Jim Henderson

Sport: Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism

Induction Year: 2017

Henderson, who spent 34 years (1978-2012) as sports director of WWL-TV in New Orleans, has been the radio play-by-play voice of the New Orleans Saints since 1986 (except for the 1990 season, when he called NFL games for CBS-TV).
Henderson replaced New Orleans legend and 1990 DSA winner Lloyd “Hap” Glaudi as WWL’s sports director, and helped the station produce one of the highest-rated local news broadcasts in America. As a reporter for CBS Newspath, Henderson regularly covered major events like the Super Bowl, the Masters and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
His play-by-play career has allowed Henderson to be the soundtrack for memorable moments in Saints history, including their first playoff victory in 2000 (“Hakim dropped the ball!”), the NFC Championship Game win in January 2010 (“Pigs have flown! Hell has frozen over! The Saints are on their way to the Super Bowl!”) and, two weeks later, the Saints’ victory in Super Bowl XLIV (“Get ready to party with the Lombardi, New Orleans!”). After retiring from WWL in January 2012, he has remained in his play-by-play role with the Saints. His TV “retirement” did not last long. Six months later, he returned to the airwaves to provide commentary and analysis on the Saints for WVUE-TV.