Seahawks stadium announcer sees something special building
Nov 15, 2013, 11:44 AM | Updated: 12:16 pm
(AP Photo/file)
Ever wonder about that voice booming from above at Seahawks games at CenturyLink Field?
Randy Rowland, the stadium voice for the Seattle Seahawks, has been behind the mic for the team for 23 years.
“I took this job as the interim guy 23 years ago. As far as I know, I’m still the interim public address announcer,” Rowland tells KIRO Radio’s Tom and Curley Show.
In the early days, announcing games at the Kingdome, Rowland says he didn’t have a lot of direction and the presentation didn’t have all the bells and whistles it does today.
“Now, the whole game-day thing is run like a show. Everything I say is connected to replays and graphics and video drops.”
At CenturyLink, he says they want to have an amped house, but they like to keep things respectful.
“We’re not trying to humiliate the other team. Some PA announcers in other places have done stuff like that, chiding, we don’t do that. We try to keep it fun. We want to have it be a ruckus place but we don’t want to create what I would call a negative hostile environment.”
Watching two decades of Seahawks football roll through, Rowland has seen a lot of ups and downs, but he thinks we’re really on the verge of something great right now.
“You sense that not only are we winning, but we’re stacking a team that looks like it could become, in my estimation – if everybody does things right, people stay healthy, and make the right choices in the draft and free agency – this could be a dynasty like you’ve had in New England, where all of a sudden Seattle is just a team that is going to win year in and year out.”
While he has to maintain a certain level of professionalism, as he is doing a job, Rowland says he can’t avoid the excitement this Seahawks team is bringing.
“When I go home after the overtime win the other night, my hands are shaking on the steering wheel. I’m exhausted and I go to bed but I can’t sleep because I’m so excited. How can I not be a Seahawks fan if I behave like that?”