CHICAGO — Apologies to Gus Johnson’s many fans for his recent apology over the Indiana moment.
I might have inadvertently convinced the Fox Sports announcer to apologize over something there was no need to apologize for, and for that, I am truly sorry!
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Sorry about that unnecessary exclamation mark, too, but when you’re talkin’ about Gus …
For those who haven’t kept up with all the latest apologies in the sports world, Johnson apologized for his over-the-top call of a last-minute, game-winning touchdown pass from Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza to Omar Cooper Jr. in the unbeaten Hoosiers’ comeback victory over Penn State on Nov. 8 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.
“Mendoza … in trouble … end zone … TOUCHDOWN, WOW! Unbelievable. GIVE HIM THE HEISMAN!”
It was almost as if Mendoza-to-Cooper was akin to Montana-to-Clark, the game-winning touchdown throw in the 1981 NFC championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, a play immortalized as “The Catch.” Johnson’s voice was giving out at the end, making it sound even more dramatic.
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The “TOUCHDOWN, WOW!” call was widely praised and widely panned on social media, where opinions on Johnson collide with the frequency of a pulling guard hitting a defensive end. Where you stand on the mini-controversy depends on whether you enjoy some high-pitched screaming with your college football or not.
Indiana fans loved it, but Penn State fans? Not so much.
Either way, the call got a lot of attention, including a follow-up article in The Athletic where Johnson admitted he got “caught up in the euphoria” and his “pipes … started squeaking a little bit.” The Awful Announcing website put the highlight on social media and declared in an all-caps tweet: “INDIANA BROKE GUS JOHNSON.”
Coincidentally, I ran into Johnson on Saturday in the Wrigley Field press box dining room, where he was sitting at a table before the Northwestern-Michigan game, drinking tea.
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“There’s Gus Johnson,” I said to a colleague, “AND HE’S WEARING CROCS!”
I think he might have heard me.
So I approached Johnson at his table and asked if his voice was OK from the Indiana game.
“You see I’m drinking tea,” he replied softly.
How does Johnson maintain that level of excitement for an entire game?
“The good lord blessed me to give me a job where I watch kids play ball,” he said, repeating a line from The Athletic interview.
“These are family heirlooms, these moments for the young men and women I get to cover,” he continued. “I’m just excited for them. I know how people dream — they dream big. And something like last week, those kids, Omar Cooper and Fernando Mendoza, they’ll remember that for the rest of their lives. Indiana University, that will go into their archives, their Hall of Fame. I kind of feel sometimes like I’m a historian of sports.”
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Mendoza will always remember the play, and probably that Johnson handed him the Heisman trophy several weeks too early. If Mendoza wins the Heisman, he’ll remember that Johnson called it during a signature moment in a critical win. If he doesn’t, it will be remembered as a premature proclamation.
Johnson admitted to me he was over the top.
“I know I probably should’ve pulled back a little, you know,” he said with a laugh.
Does he ever feel he should pull back, like some fans suggest?
It’s kind of Johnson’s drawing card, that ability TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF EMBELLISHMENT POSSIBLE! (Oh, sorry again. I’ll try to take it down a notch.)
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If a poll on Johnson was taken, I’d guess a slight majority of college football fans like his approach, even though it’s overbaked on occasion.
“Yeah, I get a lot of praise,” he said. “But I get a lot of criticism, too, and it hurts my feelings sometimes, because I’d never do anything intentionally. I’m just being me and in the moment. I’m a happy person. I try to be.”
Some have complained that Johnson was grandstanding, putting himself above the moment. Some argued he should’ve let the crowd noise speak for itself after the touchdown. The most liked comment in the feedback section of The Athletic’s article on Johnson called him “the unrivaled worst play-by-play announcer in CFB, hands down,” and said the Indiana call “ruined that moment.”
Every announcer has their own segment of haters. When you’re an all-caps announcer in an all-caps world, you have to expect that some fans aren’t going to like your approach.
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But it’s the vitriol that Johnson doesn’t understand.
“It becomes so mean, though,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Damn …’ Sometimes I can’t imagine saying certain things about another person like some of the things that have been said about me.”
Johnson said he’s not on X, formerly Twitter, so he doesn’t see when he’s trending. That’s probably for the best.
After our interview, Johnson departed for the TV booth to call the game, sitting in Harry Caray’s old seat. During the third quarter, the Mendoza-to-Cooper call was brought up by his partner, analyst Joel Klatt.
“I was so excited I lost my stuff,” Johnson told the audience. “Apologies if I went too far and irritated people.”
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Klatt then directed everyone’s attention to a video made by twin brothers from Australia, known as Shepmates, who did a dead-on lip-sync version of Johnson and Klatt’s call. Obviously, the decision to talk about the call had been pre-planned by the Fox producer, so maybe Johnson’s “apology” for irritating some fans was done with a wink.
No matter. It’s just Big Ten football.
Like it or not, it’s going to be one of those moments that’s replayed over and over for years to come. How many other college football announcers can say that, other than the legendary Keith Jackson?
Johnson has the charisma of the preacher James Brown played in “The Blues Brothers,” and a deep love for what he does. He told me he’s a fan of late Michigan radio announcer Bob Ufer, whose excitable calls of “Meeeechigan football” were legendary. Ufer once lost his voice calling a game-winning, Anthony Carter touchdown catch against Indiana in 1979, saying he was “streaking down there like a penguin with a hot herring in his cumberbund, although he didn’t have the herring until he took a post pattern.”
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If you think Johnson sounds excitable, search ‘Bob Ufer’ to hear highlights of a master blaster in his prime.
Hopefully Johnson gets another chance to add to his collection of “heirlooms” during the Nov. 29 Michigan-Ohio State game on Fox. The reaction to whatever he says will no doubt be as interesting as the game itself.
But Johnson doesn’t have to apologize for being a little out of control and over the top.
IT’S THE WORLD WE ALL LIVE IN!
Just do you, Gus.
