Longtime fans of the Indianapolis Colts surely remember the distinct voice of former radio play-by-play announcer Bob Lamey.

Lamey became “The Voice of the Colts” during their inaugural year in the Circle City in 1984. He continued working in the Colts’ radio booth for the next three decades.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and relive the career of Colts broadcasting legend Bob Lamey.

Bob Lamey’s Early Years 

Bob Lamey was born in Chester, PA, on December 23, 1938. He spent his formative years in Victoria, TX.

Lamey enrolled in a local community college where he majored in engineering. However, Bob soon realized his interests lay elsewhere.

Before long, Lamey enrolled at Texas Christian University’s Radio, TV & Film Broadcast Management (RTVF) program.

“TCU really excited me because they had a growing program, and the school was the size I preferred,” Lamey told FrogLinks.com’s Yvette Wilhite-Hanshaw and Dean Whitlock.

Bob worked at Fort Worth, TX, radio station KTCU after he earned his bachelor’s degree. While Bob was busy learning the tricks of the trade covering freshman football and baseball, he discovered his passion for sports broadcasting was innate all along.

Lamey ventured into hockey broadcasting when he called games for the Eastern Hockey League’s (EHL) Charlotte Checkers from 1964 to 1968. His hard work paid off when Charlotte, NC’s WSOC-TV, promoted him to its sports director position in the 1960s.

After covering baseball, football, and hockey during his early years as a sports broadcaster, Bob worked the radio booth of the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) Carolina Cougars for five years.

 

Moving to Indianapolis In The Late 1970s

Bob Lamey left North Carolina and moved to Indianapolis, IN, in 1977. He became the radio voice of the Indiana Pacers prior to their second season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) that year.

Lamey covered the likes of head coach Bobby “Slick” Leonard and players Clark Kellogg, Dan Roundfield, and Don Buse during his seven-year tenure as the Pacers radio voice from 1977 to 1984.

Bob continued calling hockey games when he moved to the Circle City in the late 1970s. He did radio work for the WHA’s Indianapolis Racers and IHL’s Indianapolis Checkers during his early years in Indiana. Lamey also served as sports director of Indy radio station WIBC while calling hockey games.

When the Baltimore Colts packed their bags and headed west for Indianapolis on March 28, 1984, another door opened up for Bob Lamey.

The team, which was renamed the “Indianapolis Colts,” soon hired Lamey to become its first radio play-by-play man since its shocking move to the Hoosier State in 1984.

Lamey was the perfect fit for the job from the get-go. He was so good he remained in that capacity until 2018 (with the exception of a two-year hiatus from 1992 to 1994).

Bob covered various Colts players in four decades. Those players include Chris Hinton, Jack Trudeau, Duane Bickett, Bill Brooks, Eric Dickerson, Tony Siragusa, Ray Donaldson, Jim Harbaugh, Marshall Faulk, Marvin Harrison, Marcus Pollard, Edgerrin James, Reggie Wayne, Dwight Freeney, Dallas Clark, Robert Mathis, Andrew Luck, and T.Y. Hilton.

Witnessing The Colts Turn Into A Juggernaut

Of course, he also covered Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning for the entirety of the latter’s 13-year career with the Horseshoe from 1998 to 2011.

Lamey credited Manning for turning basketball-crazy Indianapolis into a football town.

“Peyton turned Indianapolis into a football city,” Lamey told CBS News Atlanta in March 2016.

Lamey called games with fervor and passion. He stuck with the Colts through all of their ups and downs during a fantastic 32-year broadcasting career.

Lamey was around when the Colts missed the postseason ten times in their first 11 years in Indy from 1984 to 1994.

Bob also called that heartbreaking 20-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1995 AFC Championship Game.

When owner Jim Irsay and general manager Bill Polian drafted Manning in 1998, the Colts’ fortunes changed dramatically.

The Colts were the complete opposite of their forgettable early years in Indianapolis. With Manning in tow, the Colts went to the postseason 11 times, won eight division titles, and won Super Bowl XLI.

Lamey’s career wasn’t without its blemishes, though.

He almost uttered a profanity during the Colts’ exciting 38-34 victory over their nemesis, the New England Patriots, in the 2006 AFC Championship Game at the old RCA Dome.

“He fumbled the freakin’ football,” Lamey said when Indianapolis running back, Dominic Rhodes lost his grip on the football near the goal line.

Fortunately for the Horseshoe, center Jeff Saturday recovered Rhodes’ fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.

Lamey’s famous call of Colts defensive back Marlin Jackson’s game-clinching interception of Tom Brady in that game was one of his best ever.

“Intercepted! Marlin Jackson! Marlin’s got it! We’re going to the Super Bowl!” Bob screamed into his microphone in the game’s waning moments.

Although the Colts started strong in the early years of the Chuck Pagano era (they made three postseason appearances and won two division titles from 2012 to 2014), their performance waned considerably as Lamey’s tenure with the Horseshoe neared its conclusion.

Lamey made headlines after he mentioned an expletive on the air during a game against the then-San Diego Chargers in the fall of 2016.

“What I said was not necessary,” Lamey said in the aftermath of the game (via IndyStar’s Zak Keefer). “It was out of place. It will never happen again.”

The End of an Era 

Sadly, the end of Bob Lamey’s legendary broadcasting career was embroiled in controversy.

A report from Indianapolis television station WTHR claimed Lamey uttered a racial slur in connection with a story about Colts training camp in the summer of 2018.

The Colts announced Lamey’s retirement on their official website on August 19, 2018.

In a statement, Keefer obtained (via USA TODAY) that month, Lamey’s attorney James Voyles said the Colts organization did not fire his client. Voyles made it clear the 80-year-old Lamey retired one day before the Colts made the announcement on their official website.

Voyles’ statement also acknowledged Lamey used “an inappropriate word” for a recently-published story. Lamey apologized profusely to the parties involved.

Bob Lamey is a member of the Indiana Sports Broadcasters and Writers Hall of Fame’s Class of 2008. He is a true Indianapolis Colts legend.

Thank you, Bob.