Jack Edwards (sportscaster)

Jack Edwards

Jack Edwards (born March 24, 1957) is the play-by-play announcer for the Boston Bruins on NESN. He occasionally does play-by-play for NHL on Versus coverage as well.

Biography

Broadcasting career

Early career

Edwards started as a play-by-play announcer for the UNH hockey team. He then moved on to play-by-play and sports anchor positions at WGIR radio and WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. During the early 1980s he worked as a talk radio host for WRKO in Boston, and as a weekend anchor at WJAR-TV in Providence. He then moved to sports anchor and reporter positions at WCVB-TV and WHDH-TV in Boston. He also served as a reporter for ABC’s Wide World of Sports and was an announcer for alpine skiing for ABC's coverage of the 1988 Winter Olympics and CBS's 1991 Olympic Winterfest coverage.

ESPN

He spent 12 years at ESPN, from 1991 to 2003. While with ESPN, he was also seen calling Little League baseball and sumo wrestling. Edwards worked as an NHL play-by-play announcer for ESPN from 1999 to 2003, and was the primary play-by-play announcer for HDNet’s NHL broadcasts during the 2003–04 season.

Soccer

From 2000 to 2002, Edwards was the lead play-by-play announcer for MLS Soccer Saturday, ESPN2's weekly telecast of Major League Soccer, as well as the announcer for telecasts of the United States men's national soccer team on ESPN and ABC. In 2002, Edwards was the main play-by-play announcer for ESPN's coverage of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He is known for a memorable call made during the United States' run to the quarterfinals; after the United States upset Portugal, 3–2, Edwards yelled, "Mine eyes have seen the glory!", quoting from Battle Hymn of the Republic. He also was the play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Fire in 2003. Edwards called the Fenway Football Challenge friendly between Celtic F.C. and Sporting CP for NESN in 2010. He yelled "The goal area is 196 square feet," as Celtic defeated Sporting in penalties.

Boston Bruins Hockey

Edwards began calling Bruins games during the 2005-06 NHL season for NESN, handling the road games while Dale Arnold covered the home games. At the start of the 2007-08 NHL season, Edwards called all Bruins games, which he has continued to do through the 2010-11 NHL season. He has been criticized for being a "Bruins homer," sportscasting zealously and fabricating events to spin them in a pro-Bruins favor, but others enjoy his pro-Boston spin. He gave a speech at the end of the Bruins' first round series in the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs, in which he compared the Bruins' victory over the Montreal Canadiens to the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution. Jack Edwards was awarded a 2010-11 Stanley Cup Championship ring for his play-by-play work with the Boston Bruins.

College Sports Television

He also appeared on College Sports Television in the interim of him leaving ESPN and coming to Versus (now called NBC Sports Network).

Versus

As of 2006, Edwards is occasionally on Versus, calling play-by-play of National Hockey League games, and occasionally hosting The NHL on Versus Post Game Report.

Personal

Edwards was a soccer player in college at the University of New Hampshire. Edwards also attended Oyster River High School in Durham, New Hampshire.

Jack and his wife, Lisa, own Fountainhead Production, a full-fledged HD production company in Simsbury, Connecticut.

External links

• NESN hires Jack Edwards as Bruins road play-by-play announcer
• Jack Edwards Joins Fire Broadcasts
• [1]
• The Edwards Interview Reaction