Neil Price, the relatively new voice of the Mississippi State football and basketball teams recently made his first visit to Clarksdale.
And while he said it was a joy to walk the same streets that longtime Bulldog announcer Jack Cristil once walked here, it was just as thrilling to see the area that has spawned some of the greatest legends in music.
Over his 58-year tenue from 1953-2011, Cristil called 636 football and 1,538 basketball games played by Mississippi State. A Memphis native, Cristil began his radio play-by-play career calling minor league baseball in places such as Clarksdale, which had the Clarksdale Planters baseball team at the time. He would later call Clarksdale High football games.
“I love the opportunity to get to walk through some of the same places and experience what Jack did,” Price told members of the Clarksdale Rotary Club during its Oct. 30 luncheon meeting.
Price was the guest of Rotarian Paul Wilson, the owner of local radio station WROX, which has carried Mississippi State football and basketball games for the past seven years.
Price started his career as a 15-year-old working at a radio station similar to Clarksdale’s WROX. WCRK was located in Morristown, Tenn., where Price grew up and it proved to be his training ground where he learned about good music and good broadcasting.
“I listen to a lot of music, and a lot of different kinds of music. I was playing Sam Cooke, who’s from Clarksdale. I played John Lee Hooker,” he said. “It’s great to be here for that reason. You can kind of walk through and see where these people become so famous and where all this great talent came from.”
And as much as it’s been a hotbed for blues musicians, Clarksdale has also been a supplier of good athletes to Mississippi State. Price mentioned the contributions of former star football players like Mario Haggan, Harper Davis, Art Davis and Charles Mitchell.
But he was also quick to include Clarksdale High graduate Elgton Jenkins, the 6-foot, 4-inch, 310-pound senior who is starting on the Bulldogs’ offensive line. Price believes Jenkins could be as good as any of those who came before him.
“I think he’s gonna have a really successful pro career if he chooses,” Price said. “It’s been a joy to get to know Elgton. He’s a good guy. You guys should be proud of Elgton and who he is. He’s a great, young man and he’s a terrific football player.”
Growing up in Morristown, located near Knoxville, Price often listened to broadcaster John Ward, who did the University of Tennessee football and baseball games from 1965 to 1999.
“I thought John Ward had the coolest job in the world,” he said. “When you’re a seventh-grader, you view the world through a different prism than you do when you’re 38 years old.”
He said the allure of a free ticket, traveling on chartered flights and busses, and the popularity and pay that goes along with the position was the draw for “seventh-grade Neil.”
“I figured out how to get on the chartered airplane and the bus. I figured out how to get into the games for free. Popularity and the money part… we’re still trying to iron out,” Price said to a roomful of laughter.
Still, listening to Ward, he knew what he wanted to do in life.
“It just clicked in my mind, ‘This is something I believe I can do.’ I wanted to be involved in sports. All my friends were great athletes. I was not a great athlete,” he said.
Price started out being a public address announcer at middle and high school games, worked his way up to WCRK and then broadcast junior college basketball games while he was in school. He then worked three years for Middle Tennessee State University as the Blue Raiders’ play-by-play broadcaster for women’s basketball and baseball. In 2005, he went to the University of Kentucky, where he served as the play-by-play broadcaster for UK women's basketball and baseball, producing more than 700 broadcasts.
In June 2017, he made the move to Mississippi State where he assumed the play-by-play role for Bulldog football and men's basketball previously held by veteran broadcaster Jim Ellis.
It’s been an enjoyable experience, Price said, noting that he and his football analyst Matt Wyatt have a simple goal each time they put the headset on.
“If you’re listening to us, we want to give you the game. What’s happening in front of us. That’s the most important thing. We hope you have fun while you’re listening to us, but we want you to feel like you’re there.
“I want you to feel like there’s an empty seat between Matt and I, and you’re sitting right there in it. Hopefully, we’re getting closer every day to hitting that mark and making you feel that way.”
