SEATTLE - On most Sunday's you'll find Pastor Randy Rowland addressing his congregation in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood. But, during the fall, he also spends a few Sundays speaking to a much larger group of followers.
When he's not serving a higher calling, Randy can be found high above Century Link Field as the official public address announcer for the Seahawks. It's a job he's had since being asked to fill in back when the Hawks played at the Kingdome.
Rowland said, "They said, 'oh, our PA quit and moved to Baltimore with the new ravens and he's working for the government making films can you step in as an interim and we'll grab somebody?' So I stepped in as the interim and I think 24 years later they've taken the interim title off."
"This is a more complicated in-stadium broadcast than I ever did in my TV career. That's how far things have come along. I've got an offensive and defensive spotter. Jason and Darren have been with me for about 12 years. I meet them through the team, they're awesome. My job is to help 68 thousand people be frothing Seahawk fans and make this the loudest most impossible place for another team to play," said Rowland.
Some of Randy's lines are now part of the Seahawks game day experience.
"I'd say that's good for a Seahawks first down or another Seahawks first down. And, I think it was last season Rick Crawford our director who comes up with some great stuff to do says, 'hey Randy, try this. Just do the same thing you've always done - that's good for another Seahawks - just stop because the fans have been turning and point in the direction of the first down and see what happens'. And, the very first time I did it the place exploded."
"It is a blast when you see everything working and you see the crowd responding and just flowing with the game. And then they take over the venue and we back up and let them have a ball that's what's it about," Rowland said.
So while Sunday's may be this pastor's busiest day of the week, Randy Rowland says he has no plans to stop speaking to the devoted followers at The Clink.
"I'm going to do it as long as I can do it well."
