J.P. Shadrick hasn't had much time to familiarize himself with metro Phoenix after being named the new radio play-by-play voice of the Arizona Cardinals.
Shadrick, an Alabama native who is replacing longtime radio voice Dave Pasch, didn’t even arrive in town until Aug. 10 and will be calling his first game for the Cardinals on Aug. 13, when the team meets the Las Vegas Raiders in a preseason game at Allegiant Stadium.
“It’s been quite a whirlwind just to get over here,” Shadrick said during his formal introduction to reporters on Aug. 11, at State Farm Stadium. “I got in town yesterday, I’m here today, going with the team (to Las Vegas) tomorrow, and calling the game Thursday.
“It’s kind of a crash course, and that’s a little synopsis of how it’s been.”
Shadrick has spent the last 14 seasons working for the Jacksonville Jaguars as a senior reporter, anchoring news on Jaguars.com, hosting the head coach's weekly radio show, and working as the club’s pregame and postgame radio host.
He has 20-plus years of play-by-play experience, having broadcast multiple sports at the college level, including football, in addition to minor-league baseball and stints doing football for The Touchdown Network and Westwood One.
With the Cardinals, he will be paired in the radio booth alongside color analyst A.Q. Shipley, who is back for his second season, and also work with sideline reporter Dani Sureck, who will be making her debut.
Pasch was the Cardinals’ radio play-by-play man for the past 24 seasons but left the team earlier this summer when ESPN signed him to an expanded role after spending years splitting his time between the Cardinals and various ESPN assignments.
Asked how he plans to get up to speed with his knowledge of the Cardinals in such a short period of time, Shadrick said, “I am going to bug the heck out of A.Q. Shipley, and I’m just going to be in his hip pocket.”
“Honestly, I’ll learn as much as I can in the next two days — I’ve been working already on it — but let’s roll the ball out and play. It’s a football game, right? And there’s going to be 90 guys out there. The starters, you just heard the coach (Mike LaFleur), they’re going to be playing for a little bit. And then, we’re just calling ball at that point.”
Shadrick said he was inspired by play-by-play voices such as Eli Gold, the longtime voice of Alabama football, legendary ABC commentator Keith Jackson, Verne Lundquist of CBS, as well as other icons such as Mel Allen and Red Barber.
He hasn’t had time to search for a home just yet. For the time being, he is staying in temporary housing courtesy of the Cardinals near the team’s Tempe training facility.
“We’ll figure that out a little bit later,” Shadrick said. “I’m not too concerned about that, honestly. I’m concerned about football. All that stuff is going to work out. There’s movers, and there’s people, and they’re going to do their jobs, and I’ve got to do mine.”
Shipley, who attended Shadrick’s introductory news conference, said the two have had one long telephone conversation and multiple text message exchanges to discuss their partnership in the Arizona radio booth.
Shipley thinks it’s going to be a seamless transition, despite Shadrick’s hectic and rushed relocation.
“It’s no different, I guess, than being a free agent and having to pick up and move,” said Shipley, who spent 11 seasons as an NFL center, including four years with the Cardinals from 2015-19. “I’ve done that world, so I can respect that side of it.
“I think with him it will be much the same (as it was working with Pasch). You just have to get a feel for the cadence and timing and how much time he needs, pre-snap. … You just need to give him the time he needs to set the scene.”
Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azbobbymac and listen to him live every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. on Roc and Manuch with Jimmy B on ESPN 620 (KTAR-AM) and every Thursday on the Doug Franz Unplugged podcast via Apple or Spotify.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cardinals' new radio voice J.P. Shadrick has had a whirlwind start