Casey Coleman

For the pitcher, see Casey Coleman (baseball).

Casey Coleman
Born	March 24, 1951(1951-03-24) Cleveland, Ohio
Died	November 27, 2006(2006-11-27) (aged 55) Cleveland, Ohio
Occupation	Sports broadcaster
Parents	Ken Coleman

Kenneth R. "Casey" Coleman Jr. (March 24, 1951 – November 27, 2006) was a sportscaster and radio personality in the Cleveland area for nearly 30 years.

Early life

Coleman was born in Cleveland in 1951 to legendary play-by-play announcer Ken Coleman. The elder Coleman called Cleveland Browns games in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as well as the televised games of the Cleveland Indians during roughly the same span. Ken Coleman was best known as the voice of the Boston Red Sox for a generation.

As a youngster, Coleman was a water boy for the Browns while his dad served as the team's radio voice.

Career

Coleman began his broadcasting career in Boston on the radio. In 1978, he came to Cleveland and hosted a radio sports talk show on WERE 1300 AM (now at 1490 AM), where he ended each broadcast by saying, "I'm rounding third and heading home.", a phrase he would carry over in to his TV career.

From 1984-1996, Coleman worked for WJW TV 8 as the main sports anchor. He was awarded four Cleveland Emmy Awards while at WJW.

Following the death of Browns play by play voice Nev Chandler, Coleman became the team's main announcer in 1994, and held that job for the final two seasons of the Art Modell era, before the team suspended operations in 1996.

Coleman joined WTAM 1100-AM in July 1997, and became a part of the morning talk show "Wills, Webster and Coleman in the Morning" in October 1998. (The show's name was shortened to "Wills and Coleman" in 2001 after Webster's departure).

After the Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, Coleman served as radio sideline reporter for WMJI (later WMMS) and WTAM's coverage of the team's games until 2005, when he began showing signs of the illness that preceded his death and was replaced by WTAM sports anchor/reporter Andre Knott.

Coleman was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 2006.

On September 26, 2006, Cleveland mayor Frank G. Jackson declared that September 26 would be "Casey Coleman Day."

On October 11, 2006, the Browns dedicated a building in their practice facility as "The Casey Coleman Fieldhouse".

Coleman died on November 27, 2006 after a 14-month struggle with pancreatic cancer. His death was reported by his co-host, Bill Wills, on WTAM's "Wills and Coleman in the Morning" show the morning of his death. He is survived by his daughters Chelsea and Kayla Coleman.

References

• King, Steve (2006-11-27). "Browns mourn the loss of Coleman". http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=6171. Retrieved 2006-11-28. 
• "Casey Coleman Dies : Ohio Media Watch Headline". 2006-11-27. http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/2006/11/breaking-news-casey-coleman-dies.html. Retrieved 2006-11-28.