On The Call with Jake Marsh
On the Call with Jake Marsh takes listeners behind the scenes of sports and sports broadcasting through conversations with broadcasters, athletes, coaches, and other voices from around the industry. Along the way, Jake shares stories and updates from his own life and career, giving fans a closer look at both the games and everything that comes with them.
On The Call with Jake Marsh
Brandon Gaudin's Journey to the Big Leagues, March Madness & Madden
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On this week's episode of On The Call with Jake Marsh, Brandon Gaudin joins the show to discuss his broadcasting journey from writing a letter to Skip Caray as a kid to becoming one of the voices of the Atlanta Braves, FOX, BTN, and Madden.
We talk about winning CBS's nationwide play-by-play competition during college, becoming the voice of three different college athletic programs, landing his dream job with the Braves, becoming the voice of the Madden video game franchise, and earning the opportunity to call the NCAA Tournament on television this year.
Plus, Brandon reflects on the viral One Shining Moment video he created during the COVID-19 shutdown, discusses the lessons he's learned throughout his career, and offers advice for the next generation of aspiring broadcasters.
We wrap up the show with Tip of the Cap, That's Wild of the Week, and a special announcement regarding Jake's next broadcasting assignment.
Follow and subscribe to On the Call with Jake Marsh for weekly conversations with broadcasters, athletes, coaches, and other voices from around the sports world.
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Welcome to another episode of On the Call with Jake Marsh. My name is Jake Marsh, and we have a fantastic episode for you today. I am joined by the TV voice of the Atlanta Braves, Brandon Godden. Brandon is absolutely incredible. He talks about how he got the Braves job after growing up as a Braves fan. He also does pretty much every sport out there. He works for Fox and Big Ten Network, calling college football and basketball. He had a huge uh promotion this year in the college basketball ranks, getting the nod to call the NCAA tournament with Turner, which is my dream job and many people's dream job. So we talk about that experience. And he also is the voice of something that you folks who are video game nerds might play every single day. And that is Madden. He's been the voice of Madden for quite some time right now. So we go into the behind the scenes of that and we get some career advice from from Brandon as well. And then we'll close out the show with our recurring segments. Just about to say who's back. Certainly not who's back. My memory is thinking about part of my take recording a podcast. It is not who's back. I love who's back, but that is part of my take. Lane, but not my lane. We will not be doing Who's Back. We will be doing uh Firefest, just kidding. We will be doing uh Tip of the Cap and That's Wild of the Week. So let's get into it. Another episode of On the Call with Jake Marsh starts now. All right, we now welcome on a very special guest. He is the voice of the Atlanta Braves. He is one of the voices of March Madness. He's on Fox Sports Big Ten Network. I think we could complete a full bingo card of this man's accomplishments and uh working accolades so far. It is Brandon Goddin. Brandon, thought this would be a great time to have you on in the All-Star Break. Your Braves are red hot in the first half of the season. But uh I want to circle back and go back to your childhood for a little bit because a lot of the reason I started this show was to receive advice from broadcasters, but also for guests to give advice to uh young and future broadcasters. And there's a funny story online about you as a child aspiring to be a sports broadcaster when you wrote a letter to the legendary Skiff Carey as a kid asking how to get into broadcasting. Do you remember specifically what you asked him? And did you ever imagine you would be the voice of the Braves one day?
SPEAKER_02Well, I still carry that letter and have it with me. And my siblings for my 40th birthday last year had got it framed for me. So I have the original letter in my sock drawer. I have a framed copy of it as a 40th birthday present. So, yes, I carry it with me. It's a reminder kind of of why I got into the business. It's also a reminder of the first broadcaster that gave me advice and someone that I grew up watching every night on TVS as Skip Carrie was calling those Braves games back in the 90s as I was coming of age as a young man. And he was in that reply and making himself real to me, because he was just this guy that I saw on a screen from a distance. But when I received a reply, and the letter that I sent him when I received his reply, it made him tangible, it made him real. And in some strange way, it kind of motivated me as then a 13-year-old to say, okay, you know what? As I get into high school here, I really want to try and do this. I don't know if I'm going to be any good at it, but I've loved watching this guy. He sent me this letter, and it gave me a little fuel and motivation to kind of push into the broadcasting industry. And so it's a very, very special memento that I that I hope to never lose.
SPEAKER_00That's so cool. And I feel like everybody has that one moment where a domino effect begins, whether it's a relationship or a gig that broke them through to get something else. So the fact that you got one of those so early in your career in your life, that that's pretty awesome. And the fact that you still have that letter, it's not just a piece of advice you received, it's a physical, tangible uh piece of paper.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and Jake, now we would just write an email, right, or get on LinkedIn. But it's it's a reminder also of kind of the the time that I grew up in, not to make it sound like I'm 90, but you know, the option was not there to send an email. It was okay, get a hold of somebody via a landline phone down in Atlanta, find an address for Turner Sports, send him this letter, put a stamp on it, and hope that it gets there, hope that he sees it and hope that he replies. And I I checked my mailbox every day for the next couple of months until that letter came in. So it it meant a lot to me back at the time, and it still does today, almost gosh, three decades later.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's incredible. We've got to get back to writing letters and making that a mainstay, right? Because the only time I've ever seen handwritten letters come through or go out are either when I went to Sleepway Camp or I feel like wedding thank you notes are still handwritten.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes, those are. Uh, I still do birthday cards that way, but yeah, and my nieces and nephews don't even know how to write cursive, and I'm not saying that's their fault. It's just it's not needed anymore. So it's it's strange to think in such a short time, relatively short time, how things have changed. And it's changed so much in our business from everything being radio then to TV. And now we're in this world where every game seemingly is web streamed. And so for young kids, there's so many more opportunities. Every game is being broadcasted in some way, shape, or form. Uh, and there's a lot of good in that, a lot of opportunities for young broadcasters.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I feel like even when I was in school, there was such a separation in terms of ooh, linear games versus digital games. Now it's blended so much, right? I mean, your Braves games are digitally uh, I was gonna say televised or broadcasted. Uh, we have Thursday night football on Prime, we have the NBA on Prime, NFL has gotten YouTube. So I feel like that blurring of the lines is kind of good for everybody in our business.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and heck, 13, 14-year-old games in Atlanta, this these football games now. There's a parent that's got one camera, some of them have two camera setups and they're streaming them on the app, and you can watch a 13 and 14-year-old, and some of them have young announcers trying to get those reps. And so, yeah, it's it's crazy to think how far we've come because when I graduated from Butler in 2006, graduated from college, it was all about how can you get that first radio opportunity because there were so few TV opportunities. And now with web streaming, everything has a visual component to it. So, again, it's it's if you're getting into broadcasting, the hard part is that there's more people than ever that are getting into it. The good part is there's more opportunities than ever. And so if you're willing to pound the pavement, no matter what city you're in, however, big or small, whether you're in New York or Des Moines, there are opportunities for people to get reps. And that's that's a great thing.
SPEAKER_00100%. And I feel like the beginning of our careers were similar in that we were the voices of a team. You were three different teams with Evansville uh and Georgia Tech and um and Butler, of course, your alma mater. And mine was with the University of Vermont, and that was kind of a common uh way to break into the business, right? Start off with a small school, work your way up to a bigger school. Um, but even myself, after Vermont, I went to Barcel, which was not a path I ever saw coming. But with that, eventually, uh just being myself, play-by-play opportunities came, and now I'm back on the track of going to the traditional path. Um, so I think anybody out there, it's important to know that there is no one certain path. You took one path, I took one path, but we both have similar goals in terms of the end goal in mind.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and you also, because you had the, you know, and you and I have not known each other for very long, but I've followed you at Barstool, you had the peace of mind or the idea to say, okay, well, Barstool, it's look, it's a got an anchor in New York City, it's a good company that is growing. And so it grew your brand, it grew your presence, and then that helped you to open doors on the play-by-play side. So you're right. When people say, Do I have to go to minor league baseball to get the next job? I'm saying that is an option. Absolutely, then go do that. That's what I did. But it's not one size fits all. I think it's all about being creative, making contacts, because it still is a relationship business, even though we have our head and our phone so much. It's can you talk to people face to face and build relationships? And then, yes, if you're doing play-by-play, at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, if they're going to put you on air, they want to hear your tape. So you do need to have a tape and be trying to get reps, but that doesn't mean that you have to do it the traditional way. Uh, what you did open doors, it might not have been possible had you gone the minor league baseball route. So uh yeah, there's certainly, Jacer, more than more than there's more than one way to do it as we found out.
SPEAKER_00100%. And it's really interesting going back a little bit uh to another part of you on the rise. Uh CBS held a nationwide play-by-play competition during the 2005 NCAA tournament. You won that, flew to the Final Four, and you were interviewed by the legendary Greg Gumble. I feel like that would be kind of like the modern-day Jim Nance Award, what we have right now for current college students, right? What was that experience like?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it only lasted a few years, but I remember I was a junior at Butler and watching TV, and they were advertising, leading into the NCAA tournament, this you call the action contest, where you could get online, submit your call over a legendary NCA tournament play, send it in, and then if you win, you go to the final four and you get this tour with CBS at yada yada yada. And I thought, well, this is right up my alley. Of course, I'm at least going to send in a clip. And so I picked a clip. I sent in a call from right there in my room in my fraternity house at Butler University. And a couple weeks before the final four, I got a call from CBS and they said, just wanted to let you know you're one of the 10 finalists. If you're selected, here's what we'll need and here's when this will happen. And a week later they called and said that they gave the final 10 clips to Greg Gumble to listen to, and he selected mine, which, you know, when at any point that would have been an honor, but especially for a 21-year-old kid that's trying to break into the business, I thought, wow, how cool is this that I won this contest. Greg Gumble got to listen to my clip. It was a very special moment. And it was really, I don't know if you call it a breakthrough moment, Jay, but it's that first moment as a professional where I was kind of recognized for my work on somewhat of a notable level. Uh, right. It wasn't going to put me in a 40-game package calling CBS and the NCA tournament at that point, but it was the first time that there was kind of validation from a recognizable source that maybe I'm on the right path here. And I went to that final before I got to take a guest. I took my brother Brett. It was in St. Louis, North Carolina, beat Illinois in that final. And it was a whirlwind, but it was such a neat kind of window into what this career could be with hard work and stick toativeness. Uh, and yeah, so good research on your part. Not many people can find that because that's now 20 years in the rearview mirror, but that that was a very special moment.
SPEAKER_00A follow-up to that, which clip did you pick for the legendary call for Greg Gumbattelison?
SPEAKER_02So it was a Kentucky Elite Eight game, sweet 16 game. And to be honest, I cannot even remember. It was in the early 2000s, and I think they played Michigan State, and I think somebody with the last name Sparks hit a shot. And I would have to go and dig it up. I have not, I have not seen that in truly over a decade. But yeah, it was just one of the options. I felt it had a good dramatic ending with a call that I could punch, get out of the way, let the crowd do its thing. And the whole thing together was probably 10 to 12 seconds. Uh, but I felt good about it when I hit submit and put my resume in, and and thankfully it all worked out.
SPEAKER_00I pulled it up. Patrick Star Patrick Sparks Desperation 3, end of regulation, uh Spartans defeat Kentucky in double overtime thriller.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so it was Michigan State over Kentucky.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so Sparks Michigan State. That was it. Okay, Patrick Sparks, that's right. That is right.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, but to your point of getting that validation from somebody outside of your inner circle, I think that's huge, right? Because you're always going to have your friends and family to tell you, hey Brandon, hey Jake, you guys are doing a great job. Just keep at it. And that is enough to get out of bed every day and continue pushing. But once you get that first approval or that first yes outside of that circle, that boosts your confidence, unlike anything else. And for me, I mentioned the Jim Nansel where when I finished ninth place inside the top 10 my senior year, I was like, holy crap, this is somebody outside of my friends and family recognizing my work. And that confidence, it's just unmatched.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And you know how it is. I know you've done it on both sides. People send you tapes, you've sent people tapes. When you're going through that process as a 21, 22, 23 year old, and you're sending people tapes, that's also when you're seeking that outside validation. Because look, growing up, you can have things go one of two ways. You hear about a lot of people, no matter what industry they're getting into, that they come from tough backgrounds where nobody believes in them. And that motivates them. I was very blessed in that I had two parents that never told me no. Now, they told me no, you can't have that car, no, you can't do this. But they always believed in me when I said I wanted to be a broadcaster. And they said, yes, absolutely go for it. That's a blessing. I was very fortunate in that regard. But to your point, okay, mom and dad think I can do this. My best friend thinks I can do it. That's great. What about people that are in this business? And when I started to send my tape out, I got really valuable feedback. I got feedback that said, I think you can do this, but you need to work on X, Y, and Z. But I kept hearing, I think you can do this. You I think you're meant for this. And that from outside sources was that validation, that push that I needed to keep going. And then from there, you you know, you get job one that leads to job two, job three, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_00100%. And I've talked about this with plenty of different people who have come on this show before. There's the luck aspect, right? Because you can be an incredible broadcaster and it might just not be right place, right time. You might have other connections with people. And I think that can be the frustrating part, right? Too because somebody can get sick and somebody can fill in and that could open the doors. So there's so many aspects similar to what we were talking about with the different paths uh for working your way up, there's also different paths to just getting in the door.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I always, you know, some people say cream rises to the top. And sure, by and large, I think that's true, but you're always going to have people that got redirected into a different profession that maybe could have been amazing sports broadcasters. Morgan Freeman, I don't know why his name just popped in my mind. Maybe because he's got such an iconic voice. If he had said, I want to pursue broadcasting instead of acting, maybe he would have been I and Eagle or Jim Mets. I don't know. Point is there, there is a group of people that never made it to the top that could have, but just life and certain circumstances and not getting that break goes their way. And you're right. For me, I look at how my career has unfolded. And sure, you have to have some talent to get certain opportunities. But I was able to take a job at 24, living in my hometown of Evansville, Indiana, and broadcasting for the University of Evansville Purple Aces. That's the team I grew up following in that little town. And then I get a job at my alma mater and go to broadcast to Final Four at Butler. And then I get a job at Georgia Tech in a city that I loved in Atlanta. Having jobs like that fall one after the other after the other, yes, I had to apply. I didn't know anybody, so I had to have my work stand for itself. But the the openings also had to happen at the right time, right? And I had to, I had to get, you know, be ready and be right for that interview. And it just kind of works. And so I do realize that there's also some fortune uh that has gone my way at kind of at these different steps on this path.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that that's true for anybody. And obviously you're incredibly talented, but like you said, the pieces still have to fall in order for you to get that platform to showcase yourself. Um, so I thought that was really interesting. Uh going back to the Braves, you grew up a Graves fan, Braves fan, and now you're a couple years into that gig. Uh when you got that phone call, walk us through that feeling of elation that must have been.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so just to backtrack a bit, as I had those jobs in my 20s, I went from Evansville to Butler to Georgia Tech. I was, as you called it, but for people that aren't that familiar with the industry, the voice of a team, right? And that was the path that I was on. But I knew that I wanted to switch and try television. That opportunity for me came right around when I was 32, so about a decade ago. And when I switched to TV and started to do games first for Big Ten Network, and then I switched to Fox, that was kind of my focus. And it wasn't necessarily to be the next Jim Nance or Joe Buck. I just knew that I enjoyed calling football, basketball, and baseball. They were letting me do it at a national level, and I thought this is very comfortable. I love what I'm doing. So I didn't have it on my radar to go back again and be the voice of a team. But I was living in Atlanta just after that Georgia Tech job, I never left. And Atlanta was I was traveling so much that that airport is phenomenal, and I don't have to deal with weather delays in the winter. So I just always stayed in Atlanta and developed a community there. But I never thought the guy before me, Chip Carrie, Skip's son, would ever leave that job. It was a legacy job for him. He was beloved. So I'm sitting there three years ago, and I get a call that says, Hey, I just saw that Chip Carrey is going to St. Louis. And I remember telling the person, I said, I don't think that's true. I don't think that he would ever leave. Well, it was true. His family had a lot of ties to St. Louis. I think he just wanted to change the scenery. He took that job. And so, Jake, that I told myself, I said, Well, look, if you were ever going to back going to go back to the being a voice of the team, this is really the only one that I would have been interested in. And I'm living in Atlanta. Baseball, although it's a long season, it pairs pretty well with somewhat of a football schedule. And then certainly it pairs well with a college basketball schedule. And so I said, you know, I would regret not looking into this and reached out. There was mutual interest on both sides. They were familiar with my work, and it all happened so quickly within about a week's time. So I didn't really have time to process it before that job that I had dreamed about as an eight, nine, 10, 11-year-old had actually become reality. But now that I'm three years into it, I can appreciate what it's meant. And it has meant a tremendous deal. We we throw that term dream job in all facets, all careers around a lot, but it truly is the job that I that I did dream about as a kid. And I had a moment, the first home game that I broadcasted in year one back in 2023, where I intentionally got to the stadium early to get up to that booth because I knew it was going to be a little emotional for me. So I wanted to get there before batting practice, before people started to arrive, to have this moment in the booth by myself, to kind of just have a silent appreciation for where I was and the opportunities that I have been granted and the people that have helped me along the way. And the Braves went on to have a walk-off game-winning hit that night against the Padres. And so it was just kind of the culmination of a dream from when I was a kid. Um, and that's another one of those moments that that day, that old day and being in that booth and sitting in that chair where I had dreamed of sitting. Uh, that's that's just one that you'll never ever forget.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's so freaking cool. I mean, you yeah, it's literally like it's very hard for people to achieve their dream job. Like because most people growing up, they have an assignment in second grade, everyone right where you want to be when you grow up. And mine was the play for the New York Yankees and et cetera. And everyone has something along those lines with most of them not coming true. The fact that you literally got it, that's that's really cool.
SPEAKER_02But again, think, Jake, what we talked about, it's about opportunity, right? You know, but some people say, well, Brandon, you earned that insurance. I'd like to think that I did, but if Chip Carrey never leaves, that job never opens, right? And so, and if St. Louis didn't have a change at play by play, Chip Carry would never have another place to go. And so it's just kind of you're you're in the and and if that had happened five years before that, I don't know that I go after that job. And maybe if it had happened when I was 45, I don't know if I would have gone. But it happened at the perfect time in my career. And so I'm just, yeah, all of that stuff again, it's not lost on me. Uh, I'm very grateful for kind of being in that right place at that right time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, another thing that we share in common is that we absolutely adore the NCAA tournament. It is my favorite uh sporting event ever. There's a few parts of this sporting event that I want to dive into with you. First, during COVID, uh, I think you know what I'm gonna ask here. You had a viral, there was obviously no tournament. There was a viral one shining moment video created by you in your either apartment or house with a mini hoop, and you put the music on and you put it all together. Walk us through that and how that came to be. So COVID hit.
SPEAKER_02I was getting ready to transition. I just was getting ready to finish the ins or the um Big Ten tournament that I was broadcasting. COVID hits, everything shuts down, and after that Big Ten tournament, I was gonna transition into the USFL or whatever, whatever it's called to do some football for Fox.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I had all this scheduled. Lined up. Well, COVID hits, and we are told you're not going anywhere, nobody's going anywhere for at least a month. And when you go from, you know, always having the foot on the gas and going 100 miles an hour and traveling all over to just on your couch and you can't go anywhere and you can't even see anybody, even if you wanted to. You know, for so many of us, it was such a strange, surreal feeling. And so I thought, I just sat there, cannot believe the NCAA tournament is canceled. It's something that I look so forward to every year, whether I'm broadcasting it or just watching it. I grew up in Indiana. Basketball is in my blood, and I was heartbroken. And I started to replay old one shining moments just sitting on the couch one afternoon during COVID. And I thought, you know what? I've got this mini hoop here. I'm just going to recreate a little bit of this. And I thought I was going to send it to a few buddies as kind of a joke, maybe a few family members. And then all of a sudden, I had so much time that next thing I knew, I had ordered these costumes on Amazon. I had ordered all these team shirts. I had a storyboard written out, and I just kind of dove all into it. And when I finished it and I put it together, I thought, you know what, uh, instead of just sending it to my friends, people maybe need a laugh or a smile. I'll just post it. And it kind of took off a little bit more than I was anticipating. Uh, but as my mom likes to say, it also is good evidence as to why I'm still single at 42 years old. So uh there's that too, Jake.
SPEAKER_00I mean, look, I I don't I I don't think it's a turn off by any means because I could do that, and I don't care what people would think of me, and uh just knowing that it's my passion. Uh no, no, it was fun though.
SPEAKER_02It it was a lot of fun. It it made me psychotic. I did it over four days, and it actually, surprisingly, with just one phone and all these different things I was trying to do, it it did take a better part of four days, but it was fun, and I had nothing better to do, so I was glad that I took the time to do it.
SPEAKER_00Totally. And then uh going back to the present this year, one shining moment, you get the call up. You're part of the television coverage. You mentioned Dream Jobs, that is mine. I want to call NCAA Tournament Games one day. I know you did it with Westwood One before, but it's obviously different being on the nationally televised stage. Um, and you got it. So just knowing when you got that call, similar to the Braves, uh, culminating up to that, how did that come to be?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so this was the first year this last year, first year that I started doing games for Turner. So I was still doing games for Fox, but Turner was down the street for me in Atlanta. I had kind of developed a little bit of a relationship with them. They were familiar with my work, and they asked me to do a few baseball games last year and some basketball. But when they asked me to do basketball, the NCA tournament wasn't necessarily on the table. I was hoping that it would be a possibility. But obviously, they're partners with CBS. There's a lot of things that go into that because there's only really eight, nine seats for the play-by-play announcers. But as things got into February, I forgot, I forget the timeline, but it was later in the season when I first found out that that might be happening and then ultimately happening. And yeah, I still remember, you know, there's only so many times, like you said, that we we get those calls that we remember, but that was one. I had just finished a Purdue UCLA game, I think, out in California, and was on my way to the airport in the Uber and got the call that that was that was going to come to fruition. And yeah, I get goosebumps thinking about it because even though I'd called games for Westwood won in the tournament, and that also was an incredible opportunity, certainly it is different to sit in the other chair, and and there's a few more people that are paying attention to that. Um, but I just viewed it as such an honor growing up, watching that tournament every single year and really studying the announcers growing up and listening intently and thinking, man, how cool it would be to have that chance one day. So when I sat in that chair that first day for the first of four games, I knew it was going to be a long day, but I felt like I was ready for it. Having done the tournament for Westwood One, I felt like I was prepped and excited for that moment. And it was it was cool. And the game in the second round between Vanderbilt and Nebraska that went down to that final shot for Vanderbilt that went in and out. You know, those are the moments as a fan that you dream of, and certainly as a broadcaster that you just hope that you're able to witness someday. So to have that in my first tournament on the television side, I felt, again, I felt a little spoiled.
SPEAKER_00And it was, I think I tweeted in the moment, it was as close to the Gordon Hayward shot as we'll ever see, which is full circle for you being a Butler guy. Although I think you you just missed the Gordon Hayward shot as a lot of people. I just missed it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I got the Butler job in 2011, their second run of the Final Four. That Gordon Hayward shot, I was sitting 20 rows behind that basket as a fan with a buddy of mine from Butler. And it's probably a good thing that shot didn't go in because there was no amount of security that was going to keep me off that floor. And I probably would have either been in jail or in a ditch or both that night. So maybe it's a good thing Gordon Hayward didn't hit that shot. But after that Vanderbilt shot this year missed, and the crowd did its thing, and I laid out and let them do all of that, and Chris Weber broke it down. As we kept showing the replays, I said, Chris, I can't help but think back to 2010 and that Hayward shot with Butler because I know that several people, or not several, but a lot of people that remember that shot were thinking the same thing. And so that, yeah, it it was part PTSD, uh, but also it was it was also kind of a cool moment in a strange way as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, either way, it would have been an epic moment, right? Because like like there's very few shots that you remember in terms of misses that come to mind. But Gordon Hayward's obviously that. And for the college basketball nuts like me and you, that one uh with Vandy and Nebraska, especially with those two teams, right? The last decade, they've been so bad at everything. And I don't think that's talking crap about them. It's it's been the truth in most of their sports, aside from maybe Nebraska volleyball, I know is a really big deal and Vandy baseball. But for these two teams, the men's basketball stage to go to the Sweet 16, and it coming down to that was pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's one of those March storylines we love. It's you kind of wish that both of them could could advance because of that, because they just have not experienced much basketball success. But it it uh, you know, the they're the heart-wrenching parts of March also make March great. And so you see the deflation of Vanderbilt and just how they just truly fall down to two knees in dejection. And then the jubilation of Nebraska. And that juxtaposition is why we love sports. I mean, it's just it's uh it's a really cool thing to witness, even though someone has to go home a loser. And that's that's what I thought is I wasn't talking after the shot finished, and we were just watching the action, and I was just looking at both sides, trying to soak it in and think, man, this is this is a pretty cool moment to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that is what makes one shiny moment so emotional at the end of the tournament. So uh that was really cool. Uh, and one more leg of your career that I want to guide into is uh is Madden. And I think it's so cool that you've been the voice of Madden, and again, one of those unique jobs that I'm sure a lot of people think about having, but only so few people get the opportunity to take part of. Um I've seen a little behind the scenes of some people voicing over video games, and from my understanding, it's just hours and hours and hours of voiceover. Uh, what is the biggest thing you can share with us regarding that process?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there were a lot of surprises. So, Charles Davis, Anelus and I, who's become my biggest mentor and one of my greatest friends on this earth, we've done it now for a decade, which is hard to believe. I say that because I'm trying to think back to the beginning. So, in the first three years, the Madden studio is down in Orlando. Charles lives in Orlando, so he would have to drive 30 minutes. Every Monday morning, I would take the first flight from Atlanta down there, record Monday, Tuesday, and take the last flight Tuesday night back. So we were recording two days a week for about 30 of the weeks out of the year for three years until COVID hit. COVID kind of changed everything. But yeah, we recorded, if I remember correctly, 400 to 450 hours a year, which when you think about that, to some people it might not sound like much, but for a recording studio, it's a lot. It's a lot on the people that after we record have to code it, have to edit it, and have to implement it into the game. So it has to touch a tremendous amount of hands before it is actually consumable by the by the people that are playing the game. So I learned about that. I learned about stitching, you know, because a lot of the lines that you hear in there not only were recorded probably on different days or different weeks, a lot of them were recorded on different years. So some of our lines from 2017 of me saying he drops back to pass, he drops back, he drops back, he's out of the shotgun, out of the pistol. So you're recording all these different variations of small portions of the play, throws it out to the right, throws it out to the left, over the middle, it's caught. He brings it in, he reels it in, two hands on it. All these different things are different parts of the play. And then the software that is much smarter than me says, okay, play this line with this line with this line based on the various outcomes. And hopefully, to the person watching, it sounds like that was recorded as one fluid statement. In reality, oftentimes it is stitched together. And that's why sometimes the commentary can be very vanilla, because if you record it in too much of an up and down voice or intonation, it might not match. Um, and so again, that's just one lesson that I learned. It's but it's different than traditional play-by-play, Jake. When you and I sit down prepared for a game and we're broadcasting it, that's one thing. When you go in that studio and they hand you a script, you you really become more of an actor. Obviously, having the play-by-play experience helps bring that to life. But what I have learned is how to be a voice actor over the last decade. Uh, and that that's really the difference in doing the Madden video game.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you're not using spotting boards for Madden. You're not looking up stats, you're just reading and telling telling people what's going on. How often do you play with the volume on?
SPEAKER_02So I truly I have not owned of any sort of console since I was in college. So we're talking, you know, 17 years ago. I have played Madden two or three times, all of them with my nephew Cooper. Uh all of them I was defeated very wild badly. And so I just, you know, to me, back when we played, there were only so many buttons. Now it's like it's like flying a 757. I just, there's so many play options, there's so many buttons, there's so many things you can do. And so when we played that first time, I was the Colts, and I think he was the, I think he wanted to play with Brady at the time. So I think he was the pages. He he demolished me. And at the time, I think he was 12 or 13, and it was just like, wow, this is very, a very humbling moment. I can't stand to hear my voice on the game, but that's not why I just haven't played it because I don't really have access to it. But when other people have played it, I say, Yeah, I just I don't want to hear the commentary because it's kind of like everybody doesn't like the vote sound of their own voice. And when I hear it on the game, it just sounds very stilted and robotic. And that's because it's a video game, right? But I want it to sound like what I think I sound like calling an actual game. And it's just that they're working on making that technology better, but it's just not going to sound like that right now. And so to me, it's like nails on a chalkboard a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I hear what you're saying because of the difference. You know, in college, I was not used to hearing myself talking back when I was making practice tapes of games sitting in the top row of the carrier dome or things like that. But now I've gotten used to it, but I can understand from your perspective for Madden specifically, because it's not you. It's it's not the enthusiasm of doing a game and with the adrenaline of an 80,000-person stadium around you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And I'm like, oh, why did that line fire with that line? I would have never said that back to back, but it's just, it's what the computer put together. So yeah, but look, by and large, I and I and I mean this, I'm not just saying this to save face. That has been one of the coolest opportunities I could have ever imagined. It was not something that was ever on my radar. It was totally off the beaten path from doing traditional play-by-play. But when that opportunity came to pass, I didn't know how long it would last. I just knew it was something really special to be a part of a video game that I was iconic, that I grew up playing. And so, you know, to look back on it 10 years later, it's been incredibly rewarding and something that that I always will carry with me, no matter how long I'm in this business or how long I do Madden. Being a part of that video game franchise has been truly special and remarkable.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's incredible. One more quick follow-up regarding EA Sports. Have you gotten the chance to meet, I believe his name is Andrew Anthony, who is the EA Sports, it's in the game guy. One of the most epic voices ever. You mentioned earlier. This guy is maybe in that conversation.
SPEAKER_02No, but what's interesting, about five years before I started doing Madden, I was in Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, which I don't even know if it's still sponsored by EA Sports.
SPEAKER_00Maui's in Maui, I think, is the most recent.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, now it's the but it used to be the EA Sports Maui Invitational. And I was there broadcasting games as the play-by-play announcer for Butler when they were in it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02This was 2012. And to kick off the bank, they have a banquet the night before the tournament where all the teams go. You have a dinner, they provide entertainment. And to kick off the banquet dinner the night before the tournament, that guy, what's his name?
SPEAKER_00I think I Googled it. I think it's Andrew Anthony.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Andrew Anthony comes up, and you don't know who he is, and he just puts on these glasses and he goes, EA Sports. It's in the game. And and all the guys went nuts. Oh, I was like, oh my gosh, that's so cool. And then, yeah, it wasn't five years after that that I got that opportunity to start with Madden. But I never met him. I never, unfortunately, before he passed, met John Madden. They tried to get us on a call with him a couple of times, but his health was not that great. Charles had met him. Charles and all the football circles had been he'd been in had come across him. But that was one of the sadder things was that he passed before we got the chance to talk with him.
SPEAKER_00Man, that that's a bummer. But I I can only imagine the uh crowd noise in that banquet room.
SPEAKER_02It's got to be similar to a Braves walk-up home run or Buzzer Peter at half court because all those all those 18 to 22-year-old guys thought that was the their mind was blown when he because they no one knew who he was. It was like, who's this guy? Why did he put his glasses on? And then he said that line, and oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's incredible. Well, this has been fantastic. I want to get you out on one question that I like to ask pretty much everybody I have on here. And uh, I've gotten similar answers, but mostly different. In regards, it's in regards to advice, right? There's people listening who are trying to break in, maybe they're in high school or college. There's people like me who are trying to take that next step. Uh, we've heard a lot of never say no, always say yes, and be nice to everyone. What would your uh motto be in terms of people who are trying to work their way up in our industry?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it it well, first of all, those are absolutely true, but it was it would be be opportunistic. And I know that that's kind of vague, but it goes back to what we were talking about earlier, Jake. There are opportunities. Sometimes it feels like there aren't, and it feels like everybody's hearing yes but you. But whether you are in college, just out of college, even if you're in high school, although it's tougher at that age, you have to find with all these games that are web streamed at the high school, at the junior college, at the college level, you have to be opportunistic and reach out to people and establish relationships to see where I can get on-air reps. Because yes, doing it on your couch or at the top of the carrier dome into a microphone, that is a necessity to get started. But at some point, you need somebody to hire you to give you reps and don't think that it needs to be at the division one level or no, that's not where you start. You you cut your teeth with these smaller opportunities. So I'll just finish with this by saying recently someone said that they were taking a job as a reporter in Des Moines, Iowa, but they really wanted to do play-by-play, kind of like what we were saying earlier, different people have different paths. And he was so worried about being stuck now as a sports reporter on a local news station and not getting play-by-play. And as we looked online and worked through it, he was able to find six or seven outlets via high school, college, places that were web streaming games, and a couple of them needed announcers. And he was able to get regular reps by just getting on the phone, sending emails, getting on LinkedIn, and saying, here's my story, here's a tape of me calling a game. I'm willing to do whatever to get my foot in the door. And so, in conjunction with being a sports TV reporter, he was able to get those play-by-play reps and then ultimately go on to get another job. And so, yeah, I would say be opportunistic and realize no matter how big or small of a market you are in, if you're willing to knock on the doors and be persistent, I think something's gonna open up for you eventually.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. Well, Brandon, you can hear him calling the Braves after the all-star break or college football, or you can hear him whatever you want if you just turn on your Xbox or PS5 and play Madden. And Brandon, this has been great. Thank you so much for your time.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, Jay. Great to chat with you, man.
SPEAKER_00All right, thanks again to Brandon for taking the time. I thought that was an awesome interview. Let me know what you guys think of it and who you want to see on this show next. Let's wrap up with our two recurring segments. It's That's Wild of the Week, and it is Tip of the Cap. And we're gonna start off with Tip of the Cap. And this is a story that was talked about on a lot of different shows throughout sports media over the week. But a tip of the cap to one of the living legends in sports media, and that is Dan Patrick. Dan has been sensational for decades and decades, and he was doing his live show out in Lake Tahoe uh last week when he had a scheduled interview with WMBA Commissioner Kathy Engelbor Engelbert uh ready to go. Uh and then they waited and waited for I believe it was two hours uh and she didn't show up and was told by her PR staff that the interview was a no-go. Dan then went on his show and just he stood on business, let's say that. And the fact that the B-roll panned to Kathy Engelbert, who was one of the celebrities playing in the Lake Tahoe uh annual tournament, the American Century Championship, uh it panned her working on her short game, a few hundred yards behind Dan Patrick and his hard-working crew. Uh the fact that she said the PR staff uh turned it down when she literally is their boss, she's their commissioner. Uh that's like me during uh that that's like on PMT if Big Cat told somebody he couldn't do an interview because somebody under him like me uh said that he couldn't, it just doesn't make sense. And it's just a cop-out answer and just ridiculous in my mind. So tip of the cap to Dan Patrick for uh making that example and showing people not only in broadcasting journalism but in life. You say you do something, you do it. Unless there is a crazy reason that life happens, we know that. But shout out to Dan Patrick. That was certainly a unique situation. Alright, now that's Wild of the Week. Instead of one that we usually zone in on, I have three quick hitters for us that I bookmarked on Twitter throughout the week. Uh this one comes from July 10th, so Friday, Friday night, there was a pitcher-hitter matchup in the game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Uh the Texas Rangers player at bat, his name was Jake Berger. He hit a three-run home run off an Astros pitcher named Brian King. Jake Berger beats King and hits a whopper in the process. Folks, that's wild. Next, we have uh a wild stat from Jordan Moore, who is a professional sports watcher and he works for DraftKings. Uh a wild stat. France has more wins at Gillette Stadium this World Cup than the Jets do since 2011. That number is two. The Jets are one and fourteen in Gillette since 2011 and play there once a year. France came to the World Cup and picked up two victories in the process. Folks, that is wild. Uh lastly, the All-Star game is tonight. If you're listening on Tuesday, if you're listening later in the week, the All-Star Games already happened. Uh from Lachlan March, uh Philly's beat writer for the Philly Inquirer. Dylan Sees is the first Blue Jays pitcher to start the All-Star game since Roy Halliday in 2009. Christopher Sanchez is the first Phillies pitcher to start the All-Star game since Roy Halliday in 2011. Rest in peace, Roy Halliday. But folks, that's that. It is wild. Alright, that will do it for this week's episode of On the Call with Jake Marsh. But for those of you who stuck around till the very end here, a little secret, not so secret bonus announcement. Uh, I'm back on the road. I'm back on the call next week. Folks, I'm really excited for this assignment. I am going to be one of the play by play broadcasters for TBT 2026. That's right. The basketball tournament is back on Fox Sports, and I am so elated and honored to be part of the broadcast team. I'm going to We paired up with College Troops Legend, Casey Jacobson, and we are going to be broadcasting the entirety of the best of three series between Hall in the Seton Hall alumni versus Beyheim's Army, the Syracuse alumni. That's right, folks. I'm making my way back to my alma mater for at least one, maybe two games. TBT changed up their format this year. It is 14 teams. There are eight alumni teams composed of a in a bracket. The first round's best of three. So game one is going to be in New Jersey next Tuesday on FS1 on Seton Hall's campus in Walsh Gymnasium. Then Wednesday will be a travel day. I'll drive up to Syracuse. Game two, Thursday at the On Center in downtown Syracuse. And if game three is necessary, it would then be in the On Center in Syracuse next Friday night. So games one and two on FS1, game three if necessary on FS2. Thank you to Fox Sports and TBT for the opportunity. I'm so excited to get back up to the Northeast to be on the call for some high stakes, $2 million winner takes all summer basketball. So stay tuned for that. I was gonna announce it on social later on, but for those of you who are loyal listeners and subscribers or viewers to On the Call with Jake Marsh, you heard it here first. On the call with Jake Marsh, exclusive Haul in versus Beyheim's Army, Syracuse Seaton Haulin, old school biggie survival. I am amped. I believe the tickets sold out. And it's going to be so much fun. So tune in next week. We'll be recording on the road, getting ready for that big time matchup, and that will do it. All right, folks. This was another episode of On the Call with Jake Marsh. My name is Jake Marsh. We will see you next week.