Courtesy the University of California

(February 18, 2011) Cal football radio broadcaster Joe Starkey was recognized Thursday evening by the Northern California chapter of the National Football Foundation at the organization's 51st annual Scholar-Athlete Awards Dinner. Starkey, who served as the featured speaker of Thursday's event at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel, was the recipient of the prestigious Chris Schenkel Award last December.

The award recognizes a sports broadcaster who has enjoyed a long and distinguished career at a single institution, and Starkey recently finished his 36th season in the Golden Bears' radio booth in 2010. Arguably best known for his legendary call of "The Play" in 1982 - when the Cal football team famously returned a five-lateral kickoff return for a touchdown in between Stanford band members - Starkey has also been named the Best Play-by-Play Announcer in the state of California nine times.

A graduate of Loyola University, after briefly playing football at Thornton Junior College, Starkey began his career as a television and radio broadcaster for the California Golden Seals in 1972. Three years later, he became a freelance announcer for Cal football games, a relationship that continues to this day. He joined KGO Radio as its sports director in 1979, leading the station to a No. 1 ranking in the market for 15 consecutive years. After stints with the Minnesota Vikings and the USFL's Oakland Invaders, Starkey became the play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco 49ers in 1989 and stayed on the job for 20 seasons until his retirement from the franchise in 2008. He was also a color analyst for San Francisco in 1987 and 1988.

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