"Even the "Granddaddy of Them All" has a dad. That's the late and legendary ABC Sports announcer Keith Jackson, who coined that term for the Rose Bowl Game and it stuck. He clicked off his microphone for the last time precisely 20 years ago after Texas beat USC on this storied field. The game was a classic and so was Jackson, the Saturday evening soundtrack for generations of college football fans."
""I still hear his voice," said his daughter, Melanie, standing Thursday in the office of the family home in Sherman Oaks, where Keith and Turi Ann raised their children Melanie, Lindsey and Christopher. "I come up here sometimes just to say hi to him." Jackson, who died in 2018, still lives in the hearts of his family, friends and fans, and his countless stories and famous calls are woven into the lore of college football."
""He knew the Rose Bowl better than any place," said Turi Ann, preparing to have a small group of family over to watch the game, as she does every year. "This was always a special, special day." As they entered the stadium, fans of Indiana and Alabama were greeted by a statue of a smiling Jackson that was dedicated a year after he died."
Keith Jackson coined "Granddaddy of Them All" for the Rose Bowl and retired twenty years ago after Texas beat USC there. His melodic baritone became the Saturday evening soundtrack for generations of college football fans, with signature phrases praising "big uglies" and announcing "Hello, Heisman." Family members recall his voice and maintain personal rituals, including gathering to watch the Rose Bowl annually. A life-size statue of a smiling Jackson clutching a microphone stands at the stadium, dedicated a year after his death. Family members oversaw the statue's likeness. Son Lindsey is married to puppeteer and former Disney imagineer Terri Harden.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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