Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame inducts Auburn's Andy Burcham

by Jeff Shearer
Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame inducts Auburn's Andy BurchamAlabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame inducts Auburn's Andy Burcham
Mariah Thomas

Andy Burcham

AUBURN, Ala.  A Christmas present from his grandmother launched Andy Burcham’s hall of fame broadcasting career.

“My mother’s mother gave me my first cassette tape recorder,” Burcham recalled. “It came from Radio Shack in the early 1970s. A football uniform was my greatest Christmas gift, but the cassette recorder was the most important.”

With it, the future voice of the Auburn Tigers conducted countless interviews “in the style of Johnny Carson, Jack Buck and Ralph Emery,” he said.

The Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame inducted Burcham in its Class of 2026 on June 24 at the Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National.

“I’m honored to be inducted into the ABA Hall of Fame along with Sandra Fuller and Bob Sanders,” Burcham said. “I’m humbled to be a part of this hall of fame and the many men and women who’ve made broadcasting in this state their lives.”

A graduate of Indiana State University, Burcham began his career in Illinois before moving to Auburn in 1988.

Burcham worked in local radio and called Auburn women’s basketball for 31 seasons, teaming up with Rod Bramblett on Auburn baseball broadcasts for 25 seasons beginning in 1995.

For Burcham, it’s always been broadcasting or bust. There was no Plan B.

“This is all I ever wanted to do with my career,” he said. “I didn’t even have a minor in college. That’s not the smartest thing, but the only thing I ever wanted to do was broadcasting.”

Hall of Famer: Andy Burcham, the Voice of the Auburn TigersHall of Famer: Andy Burcham, the Voice of the Auburn Tigers

From the family home in Nashville, Illinois, 6-year-old Burcham listened to Buck call St. Louis Cardinals games on KMOX, memorizing an album of highlights from the 1967 World Series season.

“I knew at that point this is what I wanted to do with my career,” he said. “I never could dream that it would occur in Alabama but nearly 38 years later, this is my home.”

Burcham added football and men’s basketball when he became the voice of the Auburn Tigers in 2019, succeeding his close friend and broadcast partner Rod Bramblett, who was killed alongside his wife, Paula, in a car crash that May.

“With Auburn I’ve been to two women’s Final Fours, a men’s Final Four, two national championship football games and three College World Series that I treasure. More than travel, more than the wins and the losses, I treasure you,” Burcham said in a conference room that included his brothers and sister, his wife, Jan, and his coworkers past and present. “I treasure this life, I treasure this career and I treasure this hall of fame. Thank you and War Eagle.”

The Burcham Bunch: Andy's family celebrates his ABA Hall of Fame inductionThe Burcham Bunch: Andy's family celebrates his ABA Hall of Fame induction
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Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer