'I’m getting pumped for the season': How the Bills chose Chris Brown as play-by-play announcer
For the kid who grew up in New Hyde Park listening to Marv Albert do New York Knicks games and Jiggs McDonald do New York Islanders games on radio, leading the Bills’ broadcast was a dreamlike job for Brown.
Total relief, but now excitement.
That has been the range of emotions for Chris Brown since the Buffalo Bills and Audacy Inc., told him he would be the team’s full-time play-by-play radio broadcaster; the announcement was made Tuesday morning.
The relief: For the kid who grew up in New Hyde Park listening to Marv Albert do New York Knicks games and Jiggs McDonald do New York Islanders games on radio, leading the Bills’ broadcast was a dreamlike job for Brown.
The excitement: Brown felt his body of work during the 2023 season, when he served as the interim play-by-play voice following John Murphy’s stroke, created the foundation for a long run in the booth if he were to be hired.
“I moved to Buffalo 30 years ago, and it was a goal and endgame of mine,” Brown said in a phone interview with The Buffalo News. “Great things take a while sometimes, and this is a great thing.”
Brown becomes the fourth play-by-play voice in team history, joining Van Miller (1960-71 and 1978-2003), Al Meltzer (1972-77) and Murphy (2004-22).
Chris Brown, left, with John Murphy in 2017. Brown will take over full-time play-by-play radio duties for the Bills this year. Harry Scull Jr., News file photo
A nationwide search by the Bills and Audacy, which owns WGR, included more than 150 applicants, said Bills vice president of media and content Jeff Matthews, and several auditioned with analyst Eric Wood.
“It was probably the most thorough hiring process I’ve been a part of for a job that I applied for,” Brown said. “It was a very open process. They knew how important this position was, and I think they applied the proper means by which to go about it.
“I know they had a lot of people apply for the position and they made sure they went through all the steps they felt were necessary to put the right person in the seat.”
Brown, who will continue to host “One Bills Live” weekdays on WGR and simulcast on MSG Network, will debut Aug. 10 in the Bills’ preseason opener against the Chicago Bears. Buffalo opens the regular season Sept. 8 against the Arizona Cardinals.
The institutional knowledge of the Bills, from being inside the building for so many years and handling the play-by-play work last year, will essentially eliminate a transition period for Brown.
“I have been given the fortunate opportunity to hit the ground running,” he said. “I won’t walk into the booth wondering what it will be like interacting with (Wood) and how the producers (Greg Harvey and Todd Broady) will interact with me.
“The thing I like most is that I can really focus on the finer points of the broadcast to really try and make this thing hum and be the best it can be.”
Brown joined WGR in 1997 as a Bills beat reporter and did play-by-play work from 1996-2018 on Arena Football League, Mid-American Conference and National Professional Soccer League games.
In the three hours after his hiring was announced, Brown said he had 75 to 100 unread text messages on his phone, and the relief had been replaced by excitement.
“It’s starting to sink in now, so I’m getting pumped for the season,” he said.
In a statement released by the team, Bills COO Pete Guelli said: “(Brown) has strong institutional knowledge of our team while also understanding the pulse of our fans.
“We look forward to Chris carrying the torch of the legends this job has produced in Van Miller and John Murphy.”
