Carter Blackburn facts for kids

Carter Blackburn (born March 30, 1979) is a well-known American sportscaster. He's the voice you hear describing exciting sports games on TV! He currently works for CBS Sports, where he covers many different sports like college football and basketball. Before joining CBS again in 2014, he also worked for ESPN.

Growing Up and Starting Out

Carter Blackburn was born in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in a town called Kerrville. He loved sports and started his broadcasting journey really early! When he was just a sophomore in high school, he began working at a local radio station, KERV/KRVL.

By the time he was a junior, he was already the sports director for the station. This meant he was in charge of reporting on high school sports, plus college and professional teams in Texas. He even did "play-by-play" announcing for football, basketball, softball, and baseball games on both radio and TV. Play-by-play means he described all the action as it happened, live!

After high school, Carter went to Syracuse University. He studied broadcast journalism and political science. While at college, he continued to be a play-by-play announcer for football, basketball, and lacrosse games on the university's radio station, WAER-FM.

His Career in Sports Broadcasting

Carter Blackburn's professional career began in 2001. He worked for International Sports Properties and Fox Sports Net South. During this time, he covered games in what later became the NBA Development League.

Joining CBS and ESPN

In 2003, Carter joined CBS Sports (which was then called CSTV). He made his big national TV debut on CBS Sports in 2008. He called a women's basketball game and later two exciting games in the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. He continued to cover these tournaments in 2009 and 2016.

In September 2009, Carter moved to ESPN and ESPNU. There, he continued to do play-by-play for many college sports. These included football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, and lacrosse.

Memorable Moments He Covered

Carter Blackburn has been the voice for some amazing sports moments. In 2011, he broadcast the Reebok Grand Prix, where Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 100 meters race. He also covered the World Series of Softball tournament. In 2012, he became the main announcer for ESPN's Friday Night Football games. He even called Little League Baseball games, which are always fun to watch!

Back to CBS

In August 2014, Carter returned to CBS. He became the main play-by-play announcer for the CBS Sports Network. He continued to call college basketball, football, and baseball games. He even filled in for another famous announcer, Verne Lundquist, during the 2014 Sun Bowl football game.

Carter was also part of the CBS Sports team covering the 2015 Masters Tournament in golf. Sometimes, he also calls NFL games for CBS.

Carter achieved a lot at a young age. By the time he was 31, he had called games for the NFL on Fox, the NCAA basketball tournament on CBS, and college football on ABC. In 2008, when he was only 26, he was one of the youngest announcers ever for an NCAA Tournament game on CBS. Only Jim Nantz was younger when he started!

Exciting Game Calls

Carter Blackburn is known for his exciting play-by-play calls during close games. Here are a couple of memorable ones:

• He called then-Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s record-setting 409th win for ABC. This was Paterno’s last game as coach of the Nittany Lions.
• March 18, 2016: Carter was the announcer for a thrilling NCAA men's basketball tournament game. The Northern Iowa Panthers played the Texas Longhorns. With just seconds left, a player from Texas tied the game. But then, Northern Iowa's guard, Paul Jesperson, hit an amazing half-court shot right at the buzzer to win the game 75–72!
• August 24, 2019: Carter was calling a college football game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. In the final seconds, a Hawaii player tackled Arizona's quarterback, Khalil Tate, at the one-yard line. This stopped Arizona from scoring and winning the game as time ran out!

About His Life

Carter Blackburn lives in Austin, Texas.