Woody Durham, whose melodic voice delivered thousands of memories and won tens of thousands of adoring fans during his 40 years as the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the North Carolina Tar Heels football and men's basketball teams, died early Wednesday morning at his Chapel Hill home, according to his family. He was 76.
Durham, who will be remembered as much for his well-known lines and delivery as his connection with his devoted audience, died from complications of primary progressive aphasia, a neurocognitive disease that in his later years robbed him of his ability to speak. After struggling with his speech for years after his retirement in 2011, Durham was diagnosed with the disease in January 2016.
The diagnosis came with a cruel fate: the disease slowly stole Durham's masterful talent for words, and his ability to put them together in ways that, for the longest time, inspired many UNC fans to turn down their televisions and turn up their radios, so that they could, in the words of many, "Listen to Woody." Doing so became a tradition among UNC fans wherever Durham's voice flowed through the radio waves in North Carolina, and often that was everywhere � "from Murphy to Manteo," as one of the early tag lines went on the Tar Heels Sports Network.
A 1963 graduate of UNC, Durham was born in Mebane on Aug. 8, 1941, and raised in Albemarle. He began his broadcasting career when he was still in high school, working for his small-town local radio station, and eight years after his college graduation he became the radio voice of his alma mater's basketball and football teams.
For 40 years, from 1971 through 2011, Durham provided a soundtrack to UNC basketball and football. He was behind the microphone when the Tar Heels won their first national championship under Dean Smith, in 1982, and when they won their first under Roy Williams, in 2005.
He called more than 1,800 football and men's basketball games on the Tar Heels Sports Network. Among those were 23 UNC bowl games in football, 13 men's basketball Final Fours and six basketball national championship games, including two more UNC victories in 1993 and 2009.
"It's a very sad day for everyone who loves the University of North Carolina because we have lost someone who spent nearly 50 years as one of its greatest champions and ambassadors," Roy Williams, the UNC men's basketball coach, said in a statement. "My heart goes out to Jean, Wes, Taylor and their entire family.
"It's ironic that Woody would pass away at the start of the postseason in college basketball because this was such a joyous time for him. He created so many lasting memories for Carolina fans during this time of year. It's equally ironic that he dealt with a disorder for the final years of his life that robbed him of his ability to communicate as effectively as he did in perfecting his craft.
"Woody loved the Tar Heels and players, coaches and fans of all ages loved him right back. We should all 'go where we go and do what we do' and say a prayer for Woody and his family. There will never be another quite like him."
Durham is survived by his wife of 54 years, Jean; their two sons, Wes and Taylor; and two grandchildren, Emily and Will. Both of Durham's sons followed their father into broadcasting; Wes is the radio play-by-play voice of the Atlanta Falcons, and Taylor the play-by-play voice of Elon University.
