Columbia native and former longtime MU sports announcer Randy Wright will return to campus to announce Saturday’s football game.
Missouri football’s regular public address announcer, Randy Moehlman, tweeted Wednesday that he tested positive for COVID-19. Moehlman is vaccinated, and his case is a breakthrough infection. Stepping in for Moehlman, Wright will announce the football game Saturday against the University of Tennessee.
Wright was the Missouri basketball public address announcer for 22 years and football announcer for six years before taking a job in Gainesville, Florida, as the executive director of the division of media properties at the University of Florida in 2010.
He got the call from the athletic department Tuesday.
“I think I was just an easy call,” Wright said.
He was the first call the athletic department made when searching for someone to fill in. Wright was already planning to visit Columbia this weekend to see his family and his daughter, who is a student at MU.
“It’s going to be a walk down memory lane.”Columbia native and former MU sports announcer Randy Wright
During Wright’s time as MU’s football announcer, he began a tradition that lives on to this day. It was Missouri’s first drive against Nebraska in 2007 when Wright began a chant. After Missouri converted on first down, Wright said, “First down M-I-Z … ,” in hopes the crowd would finish the saying.
After Missouri’s third first-down conversion and Wright’s third attempt at the chant, the Missouri fans roared in response.
“Z-O-U!” they shouted.
“It was the most incredible feeling,” Wright said.
Little did he know, he had just started a tradition that would live beyond his time at the university.
A Columbia native and an MU alum, this opportunity means a lot to Wright, a former VP and general manager, operations manager and weathercaster at KMIZ.
“It’s going to be a walk down memory lane,” Wright said.
After some time spent in Gainesville, Wright recognized how much his alma mater really meant to him, saying, “I realized that Mizzou and Columbia were a very special place. It helped me become who I am.”
Wright looks forward to the moment when he steps foot in the MU football booth for the first time since 2010. He has come back occasionally in previous years to announce Missouri basketball games when needed — but never the football games.
“It’s great to see friends and family, but it’s the icing on the cake,” Wright said.
