After 25 Years, Bulls’ Voice Tommy Edwards Leaves Lasting Legacy

Perhaps it was the 54 years Tommy Edwards spent working in radio that taught the veteran disc jockey that if he prepared the right way, nerves would never interfere with him doing his job.

So when it came to becoming synonymous with one of the most iconic pregame rituals in American sports, Edwards never had to worry because once he had worked his routine to perfection, the rest would take care of itself.

First the arena would darken. Then the simple but recognizable opening measures to “Sirius” – the instrumental lead-in to the Alan Parsons Project song “Eye In the Sky” that became linked to the Chicago Bulls starting lineup beginning in 1984 – would begin to play.

As the beat picked up and the intensity and energy in the music increased, Edwards went to work.

“And now,” Edwards began, intentionally adding syllables to each word for dramatic effect.

The rest is history.

But for Edwards, who ended his 25-year-run as the Bulls’ public address announcer over the weekend, becoming such an instrumental part of an otherwise ordinary set of starting line-ups that would crescendo to a fevered pitch by the time he said, “From North Carolina…At guard…Six-Six……Number 23….Michael…Jordan” was never his intent.

After all, as recognizable as Edwards’s voice became over the years and as much as Jordan approved of his work – first at the old Chicago Stadium and more recently at the United Center – he realized was simply part of the show.

“There were times I thought about my audio level,” Edwards said during a telephone interview on Monday, two days after working his final game. “With the crowd being so loud, can they still hear me? And I would think, well, who cares. The crowd is cheering Michael (Jordan).

“That’s the deal. That’s the important part.”

But Edwards played his own part to be sure. After all, it was Edwards who had identified “Sirius” as being the music that would go on to be the music that is still playing during the Bulls’ pregame introductions. But if it was going to work, Edwards knew, he had to make it fit.

So after hearing the ambient music at a movie theater with his wife more than 30 years ago, Edwards purchased the Alan Parsons Project album, put it on his turntable at home and rehearsed reading the starting lineups time after time after time until he felt it was right. He knew if he could perfect the routine at home, he would certainly have no trouble repeating the practice when it was time to do it live.

That included starting with the words, “And now.”

“It was just something that happened the first time I did it,” Edwards said of the two-word intro. “I felt good doing it, but it just happened.”

As more “Sirius” became recognizable and the more the way Edwards read through players names, college basketball alma maters and position – including his “The man in the middle” creation for the starting center took began to caught on, the more the way Edwards approached his work took shape.

But it wasn’t until a routine eye doctor’s appointment when Edwards, who began his work with the Bulls in 1976, realized how much people linked his voice with the Bulls. At one point, Edwards’s eye doctor stopped mid-exam and said he felt compelled to tell Edwards something. Edwards feared what was coming next.

The eye doctor proceeded to tell him that each time he and his family watched a Bulls game at home, they would turn all of the lights off, turn the volume up on their television and begin to cheer as Edwards reeled off his normal routine.

Edwards said he never realized such practices ever existed. But the doctor and his family weren’t alone in their admiration of Edwards’s work.

For Chuck Swirsky, the Bulls radio play-by-play announcer for the past decade, witnessing Edwards’s work on a nightly basis has never lost its magic.

“Chills down my spine,” Swirsky said Monday when asked to describe the feelings he got when hearing Edwards’s work. “The music. The video. His voice. (The) ‘And now.’ ‘The man in the middle.’

“But the thing about Tommy – he was Tommy. He was a tremendous PA announcer. Some of the public address announcers in the NBA make it about themselves. Not Tommy.”

 Edwards, who has worked as the United Center public address announcer since 2006 and whose radio career ended in 2014, often added nuances to the introductions to connect more. Former Bulls star and NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose wasn’t identified as having played at Memphis. Rather, he was “From Chi-cago”– a notation Rose always appreciated, including last week when the Chicago native – now playing in a reserve role with the Pistons – made his way over to Edwards to shake his hand. Perhaps, Rose had heard rumors that Edwards was leaving his post. To Edwards, it didn’t matter.

“That sure meant a lot,” Edwards said.

The same goes for Clippers guard Patrick Beverly, whom Edwards introduces as being from Chicago rather than having played collegiately at Arkansas. After doing so, Beverly – along with Clippers coach Doc Rivers approached Edwards at the scorer’s table to show appreciation for acknowledging from where Beverly comes.

As video of Edwards’ final pregame introductions hit social media over the weekend, several former players, including Chicago native and former Heat star Dwyane Wade “Liked” the posts - small gestures that will resonate with Edwards into retirement.

Edwards and his wife, Mary Lou, plan to retire to Southern California, where they will spend more time with their grandchildren and spend time traveling. There will be no more missed birthday parties or holidays cut short by Edwards’s work schedule. The couple recently sold their home, which told them it was the right time to put their retirement plans into action.

That led to Saturday night, when, one by one, Bulls starters made their way down to Edwards’s station during starting lineups and fist-bumped Edwards as he read through his normal game day script. 

Edwards was recognized during the game for his years of service with the familiar strains of “Sirius” leading to the acknowledgment and a standing ovation from fans. As a television camera focused on Edwards, the veteran voice of the Bulls could be seen saying, “Wow” before he returned to his seat.

Edwards, who grew up in Kansas and who watched Wilt Chamberlain play in college, will miss being around the game and having a center court seat to watching some of the world’s greatest athletes perform on a nightly basis. He always insisted on remaining a student of the game, which he believes should be a prerequisite for those who work within the game. He plans to remain a fan of the NBA and of the Bulls, saying his devotion to the team won’t diminish in retirement.

And although the Bulls having reached the heights they did when the team’s pregame introductions became commonplace on the NBA landscape, Edwards made sure his work remained on the same level.

All the way to the end.

“I take the job very seriously and so I want to make sure I deliver every single time,” Edward said. “When the game isn’t going the best way for the team, I don’t really care. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and that’s what I’m getting paid for.”