Brian Stanley Follows His Father's Footsteps As Rams' P.A. Announcer

You could say public address announcing is in Brian Stanley’s blood.

For 30 years, beginning in the early 1960s, Brian’s late father Jim Stanley served as the “Voice of The Rams,” so it only seems fitting that Brian would follow in his dad’s footsteps.

Brian Stanley took over as the public address announcer for Glenwood football games in 2021, replacing veteran Gordon Woodrow who had been behind the mic since taking over for Jim Stanley in 1991. Jim Stanley stepped aside that year after suffering a stroke.

“Nobody’s going to replace the three guys that came before me,” Brian Stanley said. “Dad replaced a guy that did it for a long time (Jim Purkhiser). “Dad  loved it and Gordon loved it. I love it, too.”

Stanley remembers being in high school and watching his dad make cards before each Glenwood football game.

“He’d take a nickel or dime and draw circles on a piece of cardstock. He’d put a player’s name in each circle. He’d have the offensive players on one side and the defensive players on the other side,” he said.”
In addition to football, Stanley also serves the P.A. announcer for track meets and other events, such as the Glenwood Homecoming Parade, something his father and Woodrow did as well.

“Gordon was a true professional in what he did and he made it seem so easy,” Stanley said. “He loved it and he had it down. I love it, too, and just try the best I can.”

Stanley noted that every public address announcer has their own style. Stanley’s preparation for a Friday night game typically begins a day or two before the game – gathering an itinerary for public address announcements that will be made during the game and also a roster of the opposing team

“It helps me if I can preview the announcements and the opposing school’s names and phonetic pronunciations. Technology allows you to do that,” he said. “I probably spend two hours the day of or the day before kind of getting situated with everything. That way if something changes or comes up, it’s easier to handle. ”

Stanley said he’s appreciative of the assistance he gets in his pre-game and pre-meet preparation from Glenwood Community High School Activities Director Jeff Bissen and school district secretaries Charissa Wilkes, Mary Hanson and Chris Miller.

“The big thing up in that press box is the organization and Jeff Bissen is the ultimate professional when it comes to organizing that stuff. He runs a tight ship up there but its relaxed ,” Stanley said. “I have an itinerary to the minute that we follow.”

Stanley said a public address announcer is only as good as his spotter and the rest of the press box crew that’s responsible for operating the scoreboard and running the clock.

“This is a whole new crew up there and for it to work right, it takes all of us,” he said.

“We have fun but you try to be professional.”

The crew includes Shawn Newberry,  Hans Keim, Adam Buthe and spotter Evan Stanley, Brian’s son.
Since taking over the P.A. duties at Ram Memorial Field, Stanley had added some of his own touches to the game, including a pregame recap of statistics from the previous week’s games for both the Rams and their opponent. He also throws out Ram football trivia questions to the crowd.

“It’s kind of fun. I love looking back at history because I’m kind of a history nut as it is,” Stanley said.

Stanley said he’s enjoying his time in the press box but doesn’t expect to announce for as long as his predecessors did.

“I don’t know how long I’ll do it,” he said. “I’m enjoying it and we’ll just have to see how long it goes.”