Dec 2, 2022
Bill Mercer is the original announcer for the Texas Ranger. He also called games for the original Dallas Texans in the old AFL which eventually became the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Dallas Cowboys, including the Cowboy's first Super Bowl. Bill shares behind-the-scenes stories from the earliest days of the Texas sports world.
You'll hear Bill talk about what it was like to announce the historic Cowboys/Packers "Ice Bowl" in 1967 in Green Bay where it was 30 below zero. It was so cold the inside of the glass in the press box was iced over and they couldn't see the field. You'll love hearing Bill recount one of the greatest football games of all time as he shares what he did to not lose focus on the game.
Bill even announced wrestling matches at the historic Dallas Sportatorium. He talks about how he was hired to announce the matches on KRLD TV even though he had no experience with wrestling. Bill is very honest and transparent about how nervous he was to take on this gig. It eventually became a big part of his life.
One of the biggest events in Bill's life happened at 12 Noon on Nov. 22nd in 1963. He was doing the local "Noon News" when President Kennedy was shot and killed. Bill was assigned to go to Dallas police station to do one of the nation's very first live broadcasts. He was there as Lee Harvey Oswald was brought into the station. At 1 o'clock in the morning, the police decided to do a press conference with Lee Harvey Oswald. It was here that Oswald heard for the very first time, from Bill Mercer, that he was being charged with the murder of the President of the United States.
You'll even hear Bill Mercer discuss his insight on the theories that Oswald didn’t act alone. He shared an incredible recounting of Oswald's actions following the assassination of Kennedy.
From Oklahoma to Okinawa: 18K Miles on the LCI(G) 439: A Signalman's WWII Naval Memoir is a book Bill Mercer just released that was a fulfillment of a promise he made to his shipmates who wanted him to write about their experience in Okinawa Japan from 1943 to 1947.
Catch up on previous episodes of Life at the Ballpark with John Frost.
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