WASHINGTON — “Touchdown, Washington Redskins!”
That familiar touchdown call, heard on Redskins radio broadcasts from 1979-2004, belonged to Frank Herzog. Joined in the broadcast booth by Hall of Famers Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff, the trio became synonymous with the glory days of Redskins football, calling all three Super Bowl victories.
This weekend, Herzog joins former Redskins great Dexter Manley and nine others as part of the 2016 D.C. Sports Hall of Fame class.
“We just had a lot of fun,” Jurgensen said. “We did a lot of work, but in working Frank made it fun because of his preparation.”
The defensive specialist in the booth, former linebacker Sam Huff, gave deference to Herzog.
“He was the voice. You never overtalk the man with the microphone, and he was the man.”
Herzog joined the Redskins a year after being behind the mic for the first and only NBA Championship for the Washington Bullets. After signing his contract on a cocktail napkin, Frank, along with Sonny and Sam, began taking Redskins fans along for the ride.
“His voice became part of the fabric on Autumn Sundays in the Washington area,” said WTOP’s Chris Core, who is also a former colleague. “Listening to Frank, and Sam, and Sonny on the radio made you want to wear Burgundy and Gold all week long.”
Johnny Holiday has been the voice of the Maryland Terrapins since 1979, the same year Herzog joined the Redskins, and the two have crossed paths on more than one occasion. Holiday used to host the Redskins pregame show and remembers the times together during the Super Bowl runs of the early ’80s.
“I think number one is class, professionalism, dedication, enthusiasm and a legend in broadcasting in the city of Washington,” Holiday said of Herzog.
“When you listen to a Redskins broadcast, there’s only one man that comes to mind, in my mind, and that’s Frank Herzog.”
Herzog arrived at WTOP in 1969 as the station was transitioning to an all-news radio station. He began working as a copy boy making $2 an hour. His career in Washington also included stops on the television side at WJLA and WUSA. Herzog then returned to where it all started, WTOP Radio, before retiring in 2010.
He now takes his place among the D.C. area’s great sports hall of famers. Legendary NBC Anchor Jim Vance think Herzog is right where he should be.
“Thinking of all those names up there, Charley Taylor, Riggo and all those other guys — Herzog belongs there with those guys if anyone ever did,” said Vance.
The other inductees of the hall of fame’s Class of 2016:
- Christine Brennan, former sportswriter for The Washington Post, a columnist for USA Today, a
commentator for ABC, CNN, NPR and PBS and author of seven books; - Marco Etchevarry, who led D.C. United to three of their four MLS championships, won the MVP award in 1998 and is on the MLS all-time team;
- Patrick Ewing, the legendary center at Georgetown University who led the Hoyas to three Final Fours and their only national championship. He went on to be the No. 1 pick in the 1985 NBA Draft played for 15 seasons and was elected to the Backetball Hall of Fame;
- Earl Lloyd, who broke the NBA’s color barrier with the Washington Capitols in 1950;
- Missy Meharg, who coached the University of Maryland field hockey team to seven national championships and 16 Final Fours in 28 years;
- Bob Milloy, who won 399 games and eight Maryland state championships as football coach at Good Counsel, Sherwood, Springbrook and Walt Whitman;
- Hymie and Phil Perlo, who both played at Roosevelt High School, in D.C. Phil Perlo went on to play football at Maryland and won an AFL championship with the Houston Oilers in 1961. Hymie Perlo was a basketball All-Met whose career was cut short by World War II, but was a longtime community relations director with the Washington Bullets;
- Harold Solomon, a Silver Spring native who was the fifth-ranked tennis player in the world in 1980 and played in the final of the French Open in 1976.
They’ll be inducted at a pregame ceremony at Nationals Park on Sunday.
