Bill Mercer

William Alfred Mercer (February 13, 1926 – March 22, 2025) was an American sportscaster, educator and author. He was a native of Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame in 2002. He was best known for covering shows for the Dallas-based professional wrestling promotion World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), as well as local Dallas-Fort Worth area sports broadcasts. He also provided notable coverage of the John F. Kennedy assassination.

Personal life During World War II, Mercer served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 aboard the and USS LCI(G)–439 (Landing Craft Infantry – Gunboat) as a signalman. Mercer's ships participated in five invasions: Marshall Islands, Guam, Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa. He was included in the list of notable surviving veterans of World War II.

Mercer first attended college at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, after the war. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Denver in 1949 and a master's degree from North Texas State University in Denton, Texas, in 1966. Following the assassination of President Kennedy, Mercer wrote Play-by-Play: Tales from a Sportscasting Insider, about his experiences in sportscasting. He had a stint as a sports anchor at KVIL radio station in Dallas-Fort Worth during the 1970s and 80s, alongside longtime morning host Ron Chapman. Mercer also spent over 35 years teaching new generations of sports broadcasters in the University of North Texas's Radio/TV Department.

News reporter

On the day of the assassination of John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963), Mercer was a news anchor and reporter with Dallas radio station KRLD. He covered the topic extensively from the field for KRLD, and was present at the midnight press conference of Lee Harvey Oswald. A reporter asked Oswald, "Did you kill the president?" and Oswald answered, "No, I have not been charged with that. In fact, nobody has said that to me yet." Oswald continued, "The first thing I heard about it was when the newspaper reporters in the hall (at this point, Oswald's voice cracked nervously) asked me that question." Mercer told Oswald that he had been charged. Oswald asked "Sir?" and when Mercer affirmed again that he had been charged, Oswald reacted with a look of astonishment.

Play-by-play sports announcer In his 60+ year career, Mercer provided play-by-play broadcasting for several minor league teams: the Muskogee Giants of the Class C Western Association, then the Dallas Rangers (Triple A baseball) from 1959 to 1964, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs (Texas League baseball) from 1965 to 1971. He then moved up to broadcast for major league baseball's Texas Rangers (major league baseball) in 1972 (with Don Drysdale) and Chicago White Sox in 1974. Mercer also provided play-by-play for University of North Texas (known as North Texas State College until 1961, and North Texas State University from 1961 to 1988) football and basketball from 1959 to 1994. His first broadcasts for professional teams began with the Dallas Texans (American Football League) in 1960 with Charlie Jones, then the Dallas Cowboys (National Football League) from 1966 to 1971. Initially, Mercer provided color commentary with Jay Randolph in 1965 for the Cowboys, then became the play-by-play announcer when Randolph moved to St. Louis the following year. In the 1980s, Mercer broadcast Southwest Conference football and basketball for Mutual Radio. In the 2000s, he assisted Mike Capps with play-by-play for Round Rock Express minor league baseball of the Texas League (currently in the Pacific Coast League,) and for three years with Scott Garner of the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League. While at KRLD-AM/TV in Dallas, he served seven years as color commentator for CBS Radio's annual broadcasts of the Cotton Bowl Classic college football game.

Later life and death In later years, Mercer co-wrote a book about his coverage of the Kennedy Assassination titled When the News Went Live: Dallas 1963. Texas Radio Hall of Fame (2002 inductee) Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Hall of Fame, April 2009 University of Texas-Dallas Athletic Department Hall of Honor, 2011 Muskogee High Athletics Hall of Fame (2014) Press Club of Dallas, Legends of North Texas Journalism Awards (2011 inductee)