Jim Nantz on His Career Journey, Favorite Moments and The of Importance Family - EXTENDED CUT

TL;DR

Jim Nantz shares his 40-year broadcasting career, iconic Masters calls, and how family gratitude drives everything he does.

Key Points

• 1.'Hello Friends' originated as a tribute to his father battling Alzheimer's. Nantz began saying it on air so his father would know he was thinking of him; it took three years to become iconic, and he later paid $664 to trademark it from a mystery TV star.
• 2.Nantz called his first Masters at just 26 years old, terrified but composed. He credits college roommate Freddy Couples for the mental mantra 'it's no big deal,' which he repeated constantly to stay calm throughout the broadcast.
• 3.Freddy Couples and Nantz practiced the green jacket ceremony as college roommates at University of Houston. Both declared their dreams freshman year — Couples to win the Masters, Nantz to broadcast it — and both came true in 1992.
• 4.Nantz's Masters Mount Rushmore includes Jack Nicklaus 1986, Tiger 1997, Tiger 2019, and Rory McIlroy 2024. 'The bear has come out of hibernation' (1986) came spontaneously; 'a win for the ages' (Tiger 1997) was pre-planned the night before.
• 5.His early career included calling BYU football with Steve Young and getting trapped in an elevator for a quarter and a half. The broadcast ran a scroll saying 'audio difficulties' while the two sat stuck in a tiny press elevator at Cougar Stadium.
• 6.Nantz won a CBS audition in 1985 against Roy Firestone and James Brown, debuting September 14th on Notre Dame vs. Michigan. He was introduced by Brent Musberger and hosted the College Football Report alongside Pat Haden, with Jim Harbaugh at QB for Michigan.
• 7.He called seven Super Bowls, with 'Jackpot Kansas City' for the Las Vegas overtime win being entirely spontaneous. Working with Tony Romo for 10 years, Nantz describes their broadcast as two people on a couch with 50 million people eavesdropping.
• 8.Nantz stepped down from 32 consecutive NCAA Final Fours in 2023 by his own choice, citing family time. He described the schedule as a 'golden hamster wheel' running 48 weeks a year, with flights from the championship game directly to Augusta.
• 9.His personal goal is to broadcast his 51st Masters in 2036, the tournament's 100th playing. Broadcaster Jack Whitaker suggested the number, saying Augusta would need Nantz to usher out the first century and bring in the next.
• 10.Family is the central theme Nantz returns to throughout, crediting love and support as foundational. He told his kids 'family is love and love is family,' eulogized Arnold Palmer, presented Jack Nicklaus's Congressional Gold Medal, and says his morning ritual is gratitude — wanting to make his late father proud.