12. Curt Gowdy
A legendary voice for decade after decade, Curt Gowdy Gowdy was the lead play-by-play announcer for NBC for both the American Football League (AFC from 1970 on) and MLB. Gowdy was present for some of American sports’ storied moments, including Super Bowl I, the AFL’s infamous “Heidi” game of 1968, and Super Bowl III in which Joe Namath and the New York Jets defeated the NFL champion Baltimore Colts. Two years later in Super Bowl V, Gowdy called the dramatic 16–13 Colts’ win over Dallas. The next year in 1971, Gowdy’s telecast on NBC caused many a Christmas dinner to be delayed as the country locked in that Christmas Day to the longest game in pro football history when the Miami Dolphins defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 in the final game at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. He also covered Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception” of 1972, and Clarence Davis’ miraculous catch in a “sea of hands” from Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, to defeat the Miami Dolphins in the final seconds of a legendary 1974 AFC playoff game.