Painting the picture of Gib Shanley

By MIKE MCLAIN Tribune Chronicle
If you’re a Browns’ fan and beyond your early 40s, you lost a friend last Sunday when Gib Shanley died at age 76.

Shanley, the Browns play-by-play announcer from 1961-84, blended in perfectly with mashed potatoes and gravy on autumn Sunday afternoons. He had an understated style that was always meticulous, never intrusive and ever lasting.

It’s easy to remember Gib with the fondness of a soft-spoken relative whose words stayed with you a lifetime. He never brought attention to himself by shouting. When the Browns crossed the goal line, you knew that it wasn’t the first time he had witnessed a touchdown.

What underscored Gib’s call of a game more than anything was his determination to paint the picture for listeners down to the smallest detail. When the Browns broke a huddle, it was: “Warfield split 10 to the left; Collins flanked 7 to the right; Brewer tight at right end; Brown and Green in the backfield.”

Gib even took extra points seriously: “The snap; the ball’s down; the kick’s up ... and it’s good.”

It’s not unusual for announcers calling games now to forget to inform listeners where the ball is located. The down and distance is also occasionally lost in the mix as chatty analysts consume air time.

Of course, Gib, like many announcers of his time, had to be descriptive. The NFL’s blackout rule prohibited games that weren’t sold out from being shown on local television stations. If Gib didn’t get it accurate to the point of saying “the nose of the ball is at the 40,” listeners couldn’t switch to the TV to get it right.

Like many fans of that era, I’d spent most of the morning prior to home games trying to get television reception from stations in Steubenville or Wheeling that were outside of the blackout range. Plenty of aluminum foil was used to wrap around the “rabbit ears” on top of the TV, but the best reception possible was muffled sound and a picture full of snow.

When my dad connected a rotor to the outside antenna, the results weren’t much better. Eventually, you turned off the set and sat down (paced, in my case) and listened to Gib and analyst Jim Graner.

In addition to his radio work, Gib was the longtime sports director at WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland. He became known for commentaries that were from the heart and often controversial. He gained national attention when he burned an Iranian flag live on the air in protest of the hostage crisis involving American citizens.

Gib left Cleveland for a job in San Diego, but he eventually returned to the area to resume his television career. By then, the late Nev Chandler, who followed Gib as the Browns’ play-by-play announcer in 1985, had developed a faithful audience with a style that in some ways emulated Gib.

Chandler was replaced by the late Casey Coleman in 1994. Current play-by-play announcer Jim Donovan was given the assignment when the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999.

In the hearts of many long-time fans, Gib will always be thought of as the voice of the Browns. He called the franchise’s last championship victory — a 27-0 win over the Baltimore Colts in 1964. When Brian Sipe was thrilling fans with the “Kardiac Kids” in 1980, Gib told the story of every play.

Gib had us on the edge of our seats in anticipation of a playoff win over the Oakland Raiders in the ‘80 season, and he brought us down as easily as possible when “Red Right 88” ended the dream.

For a young man growing up in the 1960s, Gib’s call of a Browns’ win always prompted me to grab a football, run outside and re-enact the game in the back yard. It didn’t matter if there were no other kids to play with at the time.

Gib had delivered good news, and I had to celebrate.

Those were the best of times.

mmclain@tribune-chronicle.com