It’s a voice and a man that Nashville has come to recognize as their own, Pete Weber, the voice of the Nashville Predators. Already a storied and prominent fixture in the world of sports before his arrival in 1998, Pete’s career is nothing short of enviable.
It all began with a Zenith radio and an “enamored” young boy who “heard the fun” Harry Caray and Jack Buck were having from his home in Galesburg, Illinois. An early graduate from the University of Notre Dame, Pete could be heard in his tenure on the campus radio station calling football and hockey but he really got his “crash course” in radio back at his hometown radio station WGIL. It was here calling high school
basketball, that Pete would begin making connections that would be pivotal in his career.
When he headed back to Norte Dame for his Masters in Communication, Pete worked for an NBC affiliate. Soon his career took him to a station with call letters that seem only fitting, WEBR in Buffalo. After a couple of years, Pete moved onto the LA Kings and began calling hockey play by play, a task he honed in college, but not for long. Buffalo came calling again in 1982 and Pete moved back where he feels he “grew up professionally.” During his time in Buffalo, Pete worked with the Sabers, Braves and Bills. He has called four Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills. When asked if the magnitude of a game or the crowd size ever affects him, Pete answers thoughtfully that when he’s behind the microphone it’s an “adrenaline surge” and “energizes him.”
One of Pete’s all-time favorite games he called was a Buffalo Bisons and Nashville Sounds playoff game that went into the 18th inning on Labor Day night in 1990. With the potential for games to go long, and in some cases into the wee hours of the morning, how does Pete keep his call voice healthy? Two things: he does not drink coffee on game day and he makes sure to turn up the amplifier on his headset so he doesn’t strain, a tip he learned from Red Barber.
In 1998, following a desire to be closer to family, a bit of networking with former colleague Craig Leipold, and the NHL having a few new expansion teams, Pete ended up in Nashville and called both his, and the Preds first game in September of that year. Pete has now been here longer than his time in Buffalo and is honest that at the beginning he “didn’t know how fans would respond” to him. A humble response from a
man we have come to adore and whose voice is synonymous with Nashville hockey.
Side Bar:
What: Favorite Preds Calls
Poster Worthy: The 2016 triple overtime game where Mike Fisher scored against the San Jose Sharks to win the game (4-3) and tie the series. It was such a fun call, as you can tell by listening to the soundbite if you weren’t up at 1:00 AM that morning to hear it.
First time: Winning game 6 against the Anaheim Ducks (6-3) to clinch a trip to the first ever Stanley Cup Final for the Preds.
