, it was a gentleman’s game that belonged to the Northeast. Heck, even the elite teams in the south were the academic schools. Go look at how the Vanderbilt Commodores dominated.
After that came the formation of the SEC, the AP Poll, and bowl games. Then, at the end of World War II, a series of elite coaches took over at southern schools to put them all on the map or return them to prominence.
By the late 1960s, the pride of southern football was entrenched. But a new era was coming. Schools slowly started to integrate, tapping into the wealthy of African American talent in the black belt from Louisiana to Georgia. And this changing culture is where John Ward got his start.
Why is this significant? As the schools were integrating, Ward was part of a crew of radio broadcasters changing the way you call games. They kept the excitement and pageantry of original southern football and mixed it with the new era.
In addition to John Ward, this created radio broadcasters like Larry Munson, who began calling the Georgia Bulldogs in 1966. This was an era where they shined. Both brought in the excitement that came with southern football like never before, and in the process, a new era of the SEC began.
We all know the quotes.
“Give…him…six!”
“It’s football time, in Tennessee!”
“Touchdown, Big Orange!”
“GOOD-DAH!”
And of course, there are the standalone ones.
“No…sir…ree!!!”
“Pandemonium reigns!”
More from Tennessee Volunteers
- How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
- Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
- Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
- Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
- Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay
Before the late 1960s, you could say that despite the southern football pride that existed, they still kept the gentleman’s game aspect of it. But people like John Ward threw all that out the window. It was about embracing the fun of the game that the fans enjoyed.
This doesn’t mean he didn’t call things objectively. Ward was very fair and neutral with teams. But it did mean he was going to bring enjoyment in for everybody listening.
Even the coaches’ shows back then were thrilling to watch. There was no better duo than John Ward and Johnny Majors recapping the game.
Ward had the perfect partner in Bill Anderson to calmly break down the game for the fans when it came to football. And football wasn’t the only exciting part of his play-calling. Three years before calling football, John Ward was already calling Tennessee basketball games. And he was already bringing in the fun with those games as well.
Next: 10 most underappreciated Vols in school history
Simply put, John Ward embraced the color. He embraced what everybody loved about the sport. And in it, he helped usher in a new era of SEC football altogether. Ward may be gone, but he’s part of another great chapter in the story of southern football, one dating all the way back to that 1926 Rose Bowl.