Alabama Broadcast Legend Says He Isn’t Retired, School Chose Not to Bring Him Back

University of Alabama football play-by-play announcer Eli Gold will not return in 2024 to his role as the voice of Crimson Tide football, as he told AL.com on Wednesday afternoon.

The 70-year-old Gold has been the school’s play-by-play announcer for football on radio airwaves for the last 35 years. He missed the 2022 season while receiving cancer treatments but returned on a limited basis in 2023, calling all home games and the Iron Bowl at Auburn.

Chris Stewart, the school’s play-by-play announcer for basketball, called Alabama road games last season in Gold’s stead. He’ll be the play-by-play announcer for both sports in 2024.

“Well, the university has chosen not to bring me back,” Gold told AL.com. “This is not, with a capital N-O-T, not at all health-related. I am very healthy. Everything is wonderful. I am healthy as a horse. I am not retiring. The university has chosen, as they say, to go in a different direction, and that’s certainly their right.”

Gold’s contract with the school is up in June, and the school opted not to renew it.