BOYHOOD DREAMS
9/17/2026 4:44:00 PM | Football, General, Men's Basketball, Communications, "B" Association, Athletic News, Radio
‘Voice of Bears’ John Morris joins his mentor in Hall of Fame
This is the first in a series of stories profiling this year's inductees for the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame and Wall of Honor, which will be posted every week at BaylorBears.com.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Growing up in Danville, Ky., John Morris remembers listening to Cawood Ledford and Ralph Hacker on the Kentucky football and basketball broadcasts and the Cincinnati Reds' legendary broadcasting tandem of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.
"He was their Frank Fallon for 40-plus years," Morris said, comparing Ledford to Baylor Hall of Famer Frank Fallon, the original "Voice of the Bears." "He was just that old-school broadcaster, but that's who I grew up listening to. And I really liked Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall doing the Reds' games. I was the kid who went to sleep with the radio under my pillow listening to the games."
Morris parlayed those boyhood dreams of becoming a sports broadcaster into a career that included 15 years with KWTX-TV and the last 31 years as the "Voice of the Bears," a path that now leads him into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame with his mentor and friend, the late Frank Fallon.
"What I remember is, I was just interested in broadcasting, whatever that was" said Morris, who has called events for most of Baylor's 19 intercollegiate sports. "I didn't really have a goal of getting to this chair (as BU's Associate AD of Broadcasting). That would be almost inconceivable. But just whatever I could do in broadcasting. And I kind of believe in, 'bloom where you're planted.'''
Ever humble, the 67-year-old Morris was shocked when Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Doug McNamee announced on John's show that he was part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, a group that includes Quincy Acy (men's basketball), Corey Coleman (football), Hayley Davis (women's golf), baseball's Zane Carlson and track's Trayvon Bromell, Tiffani McReynolds and Bill Martineson.
"It's very, very humbling, and I still feel the same way," Morris said. "I still don't think of myself in the same vein with this group. Every year, we say the same thing, we've got great people who are qualified for the Hall of Fame. I don't see myself in that group."
Whether he sees it or not, John has come a long way from pulling disc jockey duties at his dad's skating rink, the Windjammer Skate-Orama, when he was 15 years old.
"We'd play music and make announcements," he said.
His real start in the world of broadcasting, though, came as a fill-in board operator in the summer for radio station WHIR in Danville.
"That goes back to Steve Bertram, who was nice enough to let me think that I was helping him. And I don't know that I ever did," John said. "But he let me hang around, and I really got interested there and worked night shifts for a couple of summers. It was mainly just running the Reds' games at night, which I would have been listening to anyway.
"Steve is one that I owe a lot to. There were some nights where the Reds were off, and I would spin the tunes. So, that was really the first time I was ever on air."
A radio/television/film major at Baylor, John got broadcasting experience working for the student-run KWBU campus radio station. While they couldn't do football or men's basketball, the two sports that were broadcast commercially at the time, the students called women's basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball "without much oversight."
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Growing up in Danville, Ky., John Morris remembers listening to Cawood Ledford and Ralph Hacker on the Kentucky football and basketball broadcasts and the Cincinnati Reds' legendary broadcasting tandem of Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall.
"He was their Frank Fallon for 40-plus years," Morris said, comparing Ledford to Baylor Hall of Famer Frank Fallon, the original "Voice of the Bears." "He was just that old-school broadcaster, but that's who I grew up listening to. And I really liked Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall doing the Reds' games. I was the kid who went to sleep with the radio under my pillow listening to the games."
Morris parlayed those boyhood dreams of becoming a sports broadcaster into a career that included 15 years with KWTX-TV and the last 31 years as the "Voice of the Bears," a path that now leads him into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame with his mentor and friend, the late Frank Fallon.
"What I remember is, I was just interested in broadcasting, whatever that was" said Morris, who has called events for most of Baylor's 19 intercollegiate sports. "I didn't really have a goal of getting to this chair (as BU's Associate AD of Broadcasting). That would be almost inconceivable. But just whatever I could do in broadcasting. And I kind of believe in, 'bloom where you're planted.'''
Ever humble, the 67-year-old Morris was shocked when Baylor Vice President and Director of Athletics Doug McNamee announced on John's show that he was part of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, a group that includes Quincy Acy (men's basketball), Corey Coleman (football), Hayley Davis (women's golf), baseball's Zane Carlson and track's Trayvon Bromell, Tiffani McReynolds and Bill Martineson.
"It's very, very humbling, and I still feel the same way," Morris said. "I still don't think of myself in the same vein with this group. Every year, we say the same thing, we've got great people who are qualified for the Hall of Fame. I don't see myself in that group."
Whether he sees it or not, John has come a long way from pulling disc jockey duties at his dad's skating rink, the Windjammer Skate-Orama, when he was 15 years old.
"We'd play music and make announcements," he said.
His real start in the world of broadcasting, though, came as a fill-in board operator in the summer for radio station WHIR in Danville.
"That goes back to Steve Bertram, who was nice enough to let me think that I was helping him. And I don't know that I ever did," John said. "But he let me hang around, and I really got interested there and worked night shifts for a couple of summers. It was mainly just running the Reds' games at night, which I would have been listening to anyway.
"Steve is one that I owe a lot to. There were some nights where the Reds were off, and I would spin the tunes. So, that was really the first time I was ever on air."
A radio/television/film major at Baylor, John got broadcasting experience working for the student-run KWBU campus radio station. While they couldn't do football or men's basketball, the two sports that were broadcast commercially at the time, the students called women's basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball "without much oversight."
"It was good experience, because we would take the equipment and go and set up and do the broadcast, so we were getting the experience," John said. "I just wish Frank had been there to give us some direction."
Starting at KWTX in February of 1980, during his junior year at Baylor, John eventually became the station's sports director and weekday anchor. An occasional fill-in for Fallon on the men's basketball radio broadcasts, John got his big break in 1987, when Fallon asked him to "do football with me next year."
Their first game in the booth together was the Sept. 5 season opener versus Louisiana Tech, which the Bears won, 13-3.
"I would say I was very nervous in a lot of ways," he said of that first broadcast, "but Frank made me feel very comfortable. I was just nervous because, 'What am I doing here?' It took me a while to stop calling him Mr. Fallon on the air. But what a great learning experience for eight years working with him."
While Fallon just asked him to be "another set of eyes up here," John confesses that he wasn't very good doing color analysis, because he didn't have the football background of former players like Walter Abercrombie, JJ Joe, Nick Florence and now Geff Gandy that have filled that role for him.
"Frank said it was just to get another broadcaster in the booth," John said. "It was just the two of us in there chopping it up."
Taking over play-by-play duties when Fallon retired in 1995, John said he's never tried to copy the style and voices of Fallon, Brennaman or Ledford.
"They were so good, I knew I could never be them," he said. "They tell you in broadcasting, don't try to be somebody else, you've got to be yourself. I knew I couldn't be as good as Frank, so I never tried to be."
What he has done is develop a close-knit team concept with the radio broadcasts. He worked alongside Joe and sideline reporter Ricky Thompson for more than 20 years, until Joe passed suddenly in January 2024. Now, the team includes Gandy in the booth and former player Bryson Jackson on the sidelines, along with engineer Bob Baker and spotter Jeff Walter.
"The play-by-play guy may talk the most, but everybody's important to make it a good broadcast," he said. "That's something I learned from Frank. He would bring in his color analyst and ask them questions and bring out the best in them. I think early on, I was still learning what I was doing and didn't do a great job of helping them, of building them up. But, hopefully, through the years, I've done a better job of that."
John, who will call his 457th consecutive Baylor football game this Saturday, when the Bears (1-1) host Louisiana Tech (1-1) at 3 p.m., will be in an unfamiliar role for the Nov. 20 Baylor Hall of Fame Banquet. Instead of emceeing the event, he will be sitting in the crowd with his family while fellow Hall of Famer Pat Nunley takes on John's traditional role.
"It'll be fun to sit there with my family," John said. "You think about most Baylor events I go to, I'm working. And my family may be there, but I'm not sitting with them. That'll be fun, because obviously family is a big part of this."
John and his wife, Terri (Melton), who are both Baylor grads, are the proud parents of three Baylor graduates and now have five grandchildren.
The 2025 Baylor Hall of Fame Banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus. Registration is available here.
Starting at KWTX in February of 1980, during his junior year at Baylor, John eventually became the station's sports director and weekday anchor. An occasional fill-in for Fallon on the men's basketball radio broadcasts, John got his big break in 1987, when Fallon asked him to "do football with me next year."
Their first game in the booth together was the Sept. 5 season opener versus Louisiana Tech, which the Bears won, 13-3.
"I would say I was very nervous in a lot of ways," he said of that first broadcast, "but Frank made me feel very comfortable. I was just nervous because, 'What am I doing here?' It took me a while to stop calling him Mr. Fallon on the air. But what a great learning experience for eight years working with him."
While Fallon just asked him to be "another set of eyes up here," John confesses that he wasn't very good doing color analysis, because he didn't have the football background of former players like Walter Abercrombie, JJ Joe, Nick Florence and now Geff Gandy that have filled that role for him.
"Frank said it was just to get another broadcaster in the booth," John said. "It was just the two of us in there chopping it up."
Taking over play-by-play duties when Fallon retired in 1995, John said he's never tried to copy the style and voices of Fallon, Brennaman or Ledford.
"They were so good, I knew I could never be them," he said. "They tell you in broadcasting, don't try to be somebody else, you've got to be yourself. I knew I couldn't be as good as Frank, so I never tried to be."
What he has done is develop a close-knit team concept with the radio broadcasts. He worked alongside Joe and sideline reporter Ricky Thompson for more than 20 years, until Joe passed suddenly in January 2024. Now, the team includes Gandy in the booth and former player Bryson Jackson on the sidelines, along with engineer Bob Baker and spotter Jeff Walter.
"The play-by-play guy may talk the most, but everybody's important to make it a good broadcast," he said. "That's something I learned from Frank. He would bring in his color analyst and ask them questions and bring out the best in them. I think early on, I was still learning what I was doing and didn't do a great job of helping them, of building them up. But, hopefully, through the years, I've done a better job of that."
John, who will call his 457th consecutive Baylor football game this Saturday, when the Bears (1-1) host Louisiana Tech (1-1) at 3 p.m., will be in an unfamiliar role for the Nov. 20 Baylor Hall of Fame Banquet. Instead of emceeing the event, he will be sitting in the crowd with his family while fellow Hall of Famer Pat Nunley takes on John's traditional role.
"It'll be fun to sit there with my family," John said. "You think about most Baylor events I go to, I'm working. And my family may be there, but I'm not sitting with them. That'll be fun, because obviously family is a big part of this."
John and his wife, Terri (Melton), who are both Baylor grads, are the proud parents of three Baylor graduates and now have five grandchildren.
The 2025 Baylor Hall of Fame Banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, in the Hurd Welcome Center Grand Ballroom on the Baylor University campus. Registration is available here.
Saturday, September 19
Saturday, September 19
Saturday, September 19
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