We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the passing of long-time Green Bay Packers radio announcer Jim Irwin.
Irwin, 77, died Sunday in California. He had metastatic cancer.
Irwin was the voice of the Packers from 1969 to 1998, forming, with Max McGee, what was in our eyes the greatest announcing tandem in Packers history. From the time I was a kid, we’d always turn off the sound on the television during Packers games to blare Jim and Max on the radio.
Games weren’t quite the same after he retired.
Irwin was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 2003. You can read more about Irwin in the Press Gazette and Journal Sentinel.
The Best.
The minimalism of Jim Irwin, the laconic commentary of Max McGee, on fall afternoons while taking a break from the hunt to have a bite to eat and catch up on the Pack.
Priceless memories.
Thanks, Jim (and Max)!
I think everyone turned off the volume of the TV so they could listen to Jim and Max.
RIP Jim, You’ll be missed
Used to listen to him every Sunday as a kid, straining to get WTMJ down in Chicago. Helped make me the Packer fan I am today.
Interestingly both my kids LISTENED to a radio broadcast fro the first time of the season finale against the Lions and were shocked at how much more they enjoyed the game with Wayne and Larry announcing. Wish there was some way to synch the audio with the TV broadcast and mute idiots like Buck and Aikman.