Gerry Sandusky finds the emotion in an empty NFL stadium

For alumnus, Baltimore Ravens’ radio announcer sportscasting—especially in a pandemic—is all about stories

By Kyle Hobstetter on January 13, 2020

Gerry Sandusky '83, at Baltimore Ravens practice
Former Towson Tiger football player, Gerry Sandusky '83, has been the voice of the Baltimore Ravens since 2006. 

The Baltimore Ravens’ 2020 NFL Playoff run started with a blast from the past but in a very current setting.

After winning the Super Bowl in 2012, the Ravens didn’t have a playoff victory until Sunday, Jan. 10, when quarterback Lamar Jackson and a stifling defense led the Ravens to a 20-13 win over the host Tennessee Titans in a wild card playoff game.

In a nearly empty stadium.

Safety protocols for the novel coronavirus pandemic allowed just 14,000 people into a Nashville stadium that usually holds 70,000 screaming fans.

One person not in attendance was the Ravens’ radio play-by-play announcer, and Towson University alumnus, Gerry Sandusky ’83. He was where he had been all season: approximately 700 miles away inside the radio booth at Baltimore’s virtually empty M&T Bank Stadium, calling the game from a television monitor with only cardboard cutouts of fans as company.

“A normal year, broadcasting an NFL game is similar to crowd surfing,” Sandusky explains. “You're surfing on the energy of 70,000 people, and that energy ebbs and flows. But this [calling a game in an empty stadium] is like riding a surfboard in the desert.

“You have to play it all out in your head. Fortunately, I've been [broadcasting] for a while. I know what the crowd feels like, and I know the atmosphere of the different stadiums, so I can use my imagination to put myself into that mental space.”

Sandusky, who is also the sports director of NBC affiliate WBAL-TV, has been the voice of the Ravens since 2006, and he’s called his share of memorable moments. His “The hay’s in the barn” catchphrase—which he picked up as a player on the Towson Tigers’ football team from late coach Phil Albert—has become synonymous with a Ravens’ victory.

For someone who had thought he had seen it all in football, Sandusky admits 2020 has been a challenge. It starts when he arrives to the stadium. A pressbox usually buzzing with hundreds of members of the media is now spaced out with limited attendance.

In fact, during away games, Sandusky and four other members of the Ravens’ radio broadcast team are the only ones that are in the stadium.

“You're all alone in moments that you expect to be sharing with thousands of people,” Sandusky says. “I think of Elon Musk wanting to colonize Mars. I feel a little bit like the first colonists on Mars, because so much of it, you're just all alone. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still in a great place. I'm calling NFL playoff games, but I'm doing it all alone essentially, in what feels like the landscape of Mars. Because one of the strangest landscapes in the world is an empty stadium. There's not a single person in there other than the five of us in our broadcast booth.”

Gerry Sandusky in his home studio
With help from his wife, Lee Ann, Sandusky was able to turn a loft above his bedroom into a home studio. 

Sandusky says COVID-19 has forced him to make adjustments when he hits the air for the 11 p.m. news. This includes creating a studio in a loft above his bedroom.

The studio features a ring light, his computer and a background of sports memorabilia and family photos. While he wishes he could take credit for the setup, he admits his wife Lee Ann has been a huge help as they welcomed viewers into their home.

“It’s been pretty invasive, and it required us both to be really flexible,” Sandusky says. “She’s had to be a champion and make sacrifices.

“For the first couple of months [of the pandemic], we didn't have sports, so it was just trying to find stuff to talk about. These past few months, it’s been a test in imagination, creativity and finding a way to get to the next day, the next challenge, the next opportunity.”

Like the rest of us, Sandusky’s biggest challenge has been trying to stay safe and sane. He’s been doing this by finding some quiet time to himself and remodeling a room in his house to become a home gym. 

But he knows that while it’s difficult now, it’s only temporary. He also considers himself lucky, because his job allows him to continue to tell stories about the Baltimore sports scene.

In fact, when asked what advice he would give to Towson University students who want to get into sports journalism, he says to focus on telling stories.

“The last 12 months have been evidence of the advice that I've always given young people who want to do what I do: read deeply and broadly,” Sandusky says. “I don't mean just read page after page on the Internet. Pick up a book and read. Read about the English language, read great authors, understand how language works. Sportscasting is not just regurgitating statistics, it is the art of being a storyteller.

“You're weaving a narrative,” he adds. “You won't know how to do that just by watching ESPN and going through statistics because that creates robots. I encourage people to fall in love with the English language. Get outside of the world of sports. Read about travel, geography, cooking—anything that's well written. Read and pay attention to how to tell stories, because that all sports is—telling stories.”

This story is one of several related to President Kim Schatzel’s priorities for Towson University: TU Matters to Maryland.