Jim Henderson (sportscaster)

Jim Henderson (born July 29, 1947) is an American sportscaster based in New Orleans. He is the radio voice of the New Orleans Saints and also works as a football analyst for WVUE-DT.[1] Before that, he worked for WWL-TV from May 1, 1978 to January 31, 2012.[2]

Biography

Henderson began reporting on Little League baseball games in his native Rochester, New York. After receiving his bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York at Cortland, Henderson went on to achieve a Masters in Radio and Television at Syracuse University.[3]

Henderson began his sports reporting career with the sports director position at a Panama City station, then became a sports reporter in Atlanta.[4] Henderson joined Channel 4 (WWL-TV in New Orleans) on May 1, 1978 when he was offered a job as a sportscaster, succeeding exiting Lloyd "Hap" Glaudi.[3] Henderson and news anchors Garland Robinette and Angela Hill helped WWL become the nation's top-rated local news affiliate, a place it continues to hold to this day.

Henderson is a 13-time winner of the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association's Sportscaster of the Year Award, an award conferred by sports journalists from all over Louisiana. Henderson regularly traveled to the Super Bowl, The Masters, and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game because of his work as a reporter for CBS Newspath.

Henderson is currently the play-by-play announcer on Saints radio broadcasts, formerly teaming with former Saints quarterback Archie Manning. Henderson and Manning broadcast Saints games to listeners (and preseason TV viewers) from 1986 to 1997, with the exception of the 1990 season (when Henderson called regional NFL telecasts on CBS). Henderson currently teams with former Saints running back Hokie Gajan on radio. Henderson was at the microphone for both of the Saints' NFC Championship Game appearances, in 2006 and 2009, as well as their appearance in Super Bowl XLIV.

In August 2012, six months after retiring from WWL, Henderson joined rival station WVUE-DT, owned by Saints owner Tom Benson, as an analyst and commentator for the Saints.[1][5]

Henderson has residences in both Poplarville, Mississippi, and Mandeville, Louisiana. He is married and has two grown children.

Quotes

“ Two receivers to the left, Garcon to the right. Manning in the shotgun, puts Collie in motion. Looks in his direction...it's picked off! It's picked off! It's Tracy Porter again! He's runnin' free! He's gonna go all the way! Hand outstretched...and it's a Saint touchdown! Seventy yards on the return! Seventy yards on the return by Porter! He did it to Favre, and now he's done it to Manning! ”
— Henderson's call of Tracy Porter's pivotal interception in Super Bowl XLIV.
“ Snap, placement, kick by Hartley, and it is — AND IT'S GOOD! IT'S GOOD! IT'S GUH-HUH-HOOD! Ha ha ha! Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl! Confetti fills the air, Saints fans on their feet, everybody in Black and Gold havin' the time of their lives, in the city that will not sleep tonight! All one Saints fans, worldwide! All one! ”
— The Saints win the 2009 NFC Championship on Garrett Hartley's field goal in overtime, 31-28, over the Minnesota Vikings on January 24, 2010. The Super Bowl berth was the first in Saints history.
“ Look at Sean Payton, Joe Vitt embracing on the sideline, the photographers running over there to get that shot. Get ready to party with the Lombardi, New Orleans! The miracle in Miami has happened! The Saints have won the Super Bowl! ”
— Henderson's call of the final seconds of the Saints' victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
“ Gowin, on 4th and 14 will punt it away. He hangs it very high, angling it for near sideline... Hakim drops the ball! Hakim drops the ball! Brian Milne might have fallen on it at the ten yard line! It IS the New Orleans Saints' football! Brian Milne, the most unlikely hero of them all, falls on the fumble, the muff by Hakim! There is a god after all! ”
— Henderson's call of Az-Zahir Hakim's fumble in the final two minutes of the Saints' 2000 wild card playoff game against the St. Louis Rams. The game was the first playoff win in the Saints' 34-year history.
“ The line of scrimmage, the 5 yard line. 4th and Goal from the 5, Manning pumps right, looks left, throws over the middle and it's incomplete! Incomplete, and the ball goes over to the Saints and the Saints' bench erupts! They're gonna be the Super Bowl Champions, it would appear, with 44 seconds left in this game! ”
— Henderson's call of Peyton Manning's final pass in Super Bowl XLIV: an incomplete pass on 4th down that gave the Saints the ball and their first and only Super Bowl victory

References

  1. 1 2 Dave Walker, "Jim Henderson's semi-retirement to include working for WVUE-TV", Times-Picayune, August 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Jim Henderson to retire as WWL-TV sports director", The Houma Courier, January 4, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Dave Walker, "WWL sports director, Jim Henderson has finally gotten to see pigs fly", Times-Picayune, February 7, 2010.
  4. ↑ Josh Weinfuss, "Henderson's flair on air punctuates New Orleans' rise", The News Herald (Panama City), February 6, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Legendary voice of the Saints Jim Henderson joins Fox 8 sports", WVUE-DT, August 6, 2012.
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