By Michael Freeman, Managing Editor
Lance Barrow will never forget last Sunday.
He said he will not forget the laudatory remarks from his close friends and family, the congratulatory video from sports commentators Phil Simms, John Madden and Jim Nantz and the honor of being selected as ACU’s 2008 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year.
“It’s a blessing to be honored by a university that you think so much about and that you love so much,” Barrow said. “The awards I’ve gotten at Abilene Christian mean more than any award I’ve gotten in my professional life.”
Barrow, a 10-time Emmy award-winning producer for CBS Sports and ACU alumnus (’77), was honored as the Alumnus of the Year by the ACU Alumni Association in the Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center on Sunday. The award recognizes ACU alumni who through lifetime achievements bring honor to the university in their personal and professional lives A representative from Fort Worth also declared Feb. 22 as Lance Barrow Day for the city of Fort Worth – Barrow’s hometown.
“Lance Barrow joins a proud list of outstanding alumni who have received the honor over the years,” said Dr. Royce Money, president of the university.
Barrow, who is the 51st recipient of the award, works as the coordinating producer of the NFL and lead game producer for CBS Sports. He has produced sporting events such as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, the Daytona 500, the 1994 Winter Olympics, the Masters Golf Championship and Super Bowl XLI.
“I’m proud to represent this university anywhere I go in this world and tell people, ‘I went to school at Abilene Christian’,” Barrow said.
At Sunday’s ceremony, Barrow’s daughters, Katie, senior advertising/public relations from Colleyville, and Caroline, a high school senior, introduced a video featuring 14 colleagues, which included Simms, Madden, Nantz, golfer Davis Love III and Sean McManus, president of CBS News and CBS Sports.
“He’s just a special guy,” Madden said in the video. “When I first started in broadcasting, Lance was already there. He was working with Pat Summerall, and he helped me get started. In every area, he was always the best at what he was doing. But even more than that, any place you go in this country, everyone knows Lance Barrow. How does that happen? You could go to some small town in Iowa or something, and they’ll know Lance Barrow. And the answer is that as good as he is at what he does, he’s even better as a man.”
After the video, friend Chris Hatchett (’88), brother-in-law Kelly Moore (’79) and college roommate David Woods (’77) all spoke about how they came to know Barrow and what they thought of him as a person. They applauded his commitment to his family, his work and to the university.
The Alumnus of the Year Award has not been the only honor Barrow has received from ACU. In 1994, he received a Gutenberg Award from the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, and a year later, he was awarded the Young Alumnus of the Year Award.
“The honor today was surreal,” Barrow said. “It’s something that I never expected.”
Terry Holland
posted 4/24/09 @ 10:34 AM CST
I remember Lance, quite well, and as an article appeared in the ACU alumni magazine and including the above from the ACUOptimist, both could not have described Lance any different than I would have ever remembered him. I played, or in my case practiced (I was a “walk-on) with Lance on the Wildcats football team, 1974, along with teammate Wilbur Montgomery. Lance was always very interested in you, rather than himself, and exemplified this trait by always being very fascinated in what I had “to say”, listening thoroughly and commenting in a most positive way. It was always very uplifting to talk with Lance and you went away thinking better about yourself. What a remarkable human being. I kept up with Lance through the media, realizing that he was working closely with Pat Summerall and John Madden. How impressed I was and remember thinking..Wow.. I use to talk to this wonderful fellow, that now is a Star with the best. I was very proud of him and remember bragging to others that I knew a guy that ate, worked, and traveled with Summerall and Madden. Lance visited our church, North A and Tennessee Church of Christ, in the 80’s and I saw him, but thought…he will not remember me….but he did and came up and talked to me, putting me at ease and displayed the same qualities of the past that continues to this day….he wanted to know all about me and what I was doing and really did care….it was not just idle conversational talk and shake the hand quickly and move on, but compassionate and sincere. No wonder Lance has friends all over this great Country, because he really cares who the individual is…..I am very proud of Lance…he truly is worthy of the tremendous honor to be Alumni of the Year at ACU
