Hunter, well shy of the first down, he’s gonna lateral it back. Ball’s on the ground, IT’S PICKED UP BY COLLINS! ALEX HAS GOT ROOM, AT THE THIRTY, TWENTY-FIVE, TWENTY, COLLINS AT THE FIFTEEN, CUTS BACK AT THE TEN. THIS GAME’S STILL ALIVE, AND THE HOGS HAVE A FIRST DOWN
Many of us can recall where we were, and who we were with, when the miraculous “Henry Heave” took place. For Arkansas broadcaster Chuck Barrett, it is a call he’ll never forget. “I was proud of that one; I’m not gonna lie. It was a tough call; that’s why I’m so proud of it. I don’t know if I can ever top that one,” he said. “Had I not been the Razorback announcer, I would’ve probably thought the play was over.”
Growing up in Clarksville, Arkansas, Chuck dreamed of becoming the Voice of the Razorbacks. Chuck became a sports fan early in life, bonding with his family over games. At age eight, his parents bought him a radio, and Chuck was fascinated as he listened to the legendary broadcaster, Jack Buck, call St. Louis Cardinal baseball games.
When Chuck was sixteen, he got his first chance to call a live game when the announcer for a little league football game called in sick. Chuck volunteered to get behind the microphone, and he loved every second. Chuck was hooked. After that night, he knew he wanted to take broadcasting seriously. Later that summer, he got a job at a local radio station in Clarksville, where Chuck’s career in broadcasting began to take shape.
Chuck continued to work at the radio station throughout high school and would later briefly attend the University of Arkansas before leaving to focus on his radio career – essentially betting on himself. Although before he left for Fayetteville, he received a piece of advice from the general manager of the radio station that stuck with Chuck throughout his career. He had just finished reading a newscast and felt he’d nailed it. As the general manager walked by, young Chuck expected praise, but instead, the general manager looked Chuck in the eyes and said, “You’re pretty good, but you need to start talking to the audience, not at the audience.” That advice, though tough to hear, made quite the impression.
After leaving the University, Chuck accepted a job at a local news station, covering mainly court hearings. While he preferred basketball or baseball, he knew only a few stations that focused on sports. Chuck stayed the course. In 1992, while working at a local radio station in Fort Smith, he got word that the Razorback baseball play-by-play announcer job was open. Chuck got the job and transitioned from covering the courts to covering the field.
As a lifelong Arkansas fan, the authenticity of Chuck’s calls came with ease. Two years later, he began hosting Scoreboard Show with Razorback head coaches. Then, just twelve months later, he added hosting pregame and postgame football coverage to his résumé. That same year, Chuck also hosted a radio call-in show during rush hour, SportsRap with Chuck Barrett. He would host the show for twelve years, building a nationwide audience, before stepping away in 2007.
This would prove to be a pivotal year in Chuck’s career. In 2007, after a tragic accident, Arkansas radio legend Paul Eells passed away at the age of seventy. As the state mourned, Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles scrambled to find someone to step in as the play-by-play announcer for Arkansas football. Frank knew that Chuck, a friend who had worked alongside Paul, had the experience and enthusiasm needed for the job.
Chuck knew no one could ever fill Paul’s shoes, and he understood how important the broadcasts were to the fans, so it was with the utmost respect that he took on the role with a passion. In 2010, Chuck added men’s basketball to his repertoire while continuing to call baseball and football. He called game after game, season after season. Eventually, Chuck knew he was spreading himself too thin, and in 2014, after twenty-three seasons of calling Razorback baseball, he passed the torch to Phil Elson, the women’s basketball broadcaster.
That was almost ten years ago. Chuck, now sixty, remains the familiar and much-loved man behind the microphone calling Razorback football and men’s basketball games. As he enters his seventeenth season as the director of broadcasting at the University of Arkansas, he has no plans to retire anytime soon. He even returned recently to talk radio with a part-time stint on ESPN Arkansas as co-host of The Morning Rush every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft, as well as a weekly appearance on Halftime with Phil Elson and Ruscin & Zach.
In addition to Chuck’s many accolades over the years, he has been selected as Arkansas Sportscaster of the Year multiple times. “I knew the impact I’d have on people around the state because I once was the one who was listening. Razorback sports bond families together in our state, some of the most cherished times revolve around games. You may not remember the outcome of the game, but you remember who you were with,” notes Chuck. Although he won’t admit to his iconic status, his thirty-year run as a stellar broadcaster has cemented Chuck as not only the Voice of the Razorbacks but the Voice of Arkansas.
Check out Will Whitson, sports contributor at Do South Magazine on Twitter: @will_whitson2, and Instagram: @william.whitson! Will also writes weekly for ArkansasFight.com.
