![]() ![]() "There were a number of times when I would do a Badgers game or a Packers game, then jump in a plane and fly home for the Bucks," he said. ![]() Yet, over that span, he never missed a Packers game, missed only one Wisconsin game - when his father died in 1977 - and missed just a handful of Bucks games. He also occasionally filled in for Uecker on Milwaukee Brewers broadcasts.įor 16 years, he was the voice of the Packers, Bucks and Wisconsin football team simultaneously, a very difficult juggling act. He called Milwaukee Bucks games for 16 years, University of Wisconsin football games for 22 years, Wisconsin basketball games for five years and UW-Milwaukee basketball games - with Bob Uecker, of all people - for two years. And that's probably the way it should be."Īlthough Irwin is best known for his role as the Packers' play-by-play announcer, he has been one of the most prolific and popular sports broadcasters in Wisconsin history. "Wayne and I are not going to be Jim and Max. I'm sure they're the envy of every broadcast team in the National Football League. ![]() "They're part of the fabric of the Packers. "There's never going to be another Jim and Max," McCarren said. Schweitzer said the station had no plans to add a third voice. Larry McCarren, who has shared the analysis duties with McGee since 1995, will handle that job exclusively. Wayne Larrivee, 43, the current voice of the Chicago Bears, was named last week as Irwin's successor. Sixty-five is when most people quit and do something else." Thirty years of working (for WTMJ), 30 years of doing Packer games. "Thirty years is a good number for a career anyplace. "Numbers figure into a lot of this," Irwin said. He will be joined in retirement by his analyst sidekick of 20 years, the dry-witted Max McGee. Not even stars burn forever, though, and so it is with mixed emotions that Irwin will retire as the Packers' play-by-play announcer at the conclusion of this season. "Really, the way I think of Jim is that he's a star." "Whether we're playing golf with clients or having dinner, it's hard to walk more than a few steps without getting stopped by someone who wants to talk to Jim. "That's evident if you walk around with him in any part of the state, as I have done over the last couple of years," said Jon Schweitzer, vice president and general manager of WTMJ, the Packers' flagship station. When you hear that voice, you can't help but think of Bart Starr and Lambeau Field, of cheeseheads and Super Bowls.Īlthough Irwin never played a down for the Packers, never made a tackle or caught a pass, his name - and certainly his voice - will forever be associated with the storied franchise. So you could say that Jim Irwin pulled his career out of thin air, and you wouldn't be far from the truth.įor 30 years, Irwin has bent those ethereal radio waves with his voice, so that they crackled and came to life and carried the Green Bay Packers into living rooms and taverns and duck blinds on Sunday afternoons.Īfter three decades in the WTMJ radio booth, Irwin's unique voice is as familiar to Packers fans as the "G" on the sides of their heroes' helmets. Radio waves are invisible and intangible. ![]()
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