‘I’m going with the best’
By Tom Mattingly
Years after he called his last Tennessee Volunteers football game, Tennessee 41, Vanderbilt 14, on Dec. 2, 1967, George Mooney still remembered the good times. Mooney (Jan. 6, 1920-Oct. 13, 2011) was the lead announcer on the Vol Network from 1952-67, bringing the excitement of Tennessee football Saturday after Saturday to fans across the expanse of Big Orange Country.
As he sat in his condo for an interview, the history and pageantry of Tennessee football came into clear focus.
For Mooney, it was the spring of 1952 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis when Bob Neyland asked him to be the “Voice of the Vols.” When the offer was made, George did not hesitate in the least to accept. “There was one answer to that. Absolutely. I’m going with the best.”
There were hardly any televised games in those days, so Mooney’s job was to convey the happenings on the field in an exciting way.
Saturday afternoons in those years meant Mooney’s voice crackling over the airwaves from whatever brand of radio was then in vogue. Vol fans lived and died with his calls of many of the great moments in Tennessee football history.
There was, for example, Tennessee versus LSU, Nov. 7, 1959, Homecoming Day on the Hill. Billy Cannon’s name came up in our conversation, and George remembered that day well. Tennessee was leading 14-13 early in the fourth quarter, and LSU was going for two to retake the lead. The Tigers were definitely on upset alert.
“That was a great play,” said Mooney. “If Cannon had veered from the play and gone the other way, he could have walked into the end zone. He went to the right, but Tennessee’s defense was set, and they still almost didn’t stop him.”
Then came memories of a for-certain Vol legend, Dewey Warren, and the 1965 UCLA game in Memphis.
“He wasn’t the fastest guy in the world,” said George, “and I thought he was never going to get to the end zone, but he made it. He always said, ‘I made it, didn’t I?’”
After initially working the games with various Knoxville radio personalities, Bob Foxx, a 1940 Vol All-American wingback, joined Mooney on the broadcast and served from 1956-67.
“Bowden Wyatt called and asked if I would mind having a former teammate of his to be the analyst. He said he had Lou Gehrig’s disease, but he lasted 11 years,” said Mooney. “I’ll never forget the first game we did, the Auburn game of 1956, when the Vols just mauled Auburn (35-7). I told Foxx, ‘Bob, we’re going to have a great year.’”
Here’s a sample of how things transpired with Mooney and Foxx on the air, calling Tennessee and Alabama on Oct. 16, 1965, at Legion Field. The game was in its final moments.
Alabama had the ball, heading to the South goal. The Tide had won four of the past five games and would win again a year later in Knoxville. Tennessee wore the orange shirts. Alabama wore crimson. Fans were standing, tense about what might happen.
MOONEY: “Thirty-four seconds remain on the clock. Alabama has the ball on the 17-yard line, directly between the goalposts. David Ray set a national scoring record by the foot last year. He’s kicked 9-of-9 extra points, 10-of-10 including today. They’re going to pass the ball.
“Stabler has it. He goes down to the 10, to the 5, brought down at the 4-yard line and fumbles the ball. Let’s see who recovered on the far side of the field. It didn’t go out of bounds. The clock is running, 18, 17….”
“They faked it, and he ran to the Tennessee 3. It’s fourth and goal at the Tennessee 3. They’re lining up now. The ball is taken by Stabler. He throws the ball out of bounds with 6 seconds to go, but it was fourth down, and apparently he didn’t realize it.”
FOXX: “Right. It was fourth down, and he didn’t make it. It was 10-and-goal.”
MOONEY: “Tennessee takes over. Alabama didn’t realize it was fourth down, and Stabler threw the ball away to stop the clock. David Ray was thinking he was going to have a chance.”
FOXX: “He was practicing.”
MOONEY: “Alabama lost track of the downs. Tennessee has the ball, 6 seconds to go. That was a beautiful fake on third down by Stabler. They had the ball on the 17, but what the young quarterback and the rest of the team forgot was that they had been pushed back by Tennessee from inside the 10.”
FOXX: “It was 10-and-goal.”
MOONEY: “Tennessee ball. Charlie Fulton, the quarterback, takes it, and the clock is going to run out. Tennessee and Alabama are going to tie. There it is. Tennessee 7, Alabama 7.”
Many younger Vol fans know precious little about George Mooney and Bob Foxx. Many Tennesseans did become fans under their tutelage and learned about the Tennessee heritage and tradition through their broadcasts. It was a great time to follow the Vols with Mooney and Foxx leading the way on the Texaco Radio Network.
As we talked a long time ago, that famous voice was still in full flower. Listening to Mooney recall the great moments of their tenure was as exciting as hearing his call on live radio many years earlier. It was then, as now, a great time to be a Vol fan.
