Joseph K. Starkey (born 1941)[1][2] is an American sportscaster who served as the radio play-by-play announcer of California Golden Bears football from 1975 to 2022.
Starkey nearly lost his voice during and after this event, which he hailed as "the most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heartrending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football!
He attended Loyola University Chicago, graduating in 1964 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Science in international relations in 1965.
[5][2][6] He has broadcast for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings (1977) and Denver Broncos, the USFL's Oakland Invaders and the first telecaster for the NHL's San Jose Sharks.
Starkey was also the radio and television voice of the now defunct National Hockey League's Oakland (later California Golden) Seals and Colorado Rockies, who later became the New Jersey Devils.
"[5] It was the same call he carried into his football broadcasts to describe outlandish catches, notably by Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens.
In addition to his Super Bowl calls, the most famous of which would prove to be Deion Sanders' out-of-bounds end-zone interception which ended Super Bowl XXIX, Starkey was play-by-play announcer for the 1998 club's two signature moments - Garrison Hearst's 96-yard touchdown in overtime against the New York Jets and Steve Young's game-winning touchdown to Terrell Owens against the Green Bay Packers - The Catch II.
He was nine times voted Best California play-by-play broadcaster by the Associated Press and was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.