Tim Newton was scanning the field, looking, searching, seeking. Where was Pete Quinn?<\/p>\n
Lost somewhere in a sea of fans that had spilled from the stands onto the Ross-Ade Stadium turf to celebrate Purdue\u2019s Rose Bowl-clinching win over Indiana in 2000 was Quinn, who was supposed to be doing a postgame radio interview with Joe Tiller.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t see him anywhere,\u201d recalled Newton, perched in the press box as part of the Purdue football radio team.<\/p>\n
While Newton couldn\u2019t see Quinn, he could hear him doing his radio interview with Tiller.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a crazy scene,\u201d said Newton, who is now the Boilermaker play-by-play man. \u201cSomehow, Pete got the job done. He always does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pete Quinn has gotten the job done for 31 seasons calling Purdue games. And, he\u2019ll do it for a 32nd and final season this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cPete loves Purdue,\u201d said Kelly Kitchel, the Boilermaker football radio sideline reporter. \u201cHe\u2019s Purdue Pete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quinn has been part of the fabric of Boilermaker football since arriving in West Lafayette as a member of Alex Agase\u2019s final recruiting class in 1976. Quinn was an undersized-try-hard center from Scecina High in Indianapolis who wasn\u2019t going to be outworked.<\/p>\n
By the time he was a senior in 1980, Quinn had become a cornerstone of one of the top offensive lines in Purdue annals, helping head coach Jim Young win three bowls (1978-80) during one of the most storied eras of Boilermaker football. <\/p>\n
Quinn was a captain of the 1979 and 1980 teams. The 1979 squad is the lone team to win 10 games in a season. In 1987, Quinn was voted to Purdue\u2019s All-Century Team. He was a devastating blocker who also set a blue-collar tone at the end of quarters if the offense was on the field. That\u2019s when No. 63 would sprint to the other end of the gridiron. Ross-Ade Stadium roared its approval. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love Purdue,\u201d said Quinn, who snapped the ball to All-American quarterback Mark Herrmann. \u201cI got a chance to play with some great people and be part of some special teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quinn further ingrained himself into the program when he began his ride as a radio analyst in 1992, back when Mike Alstott was a promising freshman fullback and Jeff Zgonina was a dominating fifth-senior defensive tackle. <\/p>\n
Along the way, Quinn has seen a lot unfold before his eyes as he called games for Purdue teams led by five different head coaches: Jim Colletto, Joe Tiller, Danny Hope, Darrell Hazell and Jeff Brohm. Among the highlights Quinn has witnessed:<\/p>\n
\u2022 19 Old Oaken Bucket victories
\u2022 16 bowls
\u2022 Big Ten championship
\u2022 Big Ten championship game<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoyed building a strong friendship with Joe Tiller,\u201d said Quinn. \u201cI enjoyed his era. Loved covering Drew Brees. But the biggest highlight was when I brought my then 14-year-old son to the booth to meet Neil Armstrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
One more season of memories awaits Quinn this fall, when Ryan Walters will become the sixth head coach he will have called games for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited to see what he can do,\u201d said Quinn.<\/p>\n
Quinn slid into the analyst seat once filled by former Purdue quarterback and athletic administrator Dale Samuels. While watching games high above the field, Quinn has worked with play-by-play men Larry Clisby and Joe McConnell, in addition to Newton.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll three great guys,\u201d said Quinn, who also has shared air time with Mike Wild, Rob Blackman, Brett Schetzsle, R.G. Skadberg and Kitchel.<\/p>\n
Why step away?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time,\u201d said Quinn. \u201cIt\u2019s 32 years. I turned 65 in January. It just doesn\u2019t feel the same with the transfer portal, the NIL. It just doesn\u2019t have the same feel it did. I think eventually they\u2019ll get that stuff figured out. Right now, it\u2019s a mess.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bought a place in Naples (Fla.) back in 2020. And we\u2019re gonna spend a little bit more time there in September and October and November.\u201d<\/p>\n
His free Saturdays also will permit Quinn to spend more time with his three children, all of whom are Purdue grads: Peter, Kristen and Hannah. And there\u2019s a growing brood of grandchildren, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got three grandkids now with the fourth on the way,\u201d said Quinn, a member of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. \u201cLife is changing and it\u2019s time to move on and do other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quinn will still be running the Boilermaker Business Exchange. And he has no plans to step away from his successful career in commercial real estate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll still be the biggest Purdue fan out there,\u201d he said. \u201cI just won\u2019t be in the booth every week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pete Quinn has been part of the fabric of Purdue football for over 40 years.<\/p>\n
The post After 32 seasons, it\u2019s last call for Purdue football radio analyst Pete Quinn<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tim Newton was scanning the field, looking, searching, seeking. Where was Pete Quinn? Lost somewhere…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}