A bit more than 30 years ago, then Destrehan High School head football coach Scott Martin asked Gary Creed if he’d be willing to take on duties as the public address announcer on Friday nights at Wildcat Stadium.
Creed’s still at it today – and he’s narrated a lot of big games.
“He asked me to do it full time after Mr. Henry Spangler decided he was giving it up. He had done it for about 30 years as well before I took over,” Creed said. “I’d actually started doing it a bit from time to time in the second half on nights he had to leave to go out of town or to be somewhere the next morning on personal business … so when he resigned and Coach Martin asked me, sure, I’ll go ahead and do it.
“It’s been 30 years and I’ve seen a lot of football.”
A lot of good football, at that. Destrehan’s established as one of Louisiana’s traditional football powers, and his voice has provided the backdrop to that strong tradition.
There’s the saying that good artists borrow and great artists steal, and as Creed notes about his own style, “Everything I say, the way I deliver it, has been stolen from somebody else who I’ve heard in a stadium.”
One example of that comes when a Wildcats player begins to break away from the defense and for a score – he calls out their name, then repeats it a bit louder, then one more time for an exclamation as they cross the goal line. It’s a cadence that matches the building excitement of the fans during an explosive play.
“I want to say that’s something I got from LSU’s stadium announcer,” said Creed. “He used to do that, and Rondell Mealey was one of the running backs and he did it for one of his long runs. Rondell Mealey … Rondell Mealey … it just stuck with me.”
It’s one of the ways Creed helps celebrate these athletes’ accomplishments. And Creed himself was once a Wildcat athlete with plenty of his own accomplishments. During his prep days on the DHS track and field team, he earned a state championship in the pole vault and he also set what was a state record at the time in the event at a mark of 16 feet, 6 inches. He attended the University of Alabama on a track and field scholarship.
His children attended Alabama as well, and that almost contributed to Creed leaving his post at Destrehan.
“There was a point where, for a few years there, it seemed like every time Destrehan had a home game, Alabama had a home game the next afternoon,” Creed said. “I’d have to wait until after the game or until Saturday morning to leave (for Alabama). Coach Robe (Stephen Robicheaux) told me, ‘Hey, if you need to take a week off, just take a week off, I’ll get somebody.’”
Ultimately Creed decided to stay on because he enjoys it. The school and the team appreciates Creed as well, showing such when they named him honorary captain for Destrehan’s final home game of the season against Thibodaux.
“I’ll continue to do it as long as I’m living in Destrehan and as long as they want me to,” Creed said. “I have probably as much fun in the booth, with my spotter Kevin Mire, and Ms. Bridget Major. We’re constantly picking at each other, joking and having a good time. I laugh probably as much on Friday nights in the booth as I do the rest of the week.”
