There have been few calls better than Sean McDonough’s performance in Charlotte.
During the ACC Championship game, in which Clemson edged out SMU, 34-31, the ESPN play-by-play voice earned effusive praise for stepping up and rising to the occasion, big play after big play. Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder touched on the praise, as did Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina, who had McDonough as a guest on his SI Media with Jimmy Traina podcast.
“GOOD. AT THE BUZZER. CLEMSON WINS THE ACC.”
Sean McDonough on the call for Nolan Hauser’s 56-yard field goal as time expired.
The Tigers won the ACC Championship and are headed to the CFP. pic.twitter.com/Sx6f0uPq0I
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 8, 2024
After a game like that, in which Clemson punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff, Traina asked McDonough if he hears from people in the industry after presiding over such a thrilling game.
It didn’t take McDonough long to quickly nod his head, as if to say, “Yes.”
“You’d be surprised how often that happens,” McDonough told Traina. “As much as people think our business is competitive — and I guess it is at a certain point — I don’t feel like I’m competing against anybody for my spot. Maybe I am; maybe I should be more sensitive to that or concerned about it, but I’m not. I would say that most people doing this at a certain level aren’t really concerned about their position. But, yeah, there was a bunch.
“That’s kind of when you know it’s a special moment when the game’s end and you look at your phone, and you have a zillion texts… The one that I will not believe was from Verne Lundquist… The gist of it was, ‘I hope you’re basking in the glow of all the praise being lavished on you, and you should be because it’s richly deserved.’ Wow. If he’s not the GOAT, he’s tied with Keith Jackson, in my opinion.”
High praise from Uncle Verne.
“So, those are the things that mean — in this day and age with Twitter and social media and everything, which I try to steadfastly avoid, and I do, that’s what means the most,” McDonough explained. “When the people who do this for a living, the people you idolize. Mike Tirico sent me a very nice text after the game. Mike Breen is always a very thoughtful texter. And I try to be that way.
“When I watch a game, and somebody says or does something that, to me, is particularly outstanding, I try to send them a note because I know how much it means to me… Anybody appreciates someone saying they did a good job.”
But there’s also the other side to it.
“We have people in our business who really lets [the criticism from fans online] bother them,” McDonough said. “… That’s why I ignore it. You’re entitled to your opinion; anybody else sitting there is entitled to their opinion. I just don’t want to let it affect me, especially during a game. I’ve worked with people who read it. They read [that] someone thinks these, and you’re too critical of that team, and then they start saying really positive things about that team because they’re responding to what they read when they searched their name on Twitter.”
But McDonough is only responding to Lundquist’s texts.
“One of the Hall of Fame, nice guys, too,” he said of Lundquist. “Blessed to call him a friend.”
[SI Media with Jimmy Traina]
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.