PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Kirby Gleason will call his first NFL playoff game Saturday when the Seattle Seahawks host San Francisco in the NFC divisional round.
The 51-year-old Portland native serves as the public address announcer for the NFC West champion Seahawks and the Rip City Remix. Gleason also announces games for Portland State, Lewis and Clark, Ida B. Wells High School and Franklin High School.
"I grew up a Seahawks fan growing up here in Portland and watching the Seahawks and when I was a kid, Jim Zorn throwing to Steve Largent was the common thing and I had a Largent jersey and I had Largent poster on my wall," Gleason said.
Gleason met his childhood hero Steve Largent a few weeks ago.
The 6-foot-11-and-a-half-inch Gleason graduated from Portland Christian in 1992, where he won a state basketball title and first got behind a microphone.
"My basketball coach was the athletic director and he's the one that put me on the mic for the first time when I was in high school and I was like, 'ah, this is kind of fun,'" Gleason said.
Gleason played basketball at Multnomah University and later coached boys basketball at Portland Christian. He now works as an academic advisor at Clackamas Community College.
His announcing experience helped him land the Remix job.
"I talked to the people I know at the Blazers and said I'd love an opportunity to announce for that G League team if you want to give me an opportunity and it helped when I said I'm the Seahawks announcer, right?" Gleason said.
Gleason is in his fourth year announcing for the Seahawks at Lumen Field, where crowds reach nearly 70,000 people.
"Before I announced the Seahawks, maybe the biggest crowd was a couple thousand at a PSU football game and it was kind of overwhelming that first time when I realized there's almost 70-thousand people here," Gleason said.
The decibel meter reaches 110-112 during games, which motivates Gleason to perform better.
"I'm waiting for that moment where it truly is a historic moment like 'BeastQuake' or something like that, hey, maybe that will happen Saturday," Gleason said.
Gleason's wife Amanda works for the Trail Blazers operating the shot clock. The couple met through their shared connection to Portland sports.
The Seahawks' last home playoff game with fans was in 2016. Saturday's game kicks off at 5 p.m. on FOX 12 Oregon.
The winner advances to the NFC Championship Game next Sunday. Seattle would host either the Rams or Bears, while San Francisco would travel to Los Angeles or Chicago.