ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

One of the Big 12's most veteran voices received the honor of his broadcasting career on Wednesday.

Larry Zimmer, the voice of Colorado football for more than 35 years, was honored as the winner of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame's Chris Schenkel Award.

"It is certainly the highlight of my career because it recognizes two of the things that I love the most, and that's broadcasting college football and my association with the University of Colorado through the years and all the people I've met," Zimmer said.

Zimmer, 73, got his start in Lawton, Okla., and later worked in Columbia, Mo., where he broadcast Missouri baseball games from 1960-66. He later moved to Michigan for the next five seasons where he broadcast Wolverine football and basketball games.

His association with Colorado began when he was hired by legendary broadcaster Bob Martin of KOA radio in Denver, where he started broadcasting the Buffaloes and Denver Broncos games in 1971.

I wouldn't think of going to a football game without my radio and earpiece. I find that it's a good way to keep up with the action on the field by listening to the game accounts. And Zimmer was always one of my favorites with his clear, concise descriptions with a very distinctive voice.

I might date myself, but as a youngster I can remember listening to his broadcasts of the old Denver Rockets in the American Basketball Association. He was as much a part of that franchise as Byron Beck, Larry Jones and Ralph Simpson.

But he's always been most closely association with Colorado and the Buffaloes over the years. He worked their games from 1971 through 1981.

His radio station lost the broadcast right for three years to another radio station in the Denver area, but Zimmer returned in 1985 where he has remained as a play-by-play or color announcer since then.

The Colorado Web site has a neat feature where it features some of Zimmer's most memorable calls of great moments in Buffaloes' history. Check some of them out for an indication of his talent.

The award is particularly meaningful for Zimmer because he worked with the late Schenkel.

"The fact that I knew Chris and that this award is named for him is special as well," he added. "I first worked with him when he was doing New York [football] Giant games and I worked with him as a spotter when they came in and played the Cardinals. When I look at the names of the previous winners, there are some great people on that list and it's an unbelievable distinction to join them."

Other winners from Big 12 schools over the years include Max Falkenstein of Kansas and Frank Fallon of Baylor.

These broadcasting greats have added to the pantheon of college football over the years. I'm honored to say that I've occasionally shared a press box with them over the years.