Bill Mercer | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Alfred Mercer (1926-02-13)February 13, 1926 Muskogee, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | March 22, 2025(2025-03-22) (aged 99) |
| Occupation | Broadcaster |
William Alfred Mercer (February 13, 1926 – March 22, 2025) was an Americansportscaster, educator and author. He was a native ofMuskogee, Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame[1] in 2002. He was best known for covering shows for the Dallas-based professional wrestling promotionWorld Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), as well as localDallas-Fort Worth area sports broadcasts. He also provided notable coverage of theJohn F. Kennedy assassination.[2]
DuringWorld War II, Mercer served in theUnited States Navy from 1943 to 1946 aboard theUSS Rixey and USSLCI(G)–439 (Landing Craft Infantry – Gunboat) as asignalman. Mercer's ships participated in five invasions: Marshall Islands, Guam, Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa. He was included in the list of notable surviving veterans of World War II.[3]
Mercer first attended college atNortheastern State College inTahlequah, Oklahoma, after the war. He earned a bachelor's degree from theUniversity of Denver in 1949 and a master's degree fromNorth Texas State University inDenton, Texas, in 1966.[1]
Mercer's granddaughterEmma Tiedemann is theplay-by-play voice of thePortland Sea Dogs inPortland, Maine.
Mercer was best known as a play-by-play radio announcer for baseball, football, basketball and wrestling. He was also a news reporter forDallas, Texas television stationKRLD, covering theJohn F. Kennedy assassination in 1963. He and fellow reporters George Phenix,Wes Wise and Bob Huffaker wroteWhen the News Went Live about their experiences during that time.[4] Following the assassination of President Kennedy, Mercer wrotePlay-by-Play: Tales from a Sportscasting Insider,[5] about his experiences in sportscasting. He had a stint as a sports anchor atKVIL radio station in Dallas-Fort Worth during the 1970s and 80s, alongside longtime morning hostRon Chapman. Mercer also spent over 35 years teaching new generations of sports broadcasters in theUniversity of North Texas's Radio/TV Department.[1] He was also recognized by theUniversity of Texas at Dallas Athletic Department for his involvement with their live game broadcasts.[6]
On the day of theassassination of John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963), Mercer was a news anchor and reporter with Dallas radio stationKRLD. He covered the topic extensively from the field for KRLD, and was present at the midnight press conference ofLee Harvey Oswald.[7][8][9][10][11] A reporter asked Oswald, "Did you kill the president?" and Oswald answered, "No, I have not been charged with that. In fact, nobody has said that to me yet." Oswald continued, "The first thing I heard about it was when the newspaper reporters in the hall (at this point, Oswald's voice cracked nervously) asked me that question."[12] Mercer told Oswald that he had been charged. Oswald asked "Sir?" and when Mercer affirmed again that he had been charged, Oswald reacted with a look of astonishment.[13]
In his 60+ year career, Mercer provided play-by-play broadcasting for several minor league teams: the Muskogee Giants of the Class C Western Association, then theDallas Rangers (Triple A baseball) from 1959 to 1964, and theDallas-Fort Worth Spurs (Texas League baseball) from 1965 to 1971. He then moved up to broadcast for major league baseball'sTexas Rangers (major league baseball) in 1972 (withDon Drysdale) andChicago White Sox in 1974. Mercer also provided play-by-play forUniversity of North Texas (known as North Texas State College until 1961, and North Texas State University from 1961 to 1988) football and basketball from 1959 to 1994. His first broadcasts for professional teams began with theDallas Texans (American Football League) in 1960 withCharlie Jones, then theDallas Cowboys (National Football League) from 1966 to 1971. Initially, Mercer provided color commentary withJay Randolph in 1965 for the Cowboys, then became the play-by-play announcer when Randolph moved to St. Louis the following year. In the 1980s, Mercer broadcastSouthwest Conference football and basketball forMutual Radio. In the 2000s, he assisted Mike Capps with play-by-play forRound Rock Express minor league baseball of theTexas League (currently in the Pacific Coast League,) and for three years with Scott Garner of theFrisco RoughRiders of the Texas League. While atKRLD-AM/TV in Dallas, he served seven years as color commentator forCBS Radio's annual broadcasts of theCotton Bowl Classic college football game.[1] Mercer is also noted for calling the "Ice Bowl," the NFL championship game between the Dallas Cowboys andGreen Bay Packers in 1967, along with the Cowboys' secondSuper Bowl appearance in January 1972.
During his time at UNT, Mercer called games involving Kevin Adkisson andSteve Williams, who both became professional wrestlers under the namesKevin Von Erich andSteve Austin, respectively. He also was the announcer in 1959 at UNT whenAbner Haynes broke the color line in Texas and later became a star with the second incarnation of theDallas Texans (American Football League). Mercer providedplay-by-play announcing for the internationally acclaimedWorld Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), based inDallas, from 1982 to 1987. Telecasts were originally shown on Dallas-Fort Worth stationKXTX, Channel 39. He became a wrestling announcer in the 1950s inMuskogee, Oklahoma during the course of broadcasting all area sports for local radio station KMUS. By the late 1950s, he had relocated to Dallas and began calling televised wrestling matches at theDallas Sportatorium and in the studio for KRLD-TV (present dayKDFW-TV,) Channel 4. In early 1976, he took over announcing duties for the long runningSaturday Night Wrestling program onKTVT, Channel 11, in Fort Worth, when original announcer Dan Coates retired.
In 2005, Mercer appeared in the critically acclaimed documentaryHeroes of World Class.[14]
In later years, Mercer co-wrote a book about his coverage of the Kennedy Assassination titledWhen the News Went Live: Dallas 1963.[2] He also wrote a memoir titledPlay-by-Play: Tales from a Sportscasting Insider.[2]
On March 22, 2025, Mercer died, aged 99.[2]
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