USC 'Voice of the Trojans' Tom Kelly Dies At 88 In Valley

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Longtime USC sportscaster Tom Kelly died this morning at his home in Encino, two days before his 89th birthday.

USC's athletics department announced the news this morning on its Twitter feed. Kelly had waged a long battle with cancer.

The Minnesota native started calling Trojans football and basketball games in the early 1960s. He would go on to call many sporting events during his long career on the Southland airwaves, but is most remembered as the voice of Trojans football.

He called games during five national championship seasons, first under coach John McKay in the 1960s and later under Pete Carroll in the mid-2000s.

Current USC football play-by-play man Pete Arbogast told KNX Newsradio that Kelly was "an idol of mine, no question."

"He, to me, has always been the voice of the Trojans," Arbogast said. "It's a terrible loss to the Trojans and to broadcasters in Southern California."

Kelly "seemed to be everywhere," Arbogast said of the late sportscaster's prolific body of work, which included chronicling golf tournaments, pro football and basketball games and boxing matches. "He had that voice that you could hear from six blocks away."

Kelly also worked for years as a nightly sportscaster on Channels 2 and 11 and was a member of the USC Athletic Hall of Fame and the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

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--City News Service/Image courtesy of USC Trojans ‏on Twitter