It’s a frequent question from radio listeners: what’s the most memorable moment of your career? After 25+ years on air, you might think I’d have a tough time choosing only one. From the Super Bowl Sundays to the nights crowning champions to dozens of interviews with headliners and Hall of Famers plus the sweet personal milestones and stories I’ve shared with my audiences–how can I possibly narrow it down?
Honestly, one moment in my broadcasting journey stands heads and shoulders above the rest. I remember the details like the event happened yesterday. Yet this May marks 14 years since the honor of a lifetime.
It was a Sunday, the first evening of the month. I was working as the studio host for ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball, though I couldn’t tell you which two teams were playing or in what city. I remember the studio I was using and the corner where I settled in with my microphone, notes, desktop and TV monitor. Except the action on the field didn’t matter very long. With a couple innings in the books, the producers and I noticed breaking news alerts on our computers. There was very little information; initially, only a line. But within minutes, we realized we needed a plan.
After conferring with the producer and announcers at the stadium, we decided it was imperative to cut into programming as soon as they could manage it. The play-by-play announcer would toss back to me in the studio, and I would share the intel we had. I’m confident it was only a few minutes before they had a chance to set me up; it felt like an eternity while we were waiting in Bristol. I was so nervous that I started shaking. At one point, my teeth even chattered. I couldn’t mess this up! The magnitude of the moment and the historical significance were like a heavy weight. When they tossed back to me in studio, I heard my name and turned on the mic.
“The Associated Press is reporting that Osama bin Laden is dead. Again, breaking news from the A-P. Osama bin Laden has been killed.”
On May 1, 2011, almost a decade after the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, the mastermind of 9/11 was finally dead! What a privilege to be the voice who broke this incredible news to hundreds of thousands of people listening that night. Since our baseball game was a “main channel” broadcast, ESPN Radio wasn’t offering any other programming that night. Anyone listening to the network heard the news from me. Wow. Sometimes, I still can’t wrap my mind around that fact.
Over the next couple hours, every few minutes, the announcers would call on me to share the news. I would break in with whatever details we could find, always with the same urgency. As the night unfolded, the White House confirmed the reports. We found out SEAL Team Six was responsible for the raid in Pakistan, early on the morning of May 2nd, local time. And then we watched as thousands of Americans flooded the streets in major cities to celebrate this historic occasion. In studio, we engaged in our own fist pumps and shouts of joy! After a decade of intelligence, military operations, empty searches and near misses, the United States could finally herald the death of a man responsible for so much loss and pain and grief.
Roughly five years later, I met a radio listener who recalled hearing me break the news on the air. In fact, that’s how he found out! He didn’t know about bin Laden until my announcement in the middle of the baseball game. To actually talk to someone who heard it from me–it drove home the significance of that night all over again. I still get chills when I share the story, and I always love answering the question of favorite career moment. Nothing will ever trump those few hours when sports took a backseat as the nation experienced collective joy and relief, even as we remembered the horrors and tragedies from a decade prior.
I think about that moment periodically, and it still gives me pause. In May 2011, I had no idea I would spend more than 12 years commuting into lower Manhattan and working mere blocks from the 9/11 Memorial and the Freedom Tower. I didn’t know I would see the New York City skyline almost daily, but I am so thankful for the proximity to Ground Zero. It serves as a constant reminder of the catastrophic losses as well as the heroism, bravery, courage and immeasurable sacrifices of our first responders and military on that day and the months and years to follow. Thank you again!❤️
Play by Play Day by Day with Amy Lawrence 