Jim Henderson is turning down the sound

Jim Henderson is retiring.

Jim Henderson, who has provided impassioned play-by-play as the voice of the New Orleans Saints since for the past 30 years, is retiring from the broadcast booth. Henderson made the announcement Thursday afternoon (Feb. 1) on WWL radio, where he has worked since 1986.

"It's time," the 71-year-old Henderson said. "This is a good year to go out. I will miss our Saints Radio broadcast team; I will miss calling the games.  But, I'm looking forward to experiencing Saints football purely as a fan."

The customary title of the play by play guy for any LOCAL SPORTS TEAM in any market is, "The Voice Of The (LOCAL SPORTS TEAM)"  There are only a few instances where the person referred to in that phrase actually justifies its use.  There was a season back in the early 90s when Henderson did TV work for CBS and the radio broadcast did not even sound like it was a Saints game. Have you seen those old trailers for Star Wars before the John Williams score was added? That's what a Saints game without Henderson sounds like. The whole spirit of the things is different. Gonna be real weird next year.