Titans PA announcer Matt Rogers' over-the-top approach is a hit at Independence. He might say almost anything
THOMPSON’S STATION – The voice from above at Independence basketball games isn’t ordinary.
Matt Rogers’ words rip through his microphone like blades of a chainsaw, as if he’s calling a professional wrestling match. His public-address work has become a central part of Eagles football and basketball.
But Independence shares Rogers with the Tennessee Titans. He’s been the PA announcer at Nissan Stadium since winning the team’s open audition in 2021. Independence asked him the following year to call its games too, and with three of his four kids in the school system he couldn’t resist the offer.
“The job on Sundays is great. I do this (at Independence) for fun and for the kids,” Rogers said. “I've never gotten a paycheck and I've never asked for one.”
Rogers, 45, is a pro. He has sung on American Idol and hosted Discovery Channel shows. He was also fired by his high school alma mater as PA announcer after one game, and he’ll tell you, he deserved it.
But he’s in good graces with Independence administrators. They embrace his unconventionality.
When athletic director and former Independence girls basketball coach Mary Beth White reached out to him about being the Voice of the Eagles, “we kind of played phone tag with each other and exchanged a few voice messages,” she said. “His personality came through his messages immediately.
“It was like, this guy’s nuts.”
Matt Rogers played for Washington Huskies football before American Idol, career at Discovery Channel
Rogers was born with a class clown spirit, but words didn’t always come easily to him. He took speech therapy for his severe stutter from age 5 to 8.
“My mom would always tell me, ‘God's gonna heal you, and you're gonna sing, and you're going to help people,’” Rogers said. “Even though I was stuttering and nobody wanted to listen to me, I believed in something that wasn't even there because (of her).”
Fate has pushed his voice to the forefront ever since.
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When he played on the University of Washington offensive line he promised to sing opera “in nothing but a jock strap in the locker room” if the Huskies won. They went 10-1 and defeated Drew Brees and Purdue in the 2001 Rose Bowl.
He was asked to audition for American Idol because his mortgage banker boss in Southern California offered him $500 to sing opera in front of a whole restaurant during a dinner. American Idol producer Nigel Lythgoe was in the crowd. Rogers became a finalist on the show’s third season.
In 2021, five years after moving his family from California to Nashville, the Titans PA job came open. Rogers had been a longtime fan because his youth football team was the Oilers. He beat out 200 candidates for the position.
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Then, Independence needed a new sports PA announcer after Joe Deyo left to call Vanderbilt football in 2022.
Rogers was the perfect fit.
How Matt Rogers impacts Independence football, basketball
Every Independence basketball player is given a hometown — like an NBA star — during starting lineup announcements.
“I think he often makes up where our guys are from,” Independence boys basketball coach Mark Wilkins said.
Rogers is, indeed, nuts. But in a good way.
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When he MCs pep rallies and Back to School nights, “I have to tell new parents, it won’t be like this every day,” Independence principal Niki Patton said.
His brainstorming sessions with the athletic department produce things you don’t usually see at high school sporting events, like “human bubbles” full of money at a pep rally or someone throwing 500 $1 bills to the loudest section of students. Sometimes people get to shoot halfcourt shots for $1,000 at basketball games.
Rogers, not the school, funds that stuff. He’s become more than a sports voice. He’s contributed to Tanya Tucker ticket raffles to benefit cancer survivors and financed Mexico vacations for teachers of the year. Rogers credits Independence for thinking outside the box with him.
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On autumn Friday nights, he’s in a box with a microphone riling up Independence’s football crowd. He won’t use his signature Titans move, a long-busting 20-second “thiiiiiiird down!” call. That’s exclusive.
But Rogers is loud, somewhat unpredictable and fiercely loyal to the Eagles. White sits directly next to him for that reason. He’s not afraid to be too partial, even though that’s why his high school alma mater let him go after one game.
“Sometimes, everyone will look at me like, what did he just say?” Rogers said.
But students respond to that energy.
“I call him the pied piper,” White said. “When he enters the building there’s 10 kids following him giving him high fives.”
Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA basketball: Titans announcer Matt Rogers works high school games
