Longtime Bears PA announcer Jim Riebandt reflects on career ahead of final game at Soldier Field

Jim Riebandt, who also announces DePaul men’s basketball games, became the Bears’ backup announcer in 1979 after he sent a blind letter to then-general manager Jim Finks. | Chicago Bears

Longtime Bears public-address announcer Jim Riebandt remembers going to his first Bears game at Wrigley Field when he was 8.

Though he was seated just 14 rows from the field, Riebandt found himself more engrossed with the PA announcer than the action on the field.

“[The announcer] was so quick and sharp calling the down and distance, identifying the play, where even someone not familiar with football could understand what was going on,” he recalled.

Riebandt always loved to perform. Still, at 69, he can be found singing Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley at country clubs and restaurants around Park Ridge. But never would he have imagined he would have an audience of more than 60,000 like he does at SoldierField.

Riebandt, who also announces DePaul men’s basketball games, became the Bears’ backup announcer in 1979 after he sent a blind letter to then-general manager Jim Finks.

“I remember talking to my mother . . . and I said, ‘What do you think?’ And she goes, ‘All they can do is say no,’ ” said Riebandt, who has been the full-time announcer since 1982.

After 38 years and an estimated 385 games, Riebandt is retiring. But before his final game on Sunday, he joined the Sun-Times for this week’s Chat Room.

What’s one of your favorite memories with the Bears?

Jim Riebandt: “The one that was really bizarre was the ‘Fog Bowl’ in 1988. At the end of the first half, fog surrounded the field, and you couldn’t see the field from the press box I was sitting in. The referee allegedly said when he went to midfield he could see both goalposts, which he must’ve had some special night-vision goggles or something. And so the Bears’ PR crew hooked me up. NFL has a cell on the sidelines for the stats crew . . . and [they were] relaying the plays to me through a walkie-talkie held by the usher and then I was relaying it to the crowd. So I did like real radio play-by-play. You know Andy Warhol’s famous 15 minutes of fame? That was my 30 minutes of fame.”

Who’s the most exciting Bears player you’ve ever seen?

JR: “I would say Devin Hester because every time he would return punts and kickoffs . . . you thought he had a chance to go all the way.

“The most exciting Bears player overall, that was before I started, and that was Gale Sayers. But in my era, Walter Payton is the symbol of the Bears and the mental and physical toughness and never say die[attitude], but he wasn’t per se exciting where Devin Hester was the kind of person that you would get out of your seats once he caught it and broke away.”

Jim Riebandt said he’s been the public-address announcer for an estimated 385 Bears games over the last 38 years.

What’s the story behind your signature line: “There’s a timeout . . .on the field?” And do you want your successor to carry it on?

JR: “I don’t want to tell them their style, but I think it’s part of the fabric of the games. So I hope whoever gets the job continues it.

“And here’s the origin: When I started, there was live music in the stadium but there was no communication in the PA booth to where the band was sitting. So they had built it in because the band didn’t know when to play and when not to play so [the pause] was a cue for the band to get their instruments ready. And then you would say, “on the field,” and once you finished that, the band would start to play.

“So then when the live music got replaced by stadium music, I kept the shtick because I kind of liked it, so I used to say, ‘There’s a timeout . . . on the field.’ So when I said, ‘there’s a timeout,’ they started yelling, ‘Where?’ And it really grew when the Bears played inChampaign in 2002. The speaker system there was so much better than the older Soldier Field system that people could really hear me instead of hearing me only sometimes.

“I usually do it once in the first half and once in the second. The last game I’m going to probably do it every timeout.”

How has the crowd at Soldier Field changed over the years?

JR: “It’s shocking . . . how much people really listen to you. Because when I say, ‘Let’s stand and make noise for the defense,’ about 80percent of the building stands. It’s a weird feeling of power.”

What are you going to miss most?

JR: “The games kind of blend [together], they really do, but the experiences and the people I’ve met, I’ve made so many friends . . . That’s what I’ll miss.

“And then I’ll miss, ‘Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.’ It’s going to be weird because I’ll go to games next year. I probably won’t be going to the preseason, but the first regular-season game will be very weird for me. There’s no question about that.”

Why did you decide to retire?

JR: “It was kind of the symmetry of the 100 year of the NFL. And I’ll be 70 next year and . . . it was time to maybe give someone else a turn. You don’t want to stay past your time and I was thinking maybe it was just the time. It was more of a feeling.”

What’s next for you?

JR: “I’ll keep working as a lawyer. My parents are deceased and my two children — one is in Boston and one is in Los Angeles — so I don’t know what I would do, I’d be really bored. . . . I’d like to try to make it to 50 years as a lawyer.”