About Jack
Jack Johnson decided he was going to be a Play-by-Play broadcaster when he was six years old.
Born and raised in the sports-saturated Bay Area, Jack was exposed to the extraordinary amount of broadcasting talent that has graced the region on television and radio. As Barry Bonds would splash home runs into McCovey Cove or the 'We Believe' Warriors upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks, Jack absorbed the commentary of industry luminaries such as Jon Miller, Dan Rusanowsky, or Greg Papa, to name a few.
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Jack understood from a young age that any sports broadcaster should aspire to become a person of worldly interests to provide context and universal appeal to their broadcasts. In addition to playing football and golf in high school, Jack performed on stage as part of Pioneer High School's theater program. While initially interested in theater as a means to increase confidence and presence for a career in broadcasting, Jack discovered a secondary passion and would later go on to star in three musicals: Aladdin, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Guys and Dolls.
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While at Pioneer, Jack resurrected live radio broadcasting of varsity football games after they had been dormant for nearly 20 years. For his junior and senior years, Jack called Pioneer football games on KMTG 89.3 The Stampede. At the time, it was the only public high school football game in the Bay Area on the dial.
Between his junior and senior year Jack attended Arizona State's Cronkite Sports Broadcasting Bootcamp. Over the course of two weeks, Jack called multiple innings of Arizona Diamondbacks baseball, composed his first feature package, anchored a sports segment in studio, and shot his first standup.
As a result, Arizona State was the logical choice for Jack to attend college, where he would also enroll in the Honors college. In his first year, he called play-by-play of Arizona State women's basketball, baseball, and softball on the campus radio station, Blaze Radio; was the beat writer for the women's basketball team for the Walter Cronkite Sports Network; and hosted his own radio show.
During 2019, Jack expanded to call men's and women's basketball, lacrosse, water polo, and men's hockey on Blaze Radio. On Friday nights, Jack performed sideline reporting for the YouTube livestream of the 6A Highland Hawks, compiling feature packages, interviewing coaches and players during pregame and halftime, and providing relevant updates throughout the broadcast.
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By 2020, Jack had expanded his portfolio even further. While continuing to call games on Blaze Radio for Arizona State men's and women's basketball, baseball, softball, water polo, men's hockey, and lacrosse, he would begin calling games on Pac-12 Plus as well. Furthermore, Jack began freelancing as a play-by-play broadcaster for the NFHS Network, where he called State Semifinal volleyball games. At Highland, Jack was now the voice of the Hawks football team, and enjoyed a successful year broadcasting regular season and playoff games. In the fall of 2020, Jack became a member of SB Nation and the House of Sparky team as a writer, and quickly became the men's basketball beat reporter.
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Also in 2020, with COVID-19 limiting face-to-face interaction, Jack began his own podcast, The Trail Mix Podcast with Jack Johnson, taking full advantage of Zoom aggressively pursuing a plethora of topics and guests. Soon, he would secure reputable guests such as Dave Flemming of ESPN, Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated, Matt Sandulli of SNY and Mike DeCourcy of Fox Sports and Sporting News, while also discussing quantum computing, James Bond, the Ronald Reagan administration, and popular music.
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As 2021 rolled around, Jack increased his participation in Blaze Radio, eventually ascending to the role of Broadcast Director, where he mentored young members, organized Play-by-Play scheduling, and interfaced with various SIDs. Jack would continue his work with the Highland Hawks, calling the entirety of the 2021 season, and would be instrumental into hiring a new analyst, sideline reporter, and sideline camera person.
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On the play-by-play side, Jack enjoyed his best year to that date. For the NFHS Network, he called four state championship basketball games in one day, two state championship softball games and two state championship volleyball games. On Blaze Radio, he would broadcast three ASU football games. Arizona State vs Utah, Arizona State vs USC, and the 95th Territorial Cup between Arizona State and Arizona. On Pac-12 Plus, he called ASU baseball, softball, water polo, and men's hockey.
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Jack would also enroll in the Cronkite News Phoenix Sports Bureau, where he would assume the motorsports beat. Jack was the sports anchor on the Wednesday edition of Cronkite News on Arizona PBS. In December, Jack anchored a special edition of Cronkite Sports that aired on Bally Sports Arizona.
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In 2022, Jack entered his final semester at ASU. He called multiple ASU baseball and softball games on both Pac-12 Plus and Blaze Radio. He continued his work with House of Sparky as the lead beat writer for men's basketball. In May, Jack graduated from Arizona State with Honors, and as a three-year member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
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In the Summer of 2022, Jack became the play-by-play voice of the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League. While in Orleans, Jack called 44 regular season games and two playoff games. He also spearheaded sweeping improvements to the broadcast, such as commercial ad breaks, which he worked with local businesses to develop, graphical enhancements to the broadcast presentation, and the advent of a centerfield camera.
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Jack also fulfilled a lifelong dream of calling play-by-play in a Major League Baseball Stadium as he delivered a live broadcast from historic Fenway Park in Boston for an exhibition game between the Firebirds and some of the top prospects in the Northeast. After the season concluded, Jack returned to San Jose, California, to freelance with 49ers Cal-Hi Sports. There, he shot, edited, scripted and provided voice over for highlights of high school football games throughout the Bay Area for a show that aired weekly on NBC Sports California.
In the spring of 2023, Jack began his first season in professional baseball serving as the No. 2 broadcaster and public relations assistant for the Gwinnett Stripers (Triple-A, Atlanta Braves). He gained valuable experience in constructing game notes, broadcast research, feature writing, interfacing with players and media, and continuing to sharpen his skills as a broadcaster. He concluded his time there after a successful two-year run in September 2024.
When he's not calling a game, Jack can be found at the driving range working on his seven-year battle with the slice, on a late-night drive, spending time with family and friends, or traveling to destinations spanning from Shamrock, Texas to London, England. ​​​​​​​​
