Want to direct our news? Our sports? And, oh yeah, our programming? Want to produce and host our pregame shows? How about the coaches’ show … for both men’s and women’s sports? For decade upon decade, Tom Roberts answered every call, fulfilling his commitment to Alabama broadcasting with wisdom, tirelessness, and a large dose of humility. And this is why the Alabama Broadcasters Association is proud to induct him into the ABA’s Hall of Fame.
“You know, I’m sixty-one now and I worked in broadcasting my whole career entirely in this state,” says Roberts. “So, yeah. This award is truly nice because this is where I have my roots.”
We have junior high teacher Margaret Black to thank for setting Roberts on the right course. “She recognized that I was a pretty good student and she recommended me to her husband, Jack, who was the general manager of the radio station and the publisher of a weekly newspaper in Fayette. So, at sixteen, I started working as a proofreader.”
It wasn’t long before Black asked Roberts to take a weekend shift at the station. “I worked Saturday and Sunday from noon to sign off. But my mother insisted that I go to church on Sundays,” he chuckles. “So, Jack came and filled in until I could get back from church.”
Roberts went to school at the University of Alabama, majoring in broadcasting. He eventually took a job working for Burt Bank who started radio stations WTBC-AM and WUOA-FM in Tuscaloosa. Roberts filled the roles of news director, sports director, and programming director.
From there Roberts moved to WVTM-TV in Birmingham where he started as a late-night anchor, moving up to news director in the span of three years. It was in 1979 that Charlie Thornton got in touch with Roberts.
“Charlie was not only the sports information guy, but he was also Coach Bryant’s closest advisor,” explains Roberts. “Charlie calls me one day and says, ‘We need a guy to do scores on our football games. Would you be interested?’”
“After I got up off the floor, I said ‘yes, sir’,” Roberts laughs. “I never asked about getting paid or if there would be travel or anything!”
That was the beginning of Roberts’ long association with Alabama athletics. “I worked with the Alabama Radio Network, the Alabama Sports Network, and the Crimson Tide Sports Network,” he says. “And I produced and/or hosted the football coach’s show, the gymnastics coach’s show and the basketball coach’s show…I did a little bit of everything.”
Friend and fellow broadcaster Barry Copeland thinks Roberts is being quite modest. “He was the consummate professional and made an impact in all areas of the industry. I can’t think of a better person to be included in the Hall of Fame than Tom Roberts,” says Copeland. “If I had to say one thing that has him included in that august body more than anything else, it’s his integrity, The way with which he went about his work was a positive stamp on the industry here in the state of Alabama.”
Jimmy Carter, also a friend and fellow broadcaster agrees. “Tom was a lighthouse. He’s going to be there in a storm and he’s not going to fail,” says Carter. “On the air, he’s just as stable. And as an interviewer, he was unflappable.”
“I remember being in the there when Tom was doing the coach’s show with Saban. They’d just lost the game with Auburn – which doesn’t happen. I’d have been scared to death,” laughs Carter. “That’s a pressure situation. And Tom handled it perfectly. You know, he’s just a calming force.”
“I always had a philosophy of working as hard as I possibly can. But you have to have some fun, too,” says Roberts. “Whether it was in the newsroom, in a stadium, at a basketball court …
life is too short not to enjoy what you’re doing. And you meet some really good people. We had a great time!”
After working 36 years with the university, Roberts retired in 2015. So, these days if you call Tom, it better be for lunch.
