Happy Belated Birthday Uncle Verne: Lundquist Turned 80 this week

He was the voice of SEC football across the nation for 17 seasons as the No. 1 play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports, and this week the incomparable Verne Lundquist celebrated his 80th birthday.

During his career, Lundquist called both college football and basketball along with NFL, PGA, and the occasional Olympic. He also found time to work in Hollywood, appearing in the Adam Sandler comedy "Happy Gilmore," which is a staple for most sports fans.

Two of Lundquist's games stand out personally. The Kentucky-Duke matchup in the NCAA Tournament Elite -Eight in 1992 where Christian Laettner crushed the hearts of the Bluegrass, and his Kick-Six call of Auburn's Chris Davis' return of a missed field goal in 2013 that had the same result on Alabama fans.

At his prime, Lundquist would rank just behind the legendary Keith Jackson as the best to every call games on a national level. There have been many great voices who have called games in the SEC, such as the late greats Caywood Ledford of Kentucky, John Forney at Alabama, John Ward of Tennessee, Larry Muson at Georgia, and Jack Cristil of Mississippi State.

Growing up in the era of those legends was a treat for me as a child and many others who dreamed of doing what they did. There will always be someone to fill their chair, many of them very talented, but they will never actually fill the shoes of these legends, at least for some of us.

It was an honor to listen to Lundquist for so many years doing it as only he could, and now in his retirement, he is still remembered fondly as one of the greats in the industry's history.

Happy Belated Birthday, Verne, and here's to many, many more to come.