Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and is a play-by-play announcer for the NBA on TNT. Until 2008, Harlan was the voice of Westwood One Radio's Final Four coverage. In 2009, he began serving as Westwood One's lead announcer for Monday Night Football, calling his first Super Bowl in Super Bowl XLV.
Biography
Harlan's broadcasting career began in 1982, when he became the TV and radio voice of the NBA's Kansas City Kings (now the Sacramento Kings). He then was a basketball announcer for his alma mater, the University of Kansas, for one year, then went on to call games for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs from 1985â€"93. Harlan also split time with the University of Missouri (1986â€"89) calling football and basketball games, and worked as the play-by-play voice of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves for nine seasons (1989â€"98). On the network level, Harlan called NFL football for NBC in 1991, college football for ESPN in 1992â€"93, NFL for Fox from 1994â€"97, and joined Turner Sports in 1996 to cover NBA playoff games (he would begin calling games throughout the entire season in 1997, which he continues to do to this day). He began working for CBS in 1998.
In addition, Harlan has called Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers preseason games; basketball games during the now-defunct Goodwill Games, which were owned by Time Warner; college sports on ESPN; and several bowl games during college football seasons. A Wisconsin native, Harlan attended the University of Kansas and graduated in 1982 with a broadcast journalism degree. He took sportscasting classes under the guidance of former Super Bowl and Chiefs play-by-play voice Tom Hedrick.
Harlan has also lent his voice on the NBA 2K video game series, as well as NFL QB Club 2002 for Acclaim Sports.
On Monday September 12, 2016, a fan ran onto the field during a Monday Night Football game between the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams and Harlan gave a play-by-play call of the fan being tackled by security. Deadspin referred to the call as an "All Timer."
References
External links
- CBS Sports profile
