Tony Roberts (sportscaster)

{{Short description|American sportscaster (1928–2023)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Tony Roberts

| image =

| birth_name = John Robert Baffa

| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|10|21}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|8|25|1928|10|21}}

| death_place = Gainesville, Virginia, U.S.

| known_for =

| years_active = 1980–2006

| employer = Westwood One (until 2006)

| occupation = Sportscaster

}}

John Robert Baffa (October 21, 1928 – August 25, 2023), known as Tony Roberts, was an American sportscaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 1980 until 2006.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-05-16-0605160129-story.html|title=Roberts dialed out|first=Teddy |last=Greenstein |website=chicagotribune.com|date=May 16, 2006 }} He is a member of the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. In 2005, he won the Chris Schenkel Award. In 2006, he was replaced by Don Criqui as play-by-play announcer for Notre Dame.{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112800894.html|title=Leonard Shapiro - Shame on Westwood One for Releasing Roberts|first=Leonard|last=Shapiro|date=November 28, 2006|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.southbendtribune.com/former-broadcaster-tony-roberts-reflects-on-notre-dame-michigan-series/article_d7fbe2d4-db18-5cb3-91bb-7de790298ae7.html|title=Former broadcaster Tony Roberts reflects on Notre Dame-Michigan series|first=Bob |last=Wieneke |website=South Bend Tribune|access-date=July 14, 2020|archive-date=April 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408065923/http://www.southbendtribune.com/former-broadcaster-tony-roberts-reflects-on-notre-dame-michigan-series/article_d7fbe2d4-db18-5cb3-91bb-7de790298ae7.html|url-status=dead}}

Baffa was born in Chicago on October 21, 1928,{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Harrison |title=Tony Roberts, longtime voice of Notre Dame football, dies at 94 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/08/30/tony-roberts-dead-notre-dame/ |website=The Washington Post}} and graduated from Columbia College with a degree in journalism. After adopting the on-air name Tony Roberts to appease station managers seeking a more "American" name, he began his career working for radio stations in Iowa, Indiana and Washington, D.C. He replaced Shelby Whitfield as a Senators radio broadcaster alongside Ron Menchine on WWDC-AM 1260 for the franchise's final season in Washington, D.C.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/09/29/washington-senators-final-game-rfk-1971-bob-short/ Frommer, Frederic J. "Fifty years ago, baseball left Washington in a chaotic stampede," The Washington Post, Wednesday, September 29, 2021.] Retrieved February 8, 2025. He has also worked covering the NFL, MLB, NBA, golf, and the Olympic Games.{{cite web | title=The Fighting Irish | website=Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website | date=June 19, 2019 | url=https://und.com/ | access-date=July 14, 2020}} Roberts was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2016.{{Cite web |url=http://www.radiohof.org/tony_roberts.htm |title=Tony Roberts |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113112116/http://www.radiohof.org/tony_roberts.htm |url-status=dead }}