He began his broadcasting career as sports anchor in Austin for
KTBC, moved from there to
WFAA in Dallas where he also became the radio voice of the
Dallas Cowboys. Lundquist joined the Cowboys Radio Network in 1967 and remained with the team until the 1984 season. He was paired with future (and now current) play-by-play man
Brad Sham starting with the 1977 season, the year Dallas went 12–2 and captured their second NFL title in
Super Bowl XII. He was sportscaster at WFAA during their 6pm news, while his eventual successor
Dale Hansen did the 10pm news. Before becoming a nationwide sports commentator, from 1970 to 1974, Lundquist was announcer for the sports show,
Bowling for Dollars, in
Dallas, Texas. It aired weekday evenings on the
ABC station, WFAA-TV, from 6:30 to 7:00, in north central Texas. During these four seasons, Lundquist started interviewing Cowboys players and their first head coach,
Tom Landry, at their sidelines, during halftimes, practices, pre-season and pre-game warm-ups in Dallas.
Network assignments Nationally, Lundquist worked for
ABC Sports from 1974 to 1981, CBS from 1982 to 1995 and
TNT cable from 1995 to 1997 before returning to CBS in 1998. Lundquist's patented belly laugh and contagious enthusiasm for the events he covers have made him one of the more prominent and recognizable on-air talents on network television. Lundquist is among the key voices of
NFL Films and in past years had called regional
NFL games for
CBS,
NBA games for
CBS and
TNT and
TNT's Sunday Night Football telecasts. He called television play-by-play on
Seattle Seahawks preseason games from 2006 to 2008. During the
1992,
1994 and
1998 Winter Olympics, whose rights were held by CBS and TNT, Lundquist and
Scott Hamilton served as the announcers for
figure skating events. Their performances were parodied by
Saturday Night Live cast members
Phil Hartman and
Darrell Hammond (as Lundquist) with
Dana Carvey,
David Spade and
Will Ferrell (both as Hamilton): in 1992 with
Jason Priestley and 1994 with
Nancy Kerrigan and
Chris Farley. They did a spoof of the Olympics figure skating events as both Hartman and Myers went "Oh!" when Priestly or Farley (in a pre-recorded performance) did an on-ice pratfall. Lundquist, after seeing the original footage in 1992, commented that Hartman "nailed it dead on." Lundquist filled in for
Ernie Johnson Jr. as host of
TNT's coverage of the PGA Championship twice, in
2006 as Johnson was battling cancer and in
2011 when Johnson left after the second round following the death of
his father on that Friday night. After his return to CBS, Lundquist served as the long-time lead play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports’ coverage of college football on the
SEC on CBS from 2000 to 2016. Lundquist retired from broadcasting college football games after calling the
Army–Navy Game on December 10, 2016. He planned to contribute to other CBS Sports programs, including its college basketball and golf coverage, for the foreseeable future. In March 2018, Lundquist announced he would not work the
2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament and would retire from calling college basketball. Despite his retirement from announcing college football and basketball, Lundquist remained active as a commentator, continuing to call golf for CBS Sports. Lundquist continued calling the
PGA Championship for CBS through 2021, and the
Masters Tournament through 2024. On February 14, 2024, CBS announced that the 2024 Masters would be Lundquist's final broadcast, marking his 40th year covering the event for CBS. Currently, Lundquist resides in
Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Appearances in other media Lundquist played himself commentating on golf tournaments in the 1996
motion picture Happy Gilmore, later reprising the role in the 2025 sequel,
Happy Gilmore 2. Lundquist was a play-by-play announcer in the
NBA Live 98 video game and was also the play-by-play announcer in the
College Hoops 2K8 video game. A photo of Lundquist shaking hands with Tiger Woods at the Masters became a viral online meme in 2024.
Memorable calls A famous pet phrase Lundquist used on occasion is
"How do you DO!"; on a huge offensive or defensive play, a phrase he took from
USC football broadcaster
Pete Arbogast (who in turn took the phrase from venerable broadcaster
Vin Scully). • January 21, 1979: While calling the Dallas Cowboys' radio broadcast of
Super Bowl XIII against the
Pittsburgh Steelers, Lundquist famously described Cowboys
tight end Jackie Smith dropping a third quarter
touchdown pass, which would have put the Cowboys an extra point away from tying the game: • April 13, 1986: While calling the final round of the
50th Masters Tournament in 1986,
Jack Nicklaus made a birdie putt on the 17th hole for the outright lead: •
March 28, 1992: While calling play-by-play for the
1992 NCAA Men's Basketball East Region Finals between
Kentucky and
Duke,
Christian Laettner hit a 17-foot turnaround jumper at the buzzer to win the game by a score of 104–103 in overtime: • February 25, 1994: While calling figure skating at the Winter Olympics, Lundquist called one of the most watched sports events in history. The ladies free skate portion of the 1994 Olympics drew Super Bowl type television ratings because of the hyped
Tonya Harding and
Nancy Kerrigan debacle. The drama unfolded that evening as Harding began her free skate, then quit 45 seconds into her program, and went crying to the judges table with a broken skate lace. She was granted permission to fix her skate and start her free skate later in the evening. During the ordeal, he said: • April 10, 2005: While calling the final round of the
2005 Masters Tournament on
CBS,
Tiger Woods sunk a dramatic chip-in birdie on the 16th hole: • March 26, 2006: While calling play-by-play for the
2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Washington, D.C. Regional Finals, a stunning upset was crafted by #11-seed
George Mason over #1-seed
Connecticut in the Elite 8. : • November 11, 2006: While calling a college football game on
CBS between the #6-ranked
Florida Gators and the unranked
South Carolina Gamecocks, Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss blocked a game-winning 48-yard field goal attempt by South Carolina kicker
Ryan Succop. The Gators would go on to win the national championship: • November 10, 2012: While calling the college football game on
CBS between the #1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and the #15-ranked
Texas A&M Aggies, A&M quarterback
Johnny Manziel threw a touchdown pass to receiver
Ryan Swope after nearly getting sacked and fumbling the football, all but cementing Manziel's
Heisman Trophy that year. • November 16, 2013: While calling a college football
rivalry game on
CBS between #7-ranked
Auburn and #25-ranked
Georgia, Auburn quarterback
Nick Marshall threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Louis known as "
The Prayer at Jordan–Hare," a
Hail Mary pass that propelled Auburn past Georgia in the final seconds of the game. : • November 30, 2013: While calling a college football game on
CBS between #1-ranked
Alabama and #4-ranked
Auburn, a fierce in-state rivalry known as "
The Iron Bowl," Auburn cornerback
Chris Davis returned a missed 57-yard field goal attempt by Alabama placekicker Adam Griffith with 0:01 remaining 100 yards for a game-winning touchdown on the game's final play. Known as the
Kick Six, the play gave Auburn a 34–28 victory and a spot in the
2013 SEC Championship Game. : • October 1, 2016: While calling a college football
rivalry game on
CBS between #11-ranked
Tennessee and #25-ranked
Georgia at
Sanford Stadium, Tennessee quarterback
Joshua Dobbs completed a
Hail Mary pass to wide receiver
Jauan Jennings with no time remaining in regulation play to give Tennessee a 34–31 victory, only 10 clock seconds after Georgia had scored a 47-yard touchdown to secure the lead and presumably the win: • April 14, 2019: While calling the 16th hole at the
2019 Masters Tournament, where
Tiger Woods hit a remarkable tee shot and made a birdie to increase his lead in the final round. Woods would go on to win the tournament (his first win at Augusta in 14 years) capping an amazing comeback to the top of the golfing world: • May 23, 2021: While calling the 5th hole in the final round of the
2021 PGA Championship, where
Phil Mickelson electrified the crowd by holing a bunker shot for birdie on his way to becoming the oldest major champion in golf history: • April 14, 2024: While signing off from CBS for the final time after calling the 16th hole at the
2024 Masters Tournament, his 40th Masters broadcast:
Honors At the
2005 Sun Bowl, Lundquist was inducted into the
Sun Bowl Hall of Fame along with former
UCLA Bruins football coach
Terry Donahue. From 1977 to 1983, the
National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named Lundquist as Texas Sportscaster of the Year for his accomplishments from his time in Dallas. The organization later inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2007. In broadcasting circles, Lundquist is affectionately known as "The Golden Throat". In May 2012, Lundquist delivered the commencement address at
Hampden–Sydney College, an honor he calls "one of the true achievements of my lifetime." Lundquist is on the board of directors of the summer music festival,
Strings Music Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. On October 22, 2016, Lundquist was a Celebrity Guest Picker on
College GameDay on
ESPN. ==Broadcasting partners==