by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
Yes, that’s a new voice you hear from the loudspeakers at the Jaguars games.
His name is Scott Thomas and he’s the third public address announcer in the team’s eight-year history. And yes, you guessed it: there’s a lot more to this job than watching a football game.
“It’s exciting and I’m excited,” he said. “I think I might find out how hard it is once I settle in. No breaks all day, but it hasn’t bothered me yet.”
No breaks? Not unless the halftime runs a little short and there’s a lull before the game resumes. His voice starts echoing in the stadium about a half-hour before the game and he’s talking to the fans until it finishes.
Thomas is the production manager for the local Cox stations, one of which is AM-690, the Jags’ flagship station. His boss, Matt Ray, had been the announcer for the past three years but opted out.
“Matt wanted to spend more time with his family,” said Thomas, “so the job was open. I had been up in the booth as a spotter and liked it, so I applied. I’m a huge football fan and I loved going to games.”
It wasn’t a slam dunk. The team took applications and auditioned four people. Then they cut to two, and the final audition was in the stadium with owner Wayne Weaver sitting in the stands.
The boss gave a quick endorsement: “We like Scott a lot,” said Weaver. “Yes, he’s new on the job and he’s still learning a bit, but he’ll be fine.”
(The original announcer was Jack O’Brien, who worked at the rival Clear Channel company and was bumped when the Jags changed stations. You can still hear O’Brien at a stadium: he’s now the Florida Gators public address announcer.)
Thomas arrived at about 10:30 a.m. for Sunday’s game. He spent time studying the lineups, making sure he had the correct pronunciations, and met with public relations people from both the Jags and the New York Jets. He had a quick lunch in the press lounge and made an important stop on the way back to his booth: the rest room.
“The tank better be empty when you start, because there might not be any breaks,” said the 35-year-old.
His booth isn’t where you think — instead of the 50-yard-line, it’s in the far northwest corner of the press area. He’s way out of the end zone and the best thing you can say about his location is that it has a good view of the river.
In the booth, he stands with a spotter on each side. The person on his left follows the defensive team, reporting who made the tackle or broke up the pass; the person on his right worries about the down and distance. If it’s going to be third down and five yards to go for a first down, he better know it.
Behind them, on a slightly raised podium, sits a producer. He handles the music and the Jag growls which come over the system. The producer and the man to Thomas’ left stay in touch, so Thomas can be cued easily.
The action is continual and mistakes can’t be hidden — 60,000 or so will hear them.
Thomas, originally from upstate New York, moved here at age 12 and attended Fletcher High. He got into radio while managing a shoe store.
“That didn’t seem like something I wanted to do,” he said, “but I didn’t know what I wanted. I listened to the radio all day and there was an ad for a radio school. I thought, ‘That would be cool,’” so he went down, took a test and enrolled.
He’s been in radio ever since, working for several local stations, the traffic network and, for two years, at a big Tallahassee station.
“We wanted to come back home and a job opened here at Cox,” said Thomas.
Today, he handles the production for the company’s stations here, which include AM-690, FM-96.9 and FM-102.9. It’s a day job (“I once did overnights when I worked for Y-103 and it almost killed me”) so he has a normal home life to play with his twin daughters, now almost five years old.