Image by getty images

**Party Time*: University of Alabama players celebrate their national championship win. Some say they couldn?t have done it without band announcer Robert Levin. Image by getty images

Since Alabama’s football team won the national championship, most of the credit has gone to head coach Nick Saban.

But what about Robert Levin?

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Pediatrician by day, Levin has been Alabama’s band announcer – better known as the “Voice of the Million Dollar Band” – for 21 seasons. So he’s been around for three national titles – that’s one more than Saban, although the coach has only been at ‘Bama for five seasons.

The doctor told JTA that he’s nowhere near jaded from all the winning.

“My wife was sitting with me [Monday] night, and we just kept looking at each other saying how much fun we were having,” Levin told JTA, referring to the 21-0 victory over LSU. “We just feel so fortunate.”

Levin said the gig came about through sheer coincidence, when he met the band director at a party.

“I did my imitation of a public address announcer for her, having no experience, and she thought it was good,” he recalled. “She asked if I would want to do a game for them, which I did, and after that I became the permanent announcer.”

Levin says the job has become an integral part of his life. And the doctor cum announcer has plenty of company among Alabama Jews with ties to Crimson Tide football.

Radio announcer Eli Gold is the official “Voice of the Crimson Tide.” Jon Solomon covers the team for the Birmingham News. And Mike Slive is the commissioner of the Southeast Conference, home to the last six college football champions – Alabama has won two of the last three national titles. Slive also is a member of Levin’s synagogue in Birmingham and a close friend.

“Although he is considered the most powerful man in collegiate athletics, Mike is really just a nice Jewish guy,” Levin said.

The pervasiveness of Alabama football has been deep seated in the state’s Jewish community for generations.

“My great-grandparents used to have a picture of Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant next to a picture of Menachem Mendel Schneerson,” said Eliot Safier, a teacher in New York with Alabama roots, referring to the legendary Alabama coach and the late leader of the Lubavitch movement. “My mom told me that they were shomer Shabbat except when Alabama played on Saturday.”

Levin also grew up as a Crimson Tide aficionado.

Alabama “has always been my team,” he said. “As a little boy, [watching games] is what we did on Saturdays. I always loved them.”

Dr. Jeremy Royal, another member of Birmingham’s Jewish community, feels an exceptional pride when it comes to Alabama’s star players. Since winning a prestigious high school football trophy in 1995, Royal has the right to attend the Heisman Trophy weekend in New York. In December he attended in support of Crimson Tide running back Trent Richardson, a Heisman finalist.

“Aside from his incredibly impressive athletic talent, Trent clearly values team more than self,” Royal wrote in a Jewish Federation newsletter following the trophy weekend. “This characteristic makes him even more likable as a person and makes us cheer even harder for his successes.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount