Strief not first ex-player to move into play-by-play role

While it’s apparently unprecedented for a former NFL player to move directly into a broadcast play-by-play role – as Zach Strief will do for the Saints radio broadcasts in 2018, one year after playing for the team – his transition from player to play-by-play job isn’t unique.

In fact, if you look beyond football, Strief isn’t even the first to do it in New Orleans.

In 1974, when the expansion New Orleans Jazz began play in the NBA, former NBA star “Hot Rod” Hundley became the team’s broadcaster. Hundley, the No. 1 pick in the 1957 NBA Draft, played six seasons for the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers before retiring because of knee problems.

Hundley spent eight seasons on broadcasts for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns before becoming the voice of the Jazz. He stayed with the Jazz when they moved to Utah in 1979 and remained with the franchise for 30 more years.

Strief will be the fourth current NFL radio play-by-play voice who has played in the league, but the first to do so without serving as an analyst on game broadcasts – or, for that matter, playing wide receiver.

Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jimmy Cefalo became the radio play-by-play voice of the team in 2005, but it came after a 20-year broadcasting career, including five seasons as an analyst for NBC. Cefalo played for the Dolphins from 1978-83.

In Seattle, Steve Raible was a wide receiver for the Seahawks for the first six seasons of the franchise (1976-81) but chose to retire before the 1982 season to become a radio analyst. He held that role for 22 years before moving into the play-by-play chair in 2004. He also serves as a TV news anchor in Seattle.

Colorado native Dave Logan played nine NFL seasons, eight with the Cleveland Browns and his last in 1984 with the Denver Broncos. He joined the Broncos’ broadcast team in 1990 as a color analyst and became the team’s play-by-play voice in 1996. Interestingly, Logan also serves as a successful high school football coach.

At least on television, the concept of former players serving in play-by-play roles is nothing new. In the early days of broadcasting, Dizzy Dean and Red Grange were among the first play-by-play voices of their respective sports.

For much of the 1970s and 1980s, two of the three lead play-by-play voices for the NFL’s television packages were former players – Pat Summerall at CBS (and later at Fox) and Frank Gifford at ABC. Both played for the New York Giants, in the nation’s largest market.