Interviewed by Leslie Criss | Photographed by Joe Worthem
The Voice of the Rebels, David Kellum, has witnessed many historic sports moments in the decades he has spent as an announcer. We talked to him about the ability of sports to bring a community together.
“In a general sense, when a community gets behind a team, whether it’s junior high, high school, college, it knocks down some other barriers that might exist — political, racial, lack of communication. Getting behind a team brings everybody to the same page, regardless of other differences. It gives people something in common.
“And specifically, at Ole Miss, two instances come to mind where the community came together in a big way. When Chucky Mullins got hurt in 1989, I saw Oxford, the state of Mississippi, the Southeastern Conference — all those communities — come together. Everyone was loving on Chucky and any barriers there might have been dropped. That’s not something you want to happen to bring people together, but still, it did.
“And on a happier note, when the Rebels won the College World Series last year, that put a smile on everybody’s face, just like when the women’s golf team were national champions in ’21. Ole Miss fans in Oxford and around the country came together to pull for their team
and seeing Ole Miss on top, well, it’s a good feeling for us all.”
David Kellum has been the Voice of Ole Miss since he was 18 years old; announcing football and basketball for 34 years and baseball for 45 years. He was named the Mississippi Sportscaster of the Year last year, for the ninth time. The Oxford native and his wife Mary are parents to daughters Stefanie and Staci, and grandparents to 1-year-old Evelyn.
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