John Ward, Voice Of The Vols For Generations, Dies

KNOXVILLE, TN -- John Ward, the man whose "Give him six!" meant University of Tennessee football as much as "Rocky Top" and checkerboard end zones and whose "It's football time in Tennessee!" became a byword and a Saturday signal for 30 years, died Wednesday in Knoxville, the Vol Network announced. He was 87.

Part of a generation of increasingly disappearing voices from a golden age of Southeastern Conference radio voice, including the late Larry Munson at the University of Georgia, Kentucky's Cawood Ledford, and LSU's John Ferguson, Ward's molasses-tinged radio voice brought the Big Orange into homes from Memphis to Mountain City and Dyersburg to Ducktown in an age before ubiquitous cable broadcasts.

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“It is with a heavy heart that we announce a great voice has gone silent. Mr. John Ward, legendary advertising executive, and one of the most beloved broadcasters and ambassadors for the University of Tennessee, passed away this evening in Knoxville," the Vol Network said in a statement.

“Mr. Ward brought Tennessee football and basketball to life for millions of Tennesseans and listeners worldwide for over three decades. He propelled Tennessee to the forefront of marketing and broadcasting and remains the standard by which all others are measured.

“While it is a sad day for all Vol Fans, we take great pride in the fact that John belonged to us. Only the Tennessee Volunteers could call John their own, and he was proud to be ‘Voice of the Vols.’ He loved his alma mater, the fans, the state of Tennessee. He remains the very heartbeat of the Vol Network.”

Ward's first broadcast was a men's basketball game in 1958, just four years after his graduation from UT. He became he full time play-by-play voice for basketball in 1965 and then began broadcasting football in 1968. His last broadcast was the January 4, 1999 Fiesta Bowl, a 23-16 Tennessee win that secured the Vols' first national championship in 47 years.

“I have a prepared statement,” Ward said when he announced his retirement. “I’m going to read it, verbatim: It’s time.”

Ward's famous yard-line countdown - "25, 20, 15, 10, five, four, three, two, one" - followed by "Give him six! Touchdown, Tennessee" was mimicked throughout the state in backyard and playground games and imitated but never duplicated by would-be Wards. Even after his retirement, he could still be heard on radio ads, his famous baritone extolling the virtues of natural gas and the Insurers of Tennessee ("IN-shore-OARS of TIN-uh-SEE").

Ward was a 28 time winner of the state's best broadcaster award and is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. In 1994, he and his wife Barbara, who died in 2017, donated $2 million to their alma mater, the then-largest gift to UT's athletic association.

Image via University of Tennessee