Jeff Fisher (born September 5, 1960) is an author, sports journalist and play-by-play announcer who co-founded High School Football America,[1] a digital media sports company in 2004. On September 4, 2018, Skyhorse Publishing released Fisher's first book[2] High School Football in Texas – Amazing Football Stories From the Greatest Players of Texas,[3] which features one-on-one interviews with nearly fifty past and present National Football League players, including nine of whom are currently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, talking about their favorite Texas high school football memories.
Career
editA Wilson Area High School graduate, Fisher began his broadcasting career at the age of 14 working as a spotter and statistician at high school football game broadcasts on WEST-AM Radio in Easton, Pennsylvania. In 1993, he transitioned into television, working at WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He became the station's Sports Director [4] in 1997. During his time at the station, he created The Big Ticket,[5] which in 2000 was named the Best Television Sportscast in Pennsylvania by the Associated Press. Fisher also served as the host of the Lehigh University Sports Forum television show and was the play-by-play voice of the Lehigh University men's basketball team from 1996 through 2000. He was also the station's play-by-play host for its broadcasts covering the Allentown Ambassadors, professional baseball team in the Northern League.
Fisher left WFMZ-TV [6] in 2000 to become and sports anchor/reporter at FOX Sports Net in Chicago, Illinois where he worked on the network's shows in Chicago, Ohio and San Francisco, California.
In 2004, Fisher launched High School Football America with fellow journalist Trish Hoffman in Chicago, Illinois. In 2012, Fisher moved High School Football America to Los Angeles to launch its highly-successful radio show High School Football America SoCal [7] on AM 570 FOX Sports Radio.
Book
editFor his book, High School Football in Texas – Amazing Football Stories From the Greatest Players of Texas, Fisher personally spoke with players about their favorite high school football memories. In addition to the players themselves, Fisher interviewed coaches, parents and fans about the players he featured.
Players featured are:
- Chapter 1 - Raymond Berry
- Chapter 2 - Bill Bradley (American football)
- Chapter 3 - Drew Brees
- Chapter 4 - Earl Campbell
- Chapter 5 - Andy Dalton
- Chapter 6 - Eric Dickerson
- Chapter 7 - Derwin Gray
- Chapter 8 - Joe Greene
- Chapter 9 - Ken Houston
- Chapter 10 - Craig James (running back)
- Chapter 11 - Bob Lilly
- Chapter 12 - Andrew Luck
- Chapter 13 - Don Maynard
- Chapter 14 - Mike Singletary
- Chapter 15 - Lovie Smith
- Chapter 16 - LaDainian Tomlinson
- Chapter 17 - Elmo Wright
High School Football America
editHigh School Football America, also known as HSFA, tells the story of America through the lens of high school football. HSFA is best known for its storytelling and national, regional and state rankings.
Since 2012, HSFA has been part of the High School Football National Championship conversation. The company began crowning national champs in 2012 with an opinion poll. In 2013, HSFA switched to naming its national champ[8] using a proprietary algorithm created by Fisher.
References
edit- ^ "Meet Jeff Fisher - High School Football America".
- ^ "Browse by Author". www.skyhorsepublishing.com.
- ^ "Texas High School Football book hits on all the legends you do and don't remember". 24 December 2018.
- ^ "Ch. 69 Names New Sports Director".
- ^ "Weekly Fine Tuning column focusing on former WFMZ sports director Jeff Fisher".
- ^ "Local Scholastic Football Will Lose A Friend When Jeff Fisher Leaves 69".
- ^ "Jeff Fisher debuts high school football show on Los Angeles airwaves". 19 August 2012.
- ^ "Colquitt County named High School Football America national champions". 20 December 2015.