Early life and career

Scott began his broadcasting career on local radio in the late 1930s. His first NFL broadcasts came in 1953 over the DuMont network; three years later he began doing play-by-play on Packers broadcasts for CBS-TV, and it was in Green Bay that his terse, minimalist style (e.g. : "Starr . . . Dowler . . . Touchdown, Green Bay!") developed its greatest following.

Green Bay Packers and CBS Sports

Scott was paired primarily with Tony Canadeo on Packers telecasts. As the team's announcer, Scott broadcast Super Bowl I and II for CBS, along with the brutally cold "Ice Bowl" NFL championship game of 1967. In 1968, CBS ended its practice of assigning dedicated announcing crews to particular teams, and Scott was appointed to the network's lead NFL crew, teaming with Paul Christman (1968–69) and Pat Summerall (1970–74). During his tenure with CBS he called four Super Bowls and seven NFL (later NFC) championship games.

Baseball broadcasting

Scott was also the lead television and radio announcer for Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins from to , calling the 1965 World Series on NBC television. After leaving Minnesota he called games for the Washington Senators in 1970–71 before returning to the Twins as a part-time announcer in 1973–75.

Later life and career

CBS dismissed Scott in 1974, replacing him with Summerall (who had been paired with Scott as a color commentator). He was subsequently employed as a local announcer by several teams (including the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, and Milwaukee Brewers). Scott also served as a narrator for the NFL Films Game of the Week in the 1970s, called syndicated broadcasts of Penn State football from 1975–81, and was play-by-play announcer for the USFL's Arizona Wranglers in 1983 and 1984 and the Portland Breakers in the 1985 season. In 1988, Scott was one of several veteran announcers to call some September NFL telecasts for NBC, while many of the network's regular broadcasters were working at that year's Summer Olympics in Seoul. Scott also called UCLA, Arizona State, Minnesota, and Nebraska football in the '80s, broadcast college basketball and golf at various points in his career, and teamed with Patrick Ryan while doing high school and college football in and around Billings, Montana. In the later years of his life he hosted a syndicated talk show on the short-lived SportsAmerica Radio Network. In addition to sportscasting, Ray Scott also read newscasts at WCCO-FM in Minneapolis in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Scott was twice named National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, was given regional awards by that organization 12 times in four different states, and was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 1982. Posthumous honors include the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, and induction into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame as a contributor in July 2001.

Scott's bare-bones style has inspired many sportscasters.