Joe McConnell is a retired American sports announcer.

Early life and career

McConnell grew up in Goodland, Indiana

Goodland, Indiana

Goodland is a town in Grant Township, Newton County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,043 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Goodland is located at ....

 and is a 1962 graduate of Franklin College. His broadcasting career began in 1962 at Purdue's campus radio station, WBAA

WBAA

WBAA and WBAA-FM are the call signs for two American radio stations owned by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana—an AM station at 920 kHz and an FM station at 101.3 MHz. Both broadcast from studios in the Edward C...

. He served as assistant sports information director at Purdue from 1965 to 1967.

Broadcasting experience

McConnell's previous experience includes 23 seasons in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

 as the voice of the Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 (1969), Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 (1971-76 and 1985-87), Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 (1977-84), Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 (1992-94) and Tennessee Oilers (1997-98); seven seasons in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 as the voice of the Phoenix Suns

Phoenix Suns

The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...

 (1970-72) and Indiana Pacers

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 (1972-77); and seven seasons in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 as the voice of the Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

 (1978-79) and Chicago White Sox

Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

 (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 National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 and American Basketball Association

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 championships, the NBA All-Star Game and the American League Championship Series

American League Championship Series

In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...

. Additionally, McConnell has broadcast Northwestern

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 football (1988) and Indiana State (1978-79), DePaul

Depaul

Depaul, de Paul or DePaul may refer to:* DePaul University, is the largest Catholic university in North America located within and around Chicago, IL* Vincent de Paul* DePaul Catholic High School...

 (1984-88), Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 (1987-88), Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 (1987-88) and Northwestern men's basketball (1989-94).

Joe McConnell most recently served for 15 seasons as play-by-play announcer for Purdue football, from 1995-2009.

Awards and honors

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.

In 2006, he received a nomination for the National Football Foundation's Chris Schenkel Award, presented to a college football broadcaster. Upon his retirement, at halftime of his final broadcast of the game between Purdue and Indiana University on November 21, 2009, he was awarded the Sagamore of the Wabash

Sagamore of the Wabash

The Sagamore of the Wabash is an honorary award created by the state of Indiana during the term of Governor Ralph F. Gates . A tri-state meeting was to be held in Louisville with officials from Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. Aides to Gates learned that the governor of Kentucky was preparing...

, the highest award that the Indiana governor can bestow, award by Governor Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels

Mitchell Elias "Mitch" Daniels, Jr. is the 49th and current Governor of the U.S. state of Indiana. A Republican, he began his first four-year term as governor on January 10, 2005, and was elected to his second term by an 18-point margin on November 4, 2008. Previously, he was the Director of the...

.