After 48 seasons on the mic, legendary Cal broadcaster Joe Starkey has announced he will retire at the conclusion of this football season.
Starkey, who turns 81 years old in October, has delivered play-by-play for the Golden Bears since 1975, calling 538 out of 545 Cal football games during that span.
The Bears' regular season finale vs. UCLA is now planned as Joe Starkey Day.
"My theory on this whole situation is I was really close to Bill Walsh when he was head coach of the Niners and we would talk a lot about when he would cut guys. His main mantra was go home a year early, cut them a year early, trade them a year early than a year late. My concern has always been I don't want to be the guy who stayed a year too late and somebody says 'Geez, he didn't get that right or didn't get that name right.'
"I've had a heck of a run and I may already be the oldest play-by-play guy in the country, for all I know. I still enjoy it, but I think it's time."
"Joe Starkey's commitment and service to Cal football have been unwavering for nearly a half-century," Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton said in a statement. "I'm excited to celebrate and honor all of Joe's great work over the years and make 2022 his best season yet with the Bears. He will always have a home in Berkeley and with Cal football."
Said Cal football coach Justin Wilcox, in a statement: "What an incredible career Joe Starkey has had over such a long period of time. Joe's name is synonymous with the history of our football program. It's going to be a thrill to see him honored and recognized by so many who have enjoyed his work over the years."
Interestingly, Starkey never sought up the Cal football play-by-play job. Originally from Chicago, he began his broadcasting career in 1972 as the radio and television voice of the NHL's California Golden Seals.
"It was kind of an unusual situation because I didn't ask for the job. I was doing hockey for the Seals and I was filling in at KGO occasionally for Monte Stickles, who was the sports director at that point. So I would do shows for him and the like. The guy who was doing Cal football in '73 and '74, they felt wasn't really a play-by-play guy, so they just asked me one day, 'Would you be interested in doing football?' And I said yes," Starkey said. "They asked me how much football I've done, and I said, 'Oh, I've done a lot of football.' The only football I'd ever done is go to Bears games. But I got the job in '75.
"I remember on the very first road trip, first game I ever went to at Cal -- we played at Colorado -- and the sponsors always go on the charters. One of the sponsors came up to me in the aisle while we were flying over there, and he said 'You know, you're the fourth announcer in five years here. How long are you going to be here?' And I said, 'As long as I want to be.' That's where we are right now."
That 1975 Cal team, which went 8-3 and finished ranked No. 14 in the country, remains one of his all-time favorites.
Along with one other squad that stands out at the top.
"The Aaron Rodgers team that didn't go to the Rose Bowl was an incredible football team, and Aaron's ability to throw into traffic, to find a way to win, the great running backs on that team, DeSean Jackson at receiver, I mean we had so many great players on that team. That was a truly memorable team," Starkey said. "And really all the way back to the '75 team, my first team, that team was loaded with great players. Some really do standout more than others, I have to admit that."
As do some broadcasting moments, like his famous call of "The Play" -- Cal's dramatic win over Stanford in 1982 -- when his "The band is out on the field" became an iconic moment in college football history.
"It's amazing because people recognize it who you wouldn't even think would. I've had some amazing situations over the years. Maybe the funniest one was Joe Morgan, bless his heart, had a golf tournament for years over in the East Bay. One year I was a so-called celebrity, which is stretching the term, but I was with four guys from Southern California, and we got out on the golf course and one of the guys said, 'They're supposed to put us with some sort of celebrity. Who are you? I don't know anything about you,'" Starkey said. "I said, 'OK, I'll give you six words -- the band is on the field.' It worked. It's everywhere, it's an entrance to conversations and I've had people talk about it literally all over the world."
That's not his best story, though -- far from it.
As Starkey met with reporters Thursday, he closed with an anecdote that would be hard for anyone to top.
"This is over 20 years ago, my wife and my youngest son we go on a trip to Europe. We're going from Greece to Italy, we're going to finish in Rome, so the last stop is Rome and we're staying in a hotel that overlooks the Vatican. So it's a very hot August afternoon and my wife and 11-year-old son don't want to go to the pool -- they say it's hot and just want to take a nap. So I go to the pool and sit down, I pull out a book, and in 5 minutes the entire Rolling Stones band joins me at the pool," Starkey said.
"Everybody's there with their wives. Just by coincidence, [drummer] Charlie Watts sits down next to me and we start talking and I ask them about their tour and all the things they're doing. To this day, I can't believe I didn't ask for tickets for God's sake because they were having a concert that night. He says, 'Mate, do you want to get in the pool.' I said, 'Great idea,' so we get in the pool, get into the shallow end of the pool and we're just standing in the shallow end trying to cool off. As bizarre of this is, you might remember a show called The Incredible Hulk. Lou Ferrigno jumps into the pool, OK. So I've got Lou Ferigno on my left, I've got a Rolling Stone on my right and I'm in the middle and a guy jumps into the pool from the other end and he looks us over.
"Charlie says, 'You know, they'll bother you everywhere, won't they?' And he uses some salty language to do that. The guy comes up to the three of us and looks us over and says, 'Aren't you the Cal football announcer?'"
