Fran Fisher: Class Act

By: Jeff Brown

I’ve always considered Fran Fisher to be this area’s Johnny Carson. Think about it for a second…silver hair, nattily dressed, sharp sense of humor, easy-going style, distinctive voice, a legend in his field and “cool” that just oozes from every pore. When I met Fran for the first time back in 1988, he treated me as if he’d known me all my life. I’ve always wanted the chance to know more about him, and Pigskin Digest gave me an opportunity to do just that. The 53 minutes I spent with him were not only memorable, they were some of the more enjoyable of my life.

Fisher circa 1976

Jim Tarman with Fisher in 1976

Fran Fisher was born in Salem, Ohio, in 1923. (He says a plaque was made in his honor. It’s in a neighboring town with the inscription: “Thank God he was born in Salem.”) Fran’s family made several moves when he was a child, eventually settling in Greensburg, Pa.  After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Bethany College in West Virginia, but it was too far away from his family, so his father made him transfer to Penn State. Fran’s first stay at State was short-lived because he decided he wanted to help win World War II and joined the Navy. (“I thought Pearl Harbor was a good looking woman!”) During that time, he married the love of his life, Charlotte Brooks, who he met while in high school. After the war, it was too difficult to try and move a wife to State College and resume his academic career, so Fran started teaching handwriting courses known as the Peterson System while he took college classes part-time.

Fran’s broadcasting career started as a lot of them did in those days—completely by accident. The Greensburg High School basketball team was in the playoffs. Back then, broadcasts of high school sports weren’t common, but a local business had offered to sponsor the games if the station could find someone to announce them. Fran had become friends with the manager of a local station, who approached him about doing the game. Fran did it, the team won, and the sponsor insisted that he do the next game as well. That led to the idea of broadcasting other high school sports—football, wrestling, etc.—and Fran Fisher, even though he didn’t know it at the time, was on his way to a  new career.

While still working for the radio station during the late 1950s, Fran opened a record store. One of his best customers was Bob Wilson, the owner of WKVA, a Lewistown radio station. Whenever Wilson came into the store he’d ask Fran to come and work for him, However, every time he asked, Fran told the station owner that he couldn’t afford him. Then one day, National Record Mart came to Greensburg, Fran’s business went south, and suddenly Wilson could afford him.  

During his time at WKVA, Fran was fortunate enough to meet Jim Tarman, who would turn out to be a lifetime friend. It was Tarman who encouraged Fran to send in a tape to Castleman Chesley, who owned the rights to Penn State broadcasts at the time and wanted to add a third voice to the football broadcasts. Chesley liked what he heard and Fran was hired to assist play-by-play announcer Tom Bender and his partner, Mickey Bergstein, in 1966. Just as my subject in last year’s edition, Myron Cope, started his career at the same time as a certain Pittsburgh football legend—Terry Bradshaw—Fran Fisher’s Penn State career started the same year that one of Rip Engle’s assistants—a  young hot-shot named Joe Paterno—took over as head coach of the Nittany Lions.

In 1967, Coach Paterno asked Fran if he would be interested in helping with the TV Quarterbacks show, which aired on WPSX. Penn State’s assistant coaches had been narrating the show, using footage from the previous games, and they hated it. But Fran, eager to prove his worth, was willing to drive over from Lewistown and take over for the coaches. It was a great move for both Fran and WPSX. His work on TV Quarterbacks led to an offer of a full-time position at WPSX from then-general manager Marlow Froke on New Year’s Day, 1970.  

Meanwhile Bender, who worked full-time as a sportscaster for KDKA radio and television in Pittsburgh, left due to a contract dispute and signed with another facility in the area. KDKA refused to allow Bender to continue his duties with Penn State and hired Fran based on a tape of that season’s Blue-White game.  Fran and Bernstein worked together the first season, then Tarman took over the color analyst duties and the two worked their magic for the next nine seasons. Fran’s work with WPSX led to many new opportunities for play-by-play broadcasting and commentary, which eventually led to his hiring by the athletic department as radio/television film coordinator. He later went on to form the Penn State Basketball Network and, in 1982, was promoted to assistant athletic director in charge of fundraising, public relations, and public affairs.

However, Fran knew that he couldn’t be an effective broadcaster with all of his new duties, so he decided to step down. His last broadcast was of the 1983 Sugar Bowl when Penn State beat Georgia 27-23. Perhaps the thoughts of those great Penn State teams of ’68, ’69, and ‘73  who were ignored by the pollsters were on his mind when he shouted the unforgettable “PENN STATE’S NATIONAL CHAMPION!  PENN STATE’S NATIONAL CHAMPION!  PENN STATE HAS WON THE BALLGAME, 27-23!” Any Penn State fan worth his or her salt can still hear that to this day.

But Fran’s career as a broadcaster wasn’t quite over. In the summer of 1994, Bill Zimpher, the Lions’ play-by-play announcer, was hired by the Miami Dolphins to do the same with them. It was assumed that he could handle both duties but, in August, the Dolphins decided they wanted Zimpher all to themselves. Since it was too late to hire someone from the outside, the athletic department came calling to the legendary Mr. Fisher once again.  Fran wasn’t so sure he wanted to do it, figuring his skill level wasn’t what it used to be, but then he got a call from George Paterno who convinced him to give it a try. They were an instant hit.  Their knowledge of the game, love of Penn State, and witty rapport gave the fans a reason to take their radios into the stadium. The team of  Fisher and Paterno, whose camaraderie spilled over from the broadcast booth to their personal lives, went on to do the next five seasons. But Fran knew he wasn’t as effective as he wanted to be, and stepped down for good after the 1999 Alamo Bowl. After his retirement, Fran continued to work for his advertising consulting firm—Fran Fisher and Associates—that he formed with his sons Jeff and Jerry in the mid-1990s. In 1997, less than two years before his brilliant broadcasting career came to an end, Fran Fisher was inducted into the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, a well-deserved honor for a distinctive career.  Despite all the fame and accolades, Fran Fisher continues to this day to be one of the nicest and classiest men I have ever had the opportunity to know.  He is truly an inspiration.

One final note: In a 1939 college game, Waynesburg’s Bob Brooks scored the first touchdown ever seen on television—a 63 yard-run against Fordham. This was a significant event in the modern age of football broadcasting which, coincidentally enough, turned out to be a field that Brooks’ brother-in-law, Fran Fisher, would later turn into an art form. •PD

The Quotable Fran Fisher

Favorite Team: “The ’68 and ’69 undefeated squads with guys like Smear, Reid, Pittman, Campbell and my favorite—Chuck Burkhart.”

Best Athlete: “No question, not an ounce of hesitation—Jack Ham.”

On his broadcast partner, the late George Paterno: “A wonderful man who was very passionate about football. He never knew when the microphone was off, though, so some of his best observations were never heard because we were in commercial!”

On Color Commentary: “The color commentator used to provide information about the university, what was going on during the week, tidbits about the players collegiate lives outside of the lines. It was only when the ex-athletes started to get in the booth that the role of color commentator became one of analyzing plays and criticizing.”

On the state of Play-by-Play today: “I like the guys who paint the pictures…who tell you what’s going on on the field. Too many of them today rely on statistics to get them through.”

On his wife, the late Charlotte Fisher: “She was the best thing that ever happened to me. She supported me in everything that I did and was always by my side. When I was invited to speak or make a personal appearance somewhere, it was always made with the stipulation that there would be a seat for Charlotte.  If she couldn’t go, I didn’t go.” •PD