The broadcaster Keith Jackson, considered the voice of college football for many years, has died, his family confirmed. He was 89.

Jackson started his broadcasting career in 1952 and remained a popular figure with ABC until his final broadcast in 2006, when he called a classic Rose Bowl between Texas and USC.

It was an appropriate farewell for Jackson, who was credited with nicknaming the Rose Bowl the “Granddaddy of Them All”.



Although he was best known for college football, Jackson also covered the NFL and NBA, the Olympic Games and the World Series. He was also the first play-by-play man on Monday Night Football.

Prior to his career in the media, Jackson spent four years in the US marines before enrolling at Washington State University, where he graduated with a degree in speech communications.