Joe McConnell

Joe McConnell is an American sports announcer. Joe McConnell is in his 13th season as play-by-play announcer for the Purdue University football team. In 2006, he was nominated for the Chris Schenkel Award, presented by the National Football Foundation to a sports broadcaster who has had a long and distinguished career broadcasting college football. McConnell's experience includes 23 seasons in the National Football League as the voice of the Denver Broncos (1969), Minnesota Vikings (1971-76 and 1985-87), Chicago Bears (1977-84), Indianapolis Colts (1992-94) and Tennessee Oilers (1997-98); seven seasons in the National Basketball Association as the voice of the Phoenix Suns (1970-72) and Indiana Pacers (1972-77); and seven seasons in Major League Baseball as the voice of the Minnesota Twins (1978-79) and Chicago White Sox (1980-84). McConnell also spent five seasons (1991-95) as lead voice for the NBA's National Game of the Week. He has broadcast three Super Bowls, the NBA and ABA championships, the NBA All-Star Game and the American League Championship Series. Additionally, McConnell has broadcast Northwestern football (1988) and Indiana State (1978-79), DePaul (1984-88), Illinois (1987-88), Notre Dame (1987-88) and Northwestern men's basketball (1989-94). He has been honored with the AP/UPI Play-by-Play Sportscaster of the Year Award five times and was the Indiana Sportscaster of the Year in 2000 and the Illinois Sportscaster of the Year in 1981. McConnell is a 1962 graduate of Franklin College. His broadcasting career began in 1962 at Purdue's campus radio station, WBAA. He served as assistant sports information director at Purdue from 1965 to 1967.