Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Honor Legendary Broadcaster Zimmer
November 13, 2015 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It's not easy to surprise someone who has spent literally a half a century covering college football.
But legendary sportscaster Larry Zimmer, a man who has been behind the mic for more than 50 years — 42 of them as the play-by-play or color man for the Colorado Buffaloes — was rendered at least momentarily speechless Friday night when he was honored at betwen the first and second quarters of the Colorado-USC game at Folsom Field.
Friday, which also happened to be Zimmer's 80th birthday, was his final "working" game at Folsom Field. He was presented with a framed CU jersey at the ceremony, but that's not what left Zimmer without words.
Thanks to a week of working the phones by CU Sports Information Director Dave Plati, representatives from all five decades that Zimmer called Buffs games were present, as well as a special guest from the 1970s leading the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to Zimmer.
The list of players present for the ceremony included Jon Keyworth and Larry Brunson from the 1970s; Jeff Campbell and Eric McCarty from the 1980s; Darian Hagan and Matt Russell from the 1990s; Daniel Graham, Tyler Polumbus and Jordon Dizon from the 2000s; and Daniel Munyer, Doug Rippy and Chidera Uzo-Diribe from the 2010s.
Also present were CU President Bruce Benson, Chancelor Phil DiStefano and Athletic Director Rick George.
"I had no idea all those people would be there," Zimmer said. "The fact that they went all the way back to the '70s. Jon Keyworth and Larry Brunson played in the first CU game I ever called, when they went to LSU and won in 1971."
Zimmer called the entire week "very special." He's been the subject of numerous articles and spent much of his week in interviews — with other radio stations.
Each of the players drew a round of applause from the Folsom Field crowd, which then joined in to sing "Happy Birthday," with Jock Bartley, co-founder of the 1970s rock group Firefall, leading the rendition. Firefall, formed in Boulder, had a number of top 40 hits in the '70s, and many of its members attended CU.
Zimmer missed the last six games of the 2014 season after suffering complications from a fall in his home in October. After being hospitalized for nearly five months, he returned home with the goal of returning to the broadcast booth.
He fulfilled that goal, calling all of CU's home games this year, plus the Rocky Mountain Showdown in Denver. His final appearance will be the Nov. 28 regular season finale at Utah.
"I did my first broadcast for a Baton Rouge radio station when I was 16 years old," Zimmer said. "I never thought that when I was 80, I'd still be broadcasting. That's how blessed I am."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
