Auburn broadcaster Rod Bramblett, wife killed in car crash

Tom Gatto

Auburn broadcaster Rod Bramblett, wife killed in car crash image

Longtime Auburn radio announcer Rod Bramblett and his wife, Paula, were killed Saturday in a two-car accident in Auburn, Ala. 

Lee County coroner Bill Harris announced Saturday night that the Brambletts died of injuries suffered in the crash, the Montgomery Advertiser and AL.com reported. Rod Bramblett was 53. Paula Bramblett was 52.

The Brambletts were riding in their SUV around 6 p.m. CT Saturday when an SUV driven by a 16-year-old male struck their vehicle. Rod Bramblett suffered a severe closed head injury, Harris told reporters. Paula Bramblett suffered multiple internal injuries. Both were taken to area hospitals where they died.

The driver of the other SUV was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Harris said that alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the crash, AL.com reported. The Lee County Coroner's Office and Auburn police are investigating the accident.

MORE: Notable sports deaths of 2019

Rod Bramblett, a 1988 Auburn graduate, succeeded the late Jim Fyffe as the "Voice of the Tigers" in 2003. Bramblett was also the voice of AU baseball. He began in that role in 1993.

Bramblett received national attention in 2013 with his call of the "Kick Six," Chris Davis' game-winning return of a missed field goal attempt by Alabama in the Iron Bowl. A week earlier, he called the "Miracle at Jordan-Hare," Ricardo Louis' eventual game-winning touchdown catch off a deflected fourth-down pass in the closing seconds against Georgia.

The Brambletts were remembered fondly after Saturday's news reached the Auburn and college sports communities:

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.