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As he’s done (almost) every year since 1977, Brad Sham will tonight show up before kickoff to call a Dallas Cowboys game on radio.
But Sham has never arrived quite like this. The only “Voice of the Cowboys” I ever remember will be accompanied by a police escort en route to Cowboys-Titans Panthers on Monday Night Football.
Why?
Because, surprisingly, he’s got a bigger gig earlier in the day.
Says Sham, “I’m pretty sure it’s the greatest honor of my life.”
It doesn’t involve football. Or, for that matter, sports.
At around 4 p.m. Sham will read the commentary of Jonah and the Whale during Yom Kippur at the Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. Immediately afterward, he’ll drive to Love Field, hop on the private plane of congregant Scott McCartney, fly to Arlington Airport and then get the police escort to Cowboys Stadium and his familar spot behind the microphone for 105.3 The Fan.
Today: A sacred, solemn, high holy day of observance. Tonight: Are you ready for some football?!
Sham was invited to read the story after the late Rabbi Gerald Klein performed the duties for decades. Induction into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, eight Texas Radio Sportscaster of the Year awards and calling four Cowboys’ Super Bowl are so relatively insignificant that Sham was prepared to miss tonight’s game if the logistics weren’t doable.
“Those are a lot of fun,” Sham says of Dallas’ championships. “But this is one of those moments in your life that when you’re picked to do it, you do it.”
Last time I remember a Cowboys’ game without Sham’s voice is, um, Super Bowl XXX. While he was on a three-year stint with the Rangers, we were treated to Dave Garrett. All things considered, I guess we have to forgive Brad.
Right?
