Eli Gold, healthy and back in the booth

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WSFA) - When you close your eyes and think about your favorite Alabama football play, his voice is probably right there, too. Eli Gold was just a kid from New York who wanted to be a sports broadcaster. Hockey brought him to Alabama, and the University of Alabama made this place “Sweet Home.”

Gold called his first Alabama football game in 1989 when the Tide hosted Memphis State.

“I was shaking uncontrollably,” said the voice of Crimson Tide Eli Gold. “I was so nervous.”

The nerves didn’t last long. In his first 32 years, Eli missed one game because of COVID. That all changed in 2022.

“I went to bed one night, walked into the bedroom, got into bed with my wife, and went to sleep. The next morning, I woke up, and I couldn’t walk. My legs stopped working.”

Gold spent 243 days in the hospital. Doctors tested for everything. He lost more than 140 pounds but still no clue as to why he was so sick. Then, one day, a case of the hiccups finally led doctors to the cause.

“It was one hiccup after the next, after the next, whew. I lose my breath just thinking about it. I couldn’t catch my breath. Some of the tests they did for that discovered a growth in my esophagus, which was cancerous.”

Christmas of 2022, Eli and his doctors finally knew what they were fighting. It’s still unclear how the cancer impacted his legs and ability to walk, but now Eli and his team of doctors had an opponent.

After 18 weeks of chemotherapy, Eli heard a sound even sweeter than him saying, ‘Touchdown Alabama.’ He rang the bell in the hospital, signaling the end of his treatment and being cancer-free.

Gold was ready to get back in the booth in time for the first game of 2023 against Middle Tennessee State.

“The only thing that kept me going was my family and getting back to Alabama football.”

Now he’s back, describing the Tide games in a way that only he can do.

“That’s been the best medicine in the world, walking into that booth and saying ‘Hello everybody and welcome to Bryant Denny Stadium.’”

The games may be even more special this year. He survived the fight of his life and is now back to doing what he loves.

“I said, do you know where we were 365 days ago? The family said, ‘Yeah, you were about to die on us. What a difference a year makes. I will never, ever, ever fail to appreciate the time I have on this earth.”

Gold only called home games for Alabama this year. He’ll make his first road trip Saturday when he travels to Jordan-Hare stadium to call the 88th edition of the Iron Bowl.

He hopes, if things go well, he could be back on the road again next year.

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