Jerry Schemmel


Jerry Schemmel is an American sportscaster in Denver, Colorado working for 104.3 The Fan. Prior to that, he spent a decade as the radio play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Prior to that, Schemmel served as play-by-play announcer for the NBA's Denver Nuggets, calling their games from 1992 to 2010 until being hired as the full-time voice of the Rockies in January 2010. Earlier in his career, he was a play by play announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Schemmel is also a survivor of the crash-landing of United Airlines Flight 232 on July 19, 1989. After escaping the plane, he returned to the wreckage to rescue an 11-month-old baby. His book, Chosen to Live describes the experience.
In June 2015, Schemmel competed in the Race Across America, a 3,000-mile bicycle race from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis, Maryland, as part of a two-person relay team. He and Brad Cooper won the two-person relay division, finishing in 7 days, 14 hours. In 2016, he was a member of a four-person relay that set the a record for the "Colorado Crossing," a 468-mile cycling race from the Utah/Colorado border to the Kansas/Colorado border. In 2017, he set the solo age group record in the same event, finishing in 33 hours, 3 minutes, just 54 minutes from the all-time speed record for the event, set in 1992. Schemmel has also completed nine triathlons and three marathons.
Schemmel is a 1982 graduate of Washburn University; he earned a law degree from the same school in 1985. He played baseball at Washburn and coached there for three years. He spent a year with the Continental Basketball Association, serving as both Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner.
He is the younger brother of Jeff Schemmel, a former college track and field All-American, long-time college athletic administrator and former athletic director at San Diego State. They are natives of Madison, SD.