Roger Emrich, PA voice for Dallas Cowboys and longtime KRLD reporter, dies at 62

Published 3:39 pm Sunday, April 28, 2019

By Staff, Wire Reports

Roger Emrich, a longtime radio reporter and the public address voice for AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys, has died his son said Sunday. He was 62.

DALLAS — Roger Emrich, a longtime radio reporter and the public address voice for AT&T Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys, has died, his son said Sunday. He was 62.

Emrich, who worked for KRLD-AM (1080) and the Texas State Network for decades, died Saturday after suffering a heart attack last week, the station reported.



Ted Emrich, his son and fellow sportscaster, announced his father’s death on social media Sunday. 

“The man with the voice of God is now in heaven,” he tweeted. “Your relentless spirit, positive attitude, and legacy will live forever.”

Roger Emrich began working at KRLD in 1989, where he reported on politics and the Texas Legislature until he started covering sports in 1993. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2015.

Emrich was hired as the Cowboys’ public address announcer in 2011. The new role was announced on his 55th birthday. 

The team said in a prepared statement Sunday that the “DFW sports world lost a true legend.”

“His consistent smile, warm appreciation for others and that booming voice will be missed,” the team tweeted.

At the time of his hire, Emrich told The Dallas Morning News he had auditioned for the job two years earlier, when Jody Dean was hired for the role. 

After Dean decided to leave, Emrich said, the team called him. 

“I felt like I was walking into hallowed ground,” he said at the time. 

After Emrich’s new role was announced, Dean said Emrich was excited for the coveted role.

In a 2011 NeighborsGo story, Dean said Emrich was thrilled to get the coveted role.

“For Roger, getting that job is like getting an Oscar,” he said. “I could easily see Roger doing this job for 15 to 20 years.”

For the last few years, he hosted a high school football show every week with Chris Somer and updated radio listeners around the state on Friday Night football scores, including locally on The Team and KTBB.

He began his media career as a public address announcer at West Jefferson High School in Harvey, Louisiana, on the west bank of New Orleans and also covered high school games for the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper before joining the Air Force in 1975.

After training as a print journalist at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Emrich served as editor of the Plattsburgh AFB, in Plattsburgh, New York Champlaner and the Iraklion Air Station, Crete, Greece Guardian newspapers.

Emrich then made the switch to radio in 1981, starting as a DJ and high school football play-by-play announcer at WCKW (92.3-FM) in Laplace, Louisiana, through June 1985.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism at Loyola University-New Orleans in 1985, he moved to Dallas with his wife Cris and worked at KDNT (1440-AM) in Denton through June 1989, serving as morning drive DJ and sports director.

While in Austin with TSN, Emrich covered the administrations of governors Bill Clements and Ann Richards and also found time to do University of Texas Lady Longhorns basketball play-by-play on KLBJ (590-AM) in Austin and public address announcing for Texas baseball and coach Cliff Gustafson.

 

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