‘We’ll fire them cannons’: Voice of Seminoles, Bucs set to make history come Super Bowl LV

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Super Bowl LV looks to be a historic for many reasons, but those just aren’t limited to on the field.

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII, Gene Deckerhoff received two things: A Super Bowl ring from John Gruden and a front row seat to the crowning achievement of many players he’d been calling since college.

“There were four Seminoles that started in that ballgame, Brad ‘The Bull’ Johnson at quarterback, Derrick Brooks at linebacker, Dexter Jackson at safety and Greg Spires at left defensive end opposite Simeon Rice,” Deckerhoff recalled. “Four Florida State Seminole starters on that football team.”

And while he may not have any former Noles on his roster this Sunday, he does have a front row seat to the best to ever do it.

Deckerhoff has always been known for his meticulous prep work and research for calling a game, something he says only gets tougher for a game like the Super Bowl.

“There is more information about Super Bowls than Carter’s got pills. I mean every little thing, you know? This quarterback won a Super Bowl with a wart on his right ear, I mean everything you don’t need to know but you want to be sure you know as much as you can know because it may come up.”

Deckerhoff will also be making history Sunday, becoming the first ever play-by-play voice to call the Super Bowl in his home stadium. And while the league has done it’s best to try to keep a neutral feel, including covering up Raymond James’ iconic cannons, he says rest assured, if the Bucs win their second Lombardi Trophy, it’s going to be a party.

“I can say, ‘Fire those Cannons!’ But we won’t be able to hear them,” Deckerhoff says, disappointingly. “When the game is over and the Buccaneers have won the Lombardi Trophy, they’ll probably have a little bit of gunpowder, actually it’s not gunpowder it just sounds like it, but they’ll fire those cannons for a Bucs victory, even if the NFL fines the franchise. We’ll fire them cannons, I promise you that.”