Longtime Buffs, Broncos broadcaster Zimmer passes away
Jan 21, 2024, 02:42 PM ET BOULDER, Colo.– Larry Zimmer, the long time radio voice for University of Colorado football and basketball who likewise called Denver Broncos games, passed away Saturday. He was 88.
The school announced his death before the third-ranked Colorado females’s group hosted No. 6 Southern California on Sunday. A minute of silence was prepared before the game.Zimmer had actually been hospitalized for the previous 10 days in Lakewood. He received various visitors and text messages from the university and the Broncos before his death.A Colorado radio icon. Rest in peace, Larry Zimmer more
: https://t.co/Mevfrnm7Uv pic.twitter.com/J6LNFlCs1P!.?.!— Colorado Buffaloes(@CUBuffs )January 21
, 2024 We’re distressed by the passing of legendary Broncos radio broadcaster & longtime #BroncosROF committee member Larry Zimmer.Since 1971
, Larry has called some of the franchise’s most renowned moments & assisted honor a few of our biggest legends.: https://t.co/53levfiJaq pic.twitter.com/BIUQDJl7HK!.?.!— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) January 21, 2024 Zimmer invested 7 decades in broadcasting because his college days at Missouri.
He called 486 football games at Colorado(22 bowl games)and 525 men’s basketball games. He likewise worked 536 preseason, regular-season and postseason games with the Broncos, consisting of four Super Bowls.In addition, he was on the microphone for football games at the University of Michigan( 51 games )and Colorado State (34). “His voice was synonymous with our athletic program and he was most cherished by our coaches, players and fans,”Colorado athletic director Rick George said in a declaration.”He is really a part of our total athletic history.”Zimmer was hired in 1971 by KOA sports director Bob Martin to be the play-by-play individual for Colorado football games and to work as the color commentator for the Broncos. Zimmer also had a stint as the voice for the Denver Firecrackers, who were members of the American Basketball Association, and the Colorado Caribous of the North American Soccer League.In the middle of the 2014 season, Zimmer experienced health concerns and was hospitalized for 5 months. He returned in 2015 for what was his last season. His last home game was on his 80th birthday versus Southern California, where he was honored in a pregame ceremony.”There was just one guy in the country who sounded like him, and when you heard him, you understood it was a CU or
Bronco game,” said Alfred Williams, a standout at Colorado from 1987 to ’90 who also bet the Broncos.Born on Nov. 13, 1935, in New Orleans, Zimmer attended LSU before he moved to Missouri and earned a degree in journalism in 1957. He broke into the business by relaying high school football and basketball games in Columbia, Missouri, and Lawton, Oklahoma.He is endured by his other half of 51 years, Brigitte; boy, Lawrence III; child, Tracey Robb; and granddaughter, Shannon Robb.