Every year the Tampa Bay Buccaneers honor a player or front office person in their Ring of Honor. This normally is bestowed on someone from the past who made a mark on the franchise. I had the privilege of holding a press credential for the University of South Florida Bulls. From my vantage point in the press box, I got to see all the names that have already been inducted. In fact, I got to see Tony Dungy’s name covered up. I took a picture of it before and after it occurred. My pick this year is current Buccaneer announcer Gene Deckerhoff.
Deckerhoff has been the Buccaneers’ announcer since 1989. He also has been the Florida State Seminoles’ announcer since 1979. He has been the booming voice on the radio. He has many key signature phrases: “Touchdown Tampa Bay,” “Fire the cannons,” and the best one, “Bucs win.” Those are just some of his phrases that many Bucs fans get to hear. I have been a Bucs fan since 1987 when I attended my first game. In a weird way, in some cases I would rather listen on the radio because some TV announcers are boring.
Deckerhoff has also been at some of these ceremonies. He has announced during the dark days of the Buccaneers franchise. On the other hand, he was there to announce the one and only championship that the franchise has. We all hope that there will be more to come in that category. He is a great announcer and deserves to be in the Ring of Honor. Let’s see who the Tampa Bay Buccaneers select for it.
