Lon Simmons
Lonnie Alexander "Lon" Simmons (July 19, 1923 – April 5, 2015) was an American sports announcer, best known for his play-by-play broadcasts of San Francisco Giants baseball and San Francisco 49ers football. He was born in Vancouver, Washington. Simmons was a star pitcher at Burbank High School and Glendale College before enlisting in the U.S. Coast Guard. After World War II, he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and pitched briefly in their minor league system. Career Simmons' radio career began in Elko, Nevada, calling Elko High School football and basketball games on KELK. He first announced baseball for a semipro league in Marysville, California. After spending three years broadcasting Fresno State sports on KMJ, Simmons came to San Francisco in 1957 as the sports director at KSFO. That year, he was the color commentator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League, teaming with play-by-play announcer Bob Fouts, the father of Pro Football Hall o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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KZAC
KZAC (560 AM) is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, that used the call sign KSFO from 1935 to 2024, and is currently silent. Owned by Cumulus Media, KZAC's transmitter is located near the Islais Creek Channel. KZAC began broadcasting in 1925 as a station licensed to Oakland with the call sign KTAB, on a frequency of 1390 kHz. Owned by a Baptist church in Oakland, KTAB had a religious-focused format in its first year before changing to a commercial, non-religious format. After several frequency changes, the station moved to its current 560 kHz frequency in 1929 and became KSFO in 1935, re-licensed to San Francisco. KSFO joined the CBS Radio Network in 1937. In 1956, KSFO was purchased by Golden West Broadcasters, a company co-owned by Gene Autry and Bob Reynolds. Golden West programmed a full service format for KSFO featuring popular music, news, and sports, with a popular jingle "The Sound of the City". Golden West sold KSFO to King Broadca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the List of California cities by population, fourth-most populous city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population, 17th-most populous in the United States. San Francisco has a land area of at the upper end of the San Francisco Peninsula and is the County statistics of the United States, fifth-most densely populated U.S. county. Among U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income and sixth by aggregate income as of 2023. San Francisco anchors the Metropolitan statistical area#United States, 13th-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with almost 4.6 million residents in 2023. The larger San Francisco Bay Area ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Mira
George Ignacio Mira (born January 11, 1942) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in eight National Football League (NFL) seasons for four teams. He then played five seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the World Football League (WFL). Early life Born and raised in Key West, Florida, Mira graduated from Key West High School in 1960. He played college football at the University of Miami under head coach Andy Gustafson. One of the best games in Mira's collegiate career came as a junior in 1962 in the Gotham Bowl against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Despite playing in weather in front of fewer than a thousand fans at Yankee Stadium, Mira threw for 321 yards, a Miami school record at the time, and was named the bowl game's most valuable player. Despite Mira's efforts, the Cornhuskers won by two points, 36–34. The previous year, the Hurricanes lost by a point to Syracuse in the Liberty Bowl. At the start of the 1963 season Mira was the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Billy Kilmer
William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He was also used as a running back and wide receiver. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, then 18 seasons as a professional. In 1964, while playing running back for the 49ers, Kilmer played a supporting role in one of the most infamous incidents in gridiron history when Vikings defensive lineman Jim Marshall ran Kilmer's fumble back 66 yards into the wrong end zone. Early life Born in Topeka, Kansas, Kilmer was raised in southern California and played baseball, football, and basketball at Citrus Union High School in Azusa, scoring more than 1,900 points in the latter sport while earning All-American honors. His 1,901 points set a CIF Southern Section record for points scored, later broken by future Major League Baseball pitc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jim Marshall (defensive End)
James Lawrence Marshall (December 30, 1937 – June 3, 2025) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He recovered an NFL career-record 29 opponents' fumbles. He also holds the league career marks for most consecutive starts (270) and most games played (282) by a defensive player. The Vikings retired his 70, and he was inducted into the Vikings Ring of Honor. Marshall played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, before leaving to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 1960 NFL draft. Marshall played one season with the Browns before being traded to the Vikings. In 1964, he recovered a fumble and returned it 66 yards in the wrong direction into the Vikings' end zone, where he threw the ball out of bounds, resulting in a safety for the opposi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion team, the team began play the 1961 Minnesota Vikings season, following year. They are named after the Vikings of medieval Scandinavia, reflecting the prominent Scandinavian American culture of Minnesota. The team plays its home games at U.S. Bank Stadium in the Downtown East, Minneapolis, Downtown East section of Minneapolis. The Vikings have an all-time overall record of , the highest regular season and combined winning percentage among NFL franchises who have not won a Super Bowl, in addition the most playoff runs, division titles, and (tied with the Buffalo Bills) Super Bowl appearances. They also have the most conference championship appearances of non-winning Super Bowl teams, with them being one of four (along with the P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al Michaels
Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television since 1971, with his most recent work being with NBC Sports after nearly three decades (1976–2006) with ABC Sports. Michaels is known for his many years calling play-by-play of National Football League (NFL) games, including '' ABC Monday Night Football'' from 1986 to 2005 and '' NBC Sunday Night Football'' from 2006 to 2021. He is also known for famous calls in other sports, including the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics and the earthquake-interrupted Game 3 of the 1989 World Series. Early life and education Alan Richard Michaels was born on November 12, 1944, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Michaels was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, to Jay Leonard Michaels and Lila Roginsky/Ross. He grew up as a B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Russ Hodges
Russell Pleasant Hodges (June 18, 1910 – April 19, 1971) was an American sportscaster who did play-by-play for several baseball teams, most notably the New York Giants / San Francisco Giants. He is perhaps best remembered for his call of Bobby Thomson's " Shot Heard 'Round the World"—''The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!'' Early career Born in Dayton, Tennessee, Hodges began his broadcasting career in 1934. He was sports editor of WBT, Charlotte, North Carolina until October 1941, when he moved full-time to WOL in Washington, D.C., where he had already been doing play-by-play for the Washington Redskins. He worked for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Washington Senators, and Cincinnati Reds before landing in New York City with the New York Yankees and New York Giants, who during much of the 1940s only broadcast home games and shared the same radio team — lead announcer Mel Allen and No. 2 man Hodges. From April 14, 1948, to April 22, 194 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wayne Walker (linebacker)
Wayne Harrison Walker (September 30, 1936 – May 19, 2017) was an American professional American football, football player and Sports commentator, sports broadcaster. He played 15 seasons with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as a linebacker and placekicker. Walker played in 200 regular season games, the second most for a defensive player at the time. He played in three Pro Bowls and was once selected as a first-team All-NFL player. After the 1972 Detroit Lions season, 1972 season, he retired as a player and was a sports broadcaster for NFL on CBS, CBS and the sports director for KPIX-TV in San Francisco from 1974 to 1994. Walker was a weekend sportscaster during the off-season during his later years as a Detroit Lion. Early life Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Walker graduated from Boise High School in 1954. As a teen, he played American Legion Baseball, American Legion baseball against National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, hall of famer Harmon Ki ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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KPIX
KPIX-TV (channel 5), branded on-air as CBS Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the CBS network outlet for the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside KPYX (channel 44), an independent station. The two stations share studios at Broadway and Battery Street, just north of San Francisco's Financial District; KPIX's transmitter is located atop Sutro Tower. In addition to KPYX, KPIX shares its building with formerly co-owned radio stations KCBS, KFRC-FM, KITS, KLLC, KRBQ and KZDG (all now owned by Audacy, Inc.), although they use a different address number for Battery Street (865 as opposed to 855). History KPIX signed on the air on December 22, 1948, the first television station in Northern California as well as the 49th in the United States. It was originally owned by Associated Broadcasters, owners of KSFO (560 AM). Initially, channel 5's signal ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gordy Soltau
Gordon Leroy Soltau (January 25, 1925 – October 26, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Early life Soltau served in the United States Navy as World War II broke out when he was graduating high school. He was part of the first class of Frogman that specialized in underwater demolition, seeing action in the Pacific and Europe as part of the Office of Strategic Services. After the war ended in 1945, he attended the University of Minnesota, as coached by Bernie Bierman that saw him develop skills as receiver, placekicker and defense. Football career 25 years old at the time of the 1950 draft, Soltau was a third-round pick by the Green Bay Packers, but he was traded to the Cleveland Browns for Joe Spencer. He was then asked if he wanted to be traded to the San Francisco 49ers to play, which he ac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dan Fouts
Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former professional football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973–1987). After a relatively undistinguished first five seasons in the league, Fouts came to prominence as an on-field leader during the Chargers' Air Coryell period. He led the league in passing yards every year from 1979 to 1982, throwing for over 4,000 yards in the first three of these—no quarterback had previously posted consecutive 4,000-yard seasons. Fouts was voted a Pro Bowler six times, first-team All-Pro twice, and in 1982 he was the Offensive Player of the Year. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility. Fouts played college football for the Oregon Ducks, where he broke numerous records, and was later inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Oregon Hall of Fame. He was a third-round draf ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |