Getting suited up and traveling to a venue, goosebumps start to trickle and nerves awaken. Game plans are discussed before the matches, and the roar of the fans begins to grow louder. The first whistle is about to blow.

This is the common routine for “The Voice of the Rams,” Brian Roth.

However, it wasn’t always that way for Roth. His initial work with Colorado State was under Clear Channel of Northern Colorado, which is now part of iHeart Media. There was a four-station cluster in Fort Collins, and Roth said he worked under the 1410 zone covering sports and CSU. His duties included sideline reporting for football and play-by-play for women’s basketball.

“I was there for four years at the radio station, and then our sports department got fired,” Roth said. “They say you haven’t worked in radio until you’ve been fired.” 

The good news for Roth was that, although the majority of the sports department’s staff got fired, the radio job was not necessarily tied to CSU. So Roth still got to keep his CSU-related job as an independent contractor. 

The big hurdle, however, was in 2013 when CSU’s former athletic director, Jack Graham, pursued a new play-by-play guy. Roth had already been calling football games as the play-by-play broadcaster since 2010 up until that point. 

“I was told I was going to be moved out of the play-by-play chair, but I could still be the analyst,” Roth said. “They still wanted me to be a part of the broadcast.”

The new guy was Gary Miller from Denver’s Channel 4.

“And, man, that put some doubt in me for sure, saying, ‘Well, why am I getting replaced?” Roth said. “‘I think I’m good enough. I think the fan base likes me, but yet I’m getting replaced.’” 

Three years later, CSU did not renew Miller’s contract and reopened the job, so Roth reclaimed his chair. 

Roth had been a favorite of CSU’s then-head football coach, Jim McElwain, who reached out following the change-up in the broadcasting booth.

“He called me and just gave me a great pep talk and just wanted me to know that he wanted me to be part of his program and that he didn’t know why they moved me out of the play-by-play role,” Roth said. “That phone call really was a big boost.” 

The saying, “Who wants it more?” is really only answered when you see who’s left standing. Roth wanted the job despite shortcomings.

“My high school (basketball) career ended; I wasn’t good enough to go play college, but I knew I wanted to stay around sports,” Roth said. “And I wanted to kind of feel that nervous energy that you get before a game as an athlete.” 

He wanted to be on the court, at the stadium and at the arena; he, too, wanted to be performing as the games unfolded. 

Roth, with more than 16 years of experience and ties to CSU broadcasting, has sat next to various talents. His current color analyst for basketball is none other than former CSU basketball player Adam Nigon. The walk-on played from 2007-2011 with the Rams. 

“About four years after I graduated from school, I got a call and got asked if I wanted to be the color analyst for the radio team,” Nigon said. “Ever since about the 2015-16 season, I’ve been doing it with Brian. And you know, what’s cool is that Brian actually called my games when I played as a player.” 

Their relationship is unique, given they go way back. This is something that has helped them grow together. 

“With Brian, what’s awesome is, like, we’re friends, but he isn’t afraid to tell me, like, ‘Hey, don’t do that; give it a little breath — breathe,’” Nigon said. “It’s just his subtleties and kind of coaching me up and letting me figure it out on the fly has honestly been awesome.” 

Being labeled “The Voice of the Rams” doesn’t just happen overnight, though. Roth has earned his spot and has become one of the most well-known and respected CSU broadcasters. 

“He’s so well spoken,” Nigon said. “You can throw something at him 10 minutes before a broadcast, and he’ll be able to decipher it, throw it in, know what time to get in and get out for breaks. And if somebody’s got an interview that is thrown at him, he can run the interview. He doesn’t need a script.” 

Roth has also worked with Cameron Conner, who began as the women’s basketball play-by-play broadcaster in 2024. He is early in his career in sports, having graduated from Missouri in 2022. 

Connor said he knows the caliber of a resource that Roth can be to him. 

“I wanted to be a sponge from the moment that I was here with him,” Conner said. “Whether it was getting involved with interviews with football players for CSU Athletics, to getting on his pregame football shows or listening to his broadcasts to figure out ways that I could perfect things myself.”

Conner, a 25-year-old who is just beginning his professional broadcast venture, said he knows it is all about continuing to gain trust from Roth and CSU and proving that he has what it takes. Roth continues to be a great tool in that sense as he, too, has experienced the not-so-linear path it takes to becoming one of the polished individuals in the industry.

For Roth, becoming the “Voice of the Rams” was not just a given; it had been in the making for years. Just like how athletes work countless hours on their craft behind closed doors with the lights off, finally shining once the lights come on, Roth did so too from the booth. 

Reach Aron Medrano at sports@collegian.com or on social media @AronMedrano27.

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