2020 NFF Chris Schenkel Award

Credit Source: National Football Foundation

IRVING, Texas (Dec. 10, 2020) – The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that University of Wyoming broadcaster Dave Walsh will be the recipient of the 2020 NFF Chris Schenkel Award.

“I’m overwhelmed, and what an honor,” said Walsh. “I was a big fan of Chris Schenkel in my younger years, and I was actually hired here at Wyoming by a fella by the name of Curt Gowdy who was also in that group of great sportscasters…. Having the honor to do University of Wyoming football and men’s basketball over the last 37 years, it’s just been a thrill. It’s been a dream come true type thing…. Wyoming has been very, very good to me and my family, that’s for sure.”

Presented annually since 1996, the award recognizes individuals who have had long, distinguished careers broadcasting college football with direct ties to a specific university. The award is named in honor of its inaugural recipient Chris Schenkel, the longtime ABC Sports broadcaster who emceed the NFF Annual Awards Dinner for 28 consecutive years from 1968 to 1995.

“Dave Walsh’s voice has become synonymous with Wyoming football,” said NFF Vice Chairman Jack Ford, who also chairs the NFF Awards Committee. “Now in his 37th season as the Voice of the Cowboys, it is hard to imagine listening to a game in Laramie without him. We are honored to present him with the Chris Schenkel Award for his standout career in broadcasting.”

Walsh was hired in 1984 by broadcasting legend and University of Wyoming Hall of Famer Curt Gowdy, who owned several radio stations in his later years, including two in Wyoming. Gowdy bid on and got the radio rights to the games at his alma mater, tapping Walsh as a color analyst for Cowboy football and play-by-play announcer for basketball. In the fall of 1985, he added play-by-play duties for football and his voice quickly became synonymous with Wyoming Athletics. Walsh has also hosted Wyoming football and basketball coach’s shows on television.

Walsh has made famous the phrase “the score, oh the score” after each Cowboy victory. For the majority of his tenure at Wyoming, he has been joined by Kevin McKinney, who is in his 22nd season as the Cowboys’ color commentator.

Walsh’s tour at Wyoming has included 10 bowl games and three conference titles. His time with the Cowboys has featured College Football Hall of Fame Coach Dennis Erickson and Hall of Fame tight end Jay Novacek, as well as three NFF National Scholar-Athletes in Martin Eliopulos (1986), Trenton Franz (2004) and John Wendling (2006).

A native of San Diego, Walsh received his degree in radio and television in 1975 from San Diego State. Prior to finding his way to Wyoming, he called high school football in Brawley, California, and then as a broadcaster with KLO radio in Ogden, Utah, calling games for Weber State football and basketball for three years.

In 1982, he began his career in Wyoming as the sports director at KVOC Radio in Casper, and he served as the play-by-play voice of the city’s Wyoming Wildcatters, a pro basketball team. During his days in Casper before heading to Laramie, Walsh also honed his skills in TV as the weekend sports anchor at KTWO.

A nine-time Wyoming Sportscaster of the Year as selected by his peers of the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportscasters, Walsh is a member of the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters and the University of Wyoming Athletics halls of fame.

Walsh becomes the first NFF Chris Schenkel Award recipient from a team currently in the Mountain West Conference.

1996 — Chris Schenkel (ABC Sports)

1997 — Jack Cristil (Mississippi State)

1998 — Max Falkenstein (Kansas)

1999 — Jack Fleming (West Virginia)

2000 — Ray Christensen (Minnesota)

2001 — Frank Fallon (Baylor)

2002 — Bob Brooks (Iowa)

2003 — Larry Munson (Georgia)

2004 — Bob Robertson (Washington State)

2005 — Tony Roberts (Notre Dame)

2006 — Johnny Holliday (Maryland)

2007 — Bill Hillgrove (Pittsburgh)

2008 — Bob Curtis (Idaho) and Dick Galiette (Yale)

2009 — Larry Zimmer (Colorado)

2010 — Joe Starkey (California)

2011 — Woody Durham (North Carolina)

2012 — Bob Barry Sr. (Oklahoma)

2013 — Gene Deckerhoff (Florida State)

2014 — Frank Beckmann (Michigan)

2015 — Jim Hawthorne (LSU)

2016 — Bob Rondeau (Washington)

2017 — Jon Teicher (UTEP)

2018 — Dave South (Texas A&M)

2019 — Eli Gold (Alabama)

2020 — Dave Walsh (Wyoming)