Hall of Fame broadcaster Verne Lundquist returned to his alma mater and the local air waves in Seguin this past fall.
Lundquist, a class of ‘62 Texas Lutheran alum, was back on campus on October 26th for the groundbreaking of a new athletic complex named after him. Shovels broke dirt for the Verne Lundquist Student Athletic Center prior to TLU’s homecoming football game against McMurry. At halftime of the game, Lundquist joined the broadcast of the game on KWED.
Lundquist was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2016. He spoke with KWED’s Chris Austin and TLU student-athlete Easton Allen and reminisced about his very first job in broadcasting at KWED.
“It all started here. The late Stan McKenzie was station manager at the time and I auditioned for a weekend job when I was a junior and I didn’t get it,” Recalls Lundquist. “And I said ‘well shoot’, probably stronger language than that. But I girded it up and went back my senior year and got the job. I was hired by Stan McKenzie and I was the weekend guy.”
Over sixty years later, Lundquist said he can still call to mind the details of his first job at KWED.
“I can vividly remember Sunday mornings. All I was doing was patching church services in. We’d go from the Catholic mass to the Episcopal to the Methodist to the Baptist and finally to the Lutheran church.”
After graduating in 1962 from what was then Texas Lutheran College and leaving Seguin with a degree in Sociology, Lundquist enrolled at a seminary school in Illinois for a short time. He continued to work in broadcasting as a night time disc jockey for a local radio station. In 1963, Lundquist came back to Texas at KTBC-TV/Radio in Austin where he was a sports anchor. Three years later, he landed the job of sports director at WFAA-TV in Dallas.
While in Dallas in 1967, Lundquist became involved with Dallas Cowboys pre/post game and halftime radio broadcasts. He would become the lead play-by-play voice of the Cowboys in 1972 and stay in that position until 1984. During that time, Lundquist would also call college football, golf, bowling, boxing and soccer on television for ABC Sports.
Lundquist started a long time TV association with CBS Sports in 1982. He started calling football and basketball games. While at CBS along with a stint at Turner Sports in the 1990s, Lundquist would expand his role by calling NCAA Basketball Tournament, NBA and NFL games along with Olympic figure skating. In 1983, he would call the first of his career 40 Masters golf tournament broadcasts with CBS.
In 2000, Lundquist became the lead play-by-play announcer for the SEC on CBS. He would serve in that position until 2016.
Over the years, Lundquist has been involved with the Front Row fundraising gala series at TLU. It was while hosting the 20th annual Front Row gala in 2024, he said University President Dr. Debbie Cotrell told him and the audience of the plans for the new athletic complex.
“Dr. Cotrell stood up and said, ‘we are gonna build an athletic center. It’s gonna be in your name and I hope you bring all the memorabilia that you’ve accumulated’. So it’s all coming down here. After 62 years of doing this, there’s a lot of stuff,” Ludquist said about his mementos coming to the school’s athletic center.“I love this university, it’s meant so much to my wife (Nancy) and me. Debbie Cotrell and her husband, Alan are dear friends of ours.”
Lundquist has brought many of his colleagues to the Front Row series in the last 20 years. The annual fundraising event, which benefits the TLU athletic department, has featured guests such as Gary Danielson, Ben Crenshaw, Charles Barkley, Allie LaForce, Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw. Lundquist says the guest for this year’s gala is set.
“We’re doing Front Row again and we’re going for chapter two of golf announcer David Feherty. He was a guest of Front Row in 2007.”
Lundquist recalled Feherty’s first appearance at Front Row turned entertaining for those in attendance.
“He got a little off-color in the second half. So, I’m hoping people forgot that and we’ll keep him in check this time around.”
The 21st annual TLU Front Row Gala featuring David Feherty will be held at Marriott River Walk in San Antonio on April 11th.
Before he left the broadcast booth during his appearance on KWED at TLU’s homecoming, we asked Lundquist if he will reprise the film role he played as himself in the planned sequel of the popular Adam Sandler movie, “Happy Gilmore”.
“Yes sir,” Lundquist said in response to the film query. “I talked to Adam Sandler. We filmed the original in Vancouver, British Columbia. We’re doing this one at a country club in New Jersey.
“I’ve got the script. I’m told that they’ve invited Drew Carey and I’ve also heard, I’m going out of bounds here, but there are also rumors that Travis Kelce might have a role and if that means Taylor Swift will be there, I’m all in,” added Lundquist referencing Kelce’s pop star girlfriend.
The first “Happy Gilmore”, released in 1996, grossed over $41 million at the box office. “Happy Gilmore 2” will be released on Netflix sometime this summer.
It might not be that long after Lundquist is seen again in the movies that the Verne Lundquist Student Athletic Center could be complete on the TLU campus.
“I was stunned to learn they’re hoping to be in that building by August of 2025,” Lundquist said about learning of the complex’s expected completion. And he made a promise.
“I guarantee you we’ll be here if that happens.”
TLU Class of 1962 Verne Lundquist is a recipient of TLU’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is a previous member of the TLU Board of Regents. In addition to being a member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Lundquist is also a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame and the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. He retired from broadcasting after the 2024 Masters tournament.
The new Lundquist Student Athletic Center will serve the university’s 19 sports teams. •
