Don Thompson (American football guard)
Radio and military career
Radio and military career
-------------------------

Thompson began a radio career in 1928 as a [continuity](/wiki/Continuity_%28broadcasting%29 "Continuity (broadcasting)") announcer and writer for [KPO](/wiki/KNBR_%28AM%29 "KNBR (AM)"), the [NBC Radio](/wiki/NBC_Radio "NBC Radio") station in [San Francisco](/wiki/San_Francisco "San Francisco"). After impressing veteran broadcaster [Graham McNamee](/wiki/Graham_McNamee "Graham McNamee") and an NBC Radio executive when filling in as a last\-minute announcer for the 1928 [East–West Shrine Game](/wiki/East%E2%80%93West_Shrine_Game "East–West Shrine Game"), Thompson began to do football play\-by\-play regularly. Around 1931, Thompson began hosting a 15\-minute sports talk show based at KPO and distributed to three other West Coast radio stations: [KGA](/wiki/KGA_%28AM%29 "KGA (AM)") in [Spokane, Washington](/wiki/Spokane%2C_Washington "Spokane, Washington"); [KJR](/wiki/KJR_%28AM%29 "KJR (AM)") in [Seattle](/wiki/Seattle "Seattle"); and [KEX](/wiki/KEX_%28AM%29 "KEX (AM)") in [Portland, Oregon](/wiki/Portland%2C_Oregon "Portland, Oregon"). Regarded as "the outstanding football announcer in the west," Thompson announced each edition of the [Rose Bowl Game](/wiki/Rose_Bowl_Game "Rose Bowl Game") for NBC from 1931 to 1934\. In 1932, Thompson joined the national NBC Radio network as director of special events. Then in 1935, Thompson became West Coast special events producer, where he produced special remote broadcasts from places such as [Boulder Dam](/wiki/Hoover_Dam "Hoover Dam") and [San Diego](/wiki/San_Diego "San Diego").

During [World War II](/wiki/World_War_II "World War II"), Thompson was a [lieutenant commander](/wiki/Lieutenant_commander "Lieutenant commander") for intelligence in the [United States Navy](/wiki/United_States_Navy "United States Navy"). Thompson also helped create the Navy's radio networks in [Guam](/wiki/Guam "Guam") and [Pearl Harbor](/wiki/Pearl_Harbor "Pearl Harbor"). After the war, Thompson returned to NBC Radio as supervisor of night programming.

Thompson retired from NBC in 1967 as West Coast manager of facilities administration.


Who did Thompson impress with his announcing skills?