Dallas Wesley "Wes" Durham (born January 25, 1966 in Greensboro, North Carolina) is an American sportscaster. He has been the radio play-by-play announcer for Georgia Tech football, men's basketball and baseball teams since the start of the 1995-1996 season, and is known as "The Voice of the Yellow Jackets."[1] He is also Georgia Tech's Director of Broadcasting[2] and the radio play-by-play announcer for the Atlanta Falcons.[1]
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Durham's father, Woody Durham, was the legendary and long-time "Voice of the Tar Heels" for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for forty years.[3] Growing up in that environment gave Wes the opportunity to see behind the scenes of sports and sports broadcasting.
Wes worked as a disc jockey for a roller rink[1] and for a radio station during high school. He then went to Elon College and learned about broadcasting while working as an undergraduate assistant on the Elon Sports Network. After graduating in 1988, he had stints as the radio announcer for the athletic teams at Marshall University and Radford University. He then spent three years at Vanderbilt.
Wes came to Georgia Tech in the fall of 1995. In 1997, he was also named Tech's Director of Broadcasting. Durham is normally paired with former Georgia Tech and NFL quarterback Rick Strom in football and Atlanta TV sports reporter Randy Waters on basketball. Particularly known is his statement upon Calvin Johnson's game-winning catch against Clemson in a 2004 game:[4]
| “ | He has lived up to the legendary billing... And the legend is born in Calvin Johnson! | ” |
Beginning with the 2004 NFL season, Durham also took on the radio play-by-play duties for the Atlanta Falcons in addition to his responsibilities at Georgia Tech.
"Carr to the right with Butler defending.. snap, Ponder hands.. this is Thomas.. FUMBLE, FUMBLED THE BALL aaaand GEORGIA TECH I THINK HAS RECOVERED, THEY HAVE! OH MY GOODNESS... OH MY GOODNESS... THE JACKETS HAVE RECOVERED THE FOOTBALL.... IN THE ENDZONE! He fumbled the football and Rashaad Reid fell on it. Oh.. my.. goodness." -2008 FSU @ Georgia Tech Football[5] (GT goal line stand with less than a minute to play).
"Fourth down and six, ball is at the twenty one and they're gonna kick it again. Manget from the other hash,spot, kick is away and it.. is.. GOOD GOOD... GOOD, GOOD, GOOD," - 1999 UGA @ Georgia Tech[6] (Game winning Luke Manget field goal).
"Brett Basquin will hold, Ross Mitchell to snap. Snap. Spot. Kick is away.. and it.. is.. GOOD! With two seconds left Georgia Tech has taken the lead on Georgia twenty one to nineteen. And I wanna tell ya what.. it was cut like a prime rib.. right down the middle. Whoa.." -1998 Georgia Tech @ UGA[7] (Brad Chambers winning field goal with 0:02 on the clock)