Gus Johnson, the lead play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ college football and college basketball coverage, sat down with his FOX BIG NOON broadcast partner Joel Klatt, to talk about his career.
Johnson mentions his 'great mentor' in Waco, former KXXV 25 sports director, and later evening anchor, Ray Peters.
RELATED
Ray Peters and other Texas TV journalists who were there, recall Branch Davidian standoff
Here is a transcript of the section where Johnson talks about Peters:
"One of my great mentors was a man by the name of Ray Peters. You know, Ray Peters, who was my first sports director in Waco, Texas.
And I remember I was 21 years old, making $16,000 a year. And I was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed by the technology, meaning having to shoot my own stuff, edit my own stuff, set up my own live shots, set up my own stand ups. I got overwhelmed.
And one day I pulled him into an edit bay. And edit bays, I don't know if you know, but they used to be really small, really intimate. And I broke down. I was like, 'Man, I think I'm blowing this. I don't know what to do.' And he said, 'I'm going to help you. So one day when...' he said this, this is my first job. He said, 'I'm going to help you because one day when you're at the network, those big time producers and directors won't be able to tell you nothing.'
And he helped me. I mean, we went fundamentals, shooting, editing, producing my shows, timing everything out. And I improved.
And I think he was one of the biggest mentors because he didn't have to do that. You know, sometimes we get competitive with each other. He didn't have to help me, and he did. And I'll never forget that. And I love him for it to this day. And he's one of the big reasons that I've had success in this in this industry."
Johnson was hired by KXXV news director Don Marion as he graduated from Howard University.
