College football is filled with iconic announcing moments, be it from Lee Corso‘s headgear picks, which became a ritual for him. Or Pat McAfee‘s electric and unfiltered announcing in recent years. However, when it comes to HBCU announcing? A Howard University alum and 20-year announcing veteran has no competition. Why? He has just been given a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to HBCUs, and it’s big.

Yes, we are talking about former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst – Jay Walker, who has made his name from his expert coverage of HBCU games with his humorous takes and play-by-play, unreal announcing. Take, for example, last year’s Hawaii Bowl, where Walker paired up with Tiffany Greene to cover South Florida’s game against San Jose State. In that game, while the announcers faced audio issues, Walker’s microphone was hilariously compared to a “walkie-talkie” or kids’ gaming mic.

Walker’s experience in college football playing for the Howard Bison gives him an edge in coverages, and guess what? He was no ordinary player. The guy led the team to an undefeated 11-0 regular season, the first time in their history in 1993. In doing that, Walker earned All-MEAC Honors, and due to his dual-threat ability as a QB, he was nicknamed “sky.” So, more than 30 years after that season, Walker’s exceptional announcing and footballing career have led him to a monumental feat on June 26.

ESPN has recently inducted Jay Walker into their Black College Hall of Fame, which recognizes the greatest CFB players, coaches, and contributors from historically black colleges and universities. ESPN posted about Walker’s induction on their X account. “Congrats to ESPN college football analyst @JayWalkerSky- named to the@BCFHOF Class of 2025! 🏆 All-American & I-AA POY 🏈@HUBISONFOOTBALL & @MEACSports great 🎙️ 20 years with ESPN.” And this is not his first time. In 2005, Walker was inducted into the Howard University Athletics Hall of Fame.

Apart from Walker’s college football exploits, he was also drafted in the seventh round in 1994 by the New England Patriots. Although the announcer’s career was short-lived, with just two seasons with the Patriots and two years with the Vikings, he still transitioned to announcing and made his name. And so after starting his television career with BET, he went to MBC Network and stayed there till 2005 before joining ESPN. As for HBCU announcing? It’s not as easy as people might think, per Walker.

Jay Walker opens up on the difference between announcing for Power Programs and HBCUs

Jay Walker isn’t just a broadcaster, but also is a state legislator, being a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, which shows his deep connection with HBCUs and the community. However, for Walker, HBCU football isn’t like covering ‘power’ games; according to him, there’s a different hunger as he tells the difference between the two.

“At HBCUs, it’s not necessarily all about what you see on the field, the plays. It’s what’s going on in the rest of the stadium. Where was the tailgate? Where’d you go eat? Who’d you bump into? What legends? The bigger games, you kind of let the game do most of the talking. Whereas at an HBCU, in the booth, we try to create a little bit more ambience,” said Walker.

Walker is a great storyteller and incorporates that aspect in his announcing. For instance, his partnership with Tiffany Greene, who became the first African American woman to call college football play by play, is quite exceptional. Walker, however, didn’t just limit himself to the sport; he has repeatedly endorsed more black representation and stressed in an interview that the issue needs to be “addressed” when it comes to representation in announcing. No wonder Walker was a legend both on the field and from the press box.