The broadcast team of Jay Walker, Charlie Neal and Quint Kessenich are poised and ready to anchor MEAC/SWAC Challenge IV

By Chris Wilder

Charlie Neal

Just how long have Jay Walker and Charlie Neal been working together? Well, that depends on who you ask. Walker is very glad they have been covering games side by side for the last six years. But according to Neal, “I helped recruit Jay to Howard University.”

Here’s the back-story: Walker, a California native, began his professional sports career at 17, when he was drafted out of high school to be a pitcher in the California Angels organization. But along the way, Walker had a passion for football, and was recruited as a quarterback by George Allen, then-head coach at Long Beach State University.

At the time, Neal, who is then-Howard coach Steve Wilson’s cousin, was working for BET in Washington, D.C. “I told Jay, ‘If you come to Howard, I can make you a star. I can get you some TV games.’ I think that helped bring him in.”

Fast-forward to this century and play-by-play man Neal and Walker, an analyst, are working together regularly covering games for ESPNU. On Sunday, August 31, both men will be assigned to the fourth annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge (2 pm ET, ESPN2), an annual Historically Black College and University (HBCU) football game showcasing a team from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Jackson State of the SWAC and Hampton (MEAC) will be meeting for the third time ever.

“Working with Charlie is a unique situation,” says Walker, 36. “He covered me when I was in college and now I get the opportunity to work with him. Charlie has covered thousands but only worked with a few. I appreciate that.”

Jay Walker

The Walker-Neal team is to be complemented by Quint Kessenich, who will be working the sidelines. Kessenich, who also covers lacrosse, basketball and horse racing for ESPN, is a former lacrosse goalie at Johns Hopkins University and is known for injecting fun into his broadcasts.

Chuck Scatterday, coordinating producer for ESPN, foresaw natural synergies with this trio. “When you see Jay Walker break down a replay or hear Charlie Neal's voice on a big play, you know it's an important HBCU game,” says Scatterday, who has contributed to every MEAC/SWAC Challenge game to date. “Quint Kessenich is one our most outstanding reporters who knows how to ask the tough questions but still have fun with in the stands and connect with the viewer at home.”

Quint Kessenich

While Kessenich is the new guy on this broadcast team, he isn’t a novice to HBCU football. “I covered a game in Birmingham and I was blown away,” he explains. “The quality of football really surpassed any expectation you may have. [Former Alabama State and current Minnesota Vikings QB] Tarvaris Jackson played in that game and there were a bunch of other guys that could play for any team in the country.”

“Football is football,” Neal explains. “Once you snap the ball, you have to execute—whether you’re Notre Dame or Howard University. But what makes HBCU football special are the halftime shows and the bands. If you go to any [football game] involving HBCUs, everybody comes to see the bands. You can look up in the stands and it’ll be 70,000-plus tickets sold and the stands will be pretty full. But, come halftime, everybody’s in their seat.”

ESPN, which owns and operates the MEAC/SWAC Challenge, is banking on the Florida Citrus Bowl being festive, to say the least. “The difference between the two leagues here is that the SWAC is flossy and the MEAC is gritty,” Walker explains. “When the MEAC/SWAC Challenge began, people thought the SWAC would run away with it but, the MEAC [leads two games to one]. Now the MEAC gets more respect.”

Hopefully, both conferences are getting enough respect where TV announcers won’t have to help recruit players.

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Veteran sports writer Chris Wilder is the editor of www.insideathletics.com, a sports magazine/social network.