Tom Kelly (2001) - USC Athletics Hall of Fame

Tom Kelly

Induction:
2001

Tom Kelly spent 5 decades as the voice of USC athletics. He first called play-by-play of USC football and men's basketball games in 1961 (on radio from 1961 to 1965 and 1973 to 1988, then on TV from 1989 until 2003). He called various USC events on FOX Sports Net West 2, and also hosted that cable network’s USC Sports Magazine Show. Then the dean of Southern California football broadcasters, he described the action of 5 USC national championship football teams, 5 Heisman Trophy winners and 92 first team All-American footballers. He also was the executive producer/host/narrator of the Trojan Video Gold series, highlighting the history of USC football. In his career, he did play-by-play for just about every sport imaginable and won numerous awards, including 4 Golden Mikes, 2 AP and UPI California Sportscaster of the Year trophies, and an Emmy. After getting injured while playing football at Northland College in Ashland, Wis., he helped with the school's radio broadcasts. His broadcasting career continued in Duluth, Minn., Des Moines, Ia., and then Peoria, Ill., before coming to Los Angeles. Locally, he was a sportscaster for KNX-AM and KCBS-TV, sports director for KTTV-TV (from 1966 to 1972), did play-by-play for the San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and the USFL's Los Angeles Express, and also worked for CBS Radio and ESPN. He is a member of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He died on June 27, 2016, at age 88.