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SALT LAKE CITY — Any BYU football fan, supporter or casual viewer from the early days of LaVell Edwards has a soundtrack they remember of the ups and downs, good times and bad, of the seasons past.
That soundtrack almost always included one voice: Paul James.
The local hall-of-fame sports broadcaster for KSL TV and KSL Newsradio died in his home Saturday. He was 87.
"How do you describe an elephant to a person who's blind and has never seen one, or how do you describe a tiger?" he once told KSL in describing his craft. "It's very difficult to do so that they can get in their minds, and it was kind of rewarding that day."
Born July 17, 1931, in Ogden, James was the student body president at Ogden High when it was the largest school in the state. He went on to receive a four-year, full-tuition Rotary Club Scholarship to the University of Utah, where he met and married the former Annette Greenwell on Feb. 2, 1951.
James’ first job as a broadcaster came in 1951 when he was hired by KBUH radio in Brigham City. He moved to television in 1952 at KDYL-TV in Salt Lake City and broadcast Utah football and basketball games from 1959-1965.
After the spring of ’65, he joined KSL TV, teaming up with veteran news anchors Dick Nourse and Bob Welti for the first of 24 years — what is believed to be the longest tenured trio in television history.
James’ first season as the play-by-play voice of the BYU football team was in 1965 when the Cougars won their first conference title in football. The Cougar cagers went on to win the National Invitation Tournament title in the winter of 1966, and the rest, as they say, was history.
James spent nearly 50 years in broadcasting, calling close to 450 football games, including the legendary Western Athletic Conference championship game between BYU and Wyoming in 1996.
Before James took over full-time play-by-play duties, the Cougars were an afterthought in football, winning just 38 percent of their games.
After James’ ascension to the new role, BYU posted a 68 percent win mark — a wave that also coincided with the rise of Edwards, who preceded James in death by just under two years.
James retired from KSL TV in 1989 to a life of simple pleasures such as painting, piano and his family. He and his wife Annette, who died in 2013, had four children and 11 grandchildren.
He stayed with KSL Newsradio as the play-by-play voice for football until his close friend Edwards announced his retirement following the 2000 season. He was succeeded by current team broadcaster Greg Wrubell, who had been James’ sideline reporter in football since 1992 and took over the full-time men’s basketball play-by-play role in 1996.
"He meant a great deal to me, and I would not have the career I do now were it not for him," Wrubell said via Twitter. "He was a magnificent mentor, and a wonderful man.
"To say Paul James taught me everything I know is true; I learned how to prepare for a broadcast by watching him prepare. Literally every facet of my routine goes back to PJ's practices. Observation allowed me to mirror Paul's habits, but one could never duplicate his delivery."
On May 18, 2000, James was inducted into the Utah Broadcast Hall of Fame alongside his friends Nourse and Welti.
James was inducted into the BYU athletics hall of fame in 2005.
A funeral has been scheduled for Oct. 16 at Memorial Mortuary, 5850 S. 900 East in Salt Lake City. Services will begin at noon, with a public viewing planned at 10 a.m. MT.
Contributing: Rod Zundel, KSL TV
