Eli Gold spells out how he determined if he could return to broadcast booth

Eli Gold has battled and defeated cancer. The beloved Alabama play-by-play voice missed the entire 2022 season due to health issues and was replaced by Chris Stewart. Now, he is gearing up to get back in the booth and is expected to be ready for the 20223 season.

Even for a true professional like Gold, getting back into the play-by-play role is not as easy as snapping your fingers. There is still some work to be down as Gold needs to get back into the swing of things. He explained the process of preparing for the role after a year off.

“The simple answer is, you just know,” Gold said on his return during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I know that I have the stamina. I know I have built up, as we would say in our business, the air. The air that you have through your diaphragm and up into your lungs.

“You don’t just show up, sit down for eight hours, and talk. You got to be physically prepared. And I have been doing that. I have been doing a lot of talking… I am making sure the brain is still sharp, which it is… I have been going back, watching those tapes doing play-by-play to myself. I’ve been working hard to get ready.”

Gold still has just over a month to prepare, with Alabama kicking the season off against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 2. He will be ready to go and get back to what he has been doing since the last 1980s — broadcasting Crimson Tide football games better than anyone else.

Eli Gold would not want to ’embarrass’ himself or Alabama

Gold has waited for his moment to once again get behind a microphone. He said the reason he pushed through and battled against cancer was for his family, mainly his daughter getting married at some point in 2024. But also for the Alabama fans who are ready to hear his voice over the radio once again on Saturdays in the fall.

If he was not able to perform the job at a high level, Gold says he would not do it. Fans are wanting to have the program’s play-by-play voice back, Gold is going to make sure they get him and at 100%.

“As much as I want to do this, I was never going to embarrass myself,” Gold said. “Let alone the University of Alabama, which I love dearly. But I was never going to embarrass myself by going on the air and not be prepared. If I couldn’t do it, I would have gotten with my boss or athletic director and said ‘hey I can’t do it. It’s just not going to happen.’ But that wasn’t the case. I have been working hard memorizing rosters. I’ve been watching tapes of Bama games from last year because I didn’t see every play of every game last year.

“I promise you if I was not ready — if I felt that I was lacking — I would speak up, I would tell that to my bosses. Because I would never, ever, give the University — and particularly the fans — anything less than they deserve.”