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The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: broadcast journalist Jim Henderson.



The icon: Jim Henderson.

The legacy: Any sports reporter worth his or her electrolytes is, beneath it all, a student of the game. Rare, however, is the sportswriter who is as adept at the "writing" part of the job as New Orleans broadcasting giant Jim Henderson. A former English teacher, he came to New Orleans in 1978 to replace another local legend, Hap Glaudi, on WWL-Ch. 4. Many local viewers were skeptical, but the rookie didn't miss a beat, adding to a deep bench that would help turn WWL in a local ratings juggernaut. Through his eloquent and thoughtful commentary segments, which would become a highlight of his always-thorough nightly sports roundups -- and, from 1986 to January 2018, as the impassioned and eminently quotable radio voice of the New Orleans Saints -- Henderson would forge a place all his own in the pantheon of New Orleans sports and broadcasting giants.

TRI-via

James Harmon Henderson was born July 29, 1947, in Rochester, New York, the son of a fruit farmer and elementary school teacher.
Henderson earned an English degree from State University of New York at Cortland, followed by a stint in the Army.
He returned home following his time in the military and took a job teaching middle-school English. Soon after, he enrolled at Syracuse University, from which he earned a master's degree in broadcasting.
Although he had gotten a taste of the sporting life while calling Little League games in Rochester, his first job on the air as a broadcasting professional came in Panama City, Florida, followed by an on-air gig in Atlanta.
In 1978, he took a job with WWL, replacing on-air legend Hap Glaudi, who was so beloved that his exit prompted protests from some viewers. "I was the only person to come to New Orleans and get run over by the welcome wagon," Henderson joked in a 2017 interview with The Times-Picayune.
Little did those protesters know that Henderson would become a key part of an on-air dream team at WWL that included anchors Angela Hill and Garland Robinette, as well as meteorological guru Nash Roberts.
During Henderson's time at WWL, the station would begin a ratings streak -- unparalleled locally and nationally -- that would see its newscasts win every key ratings period for 38 years straight. That streak finally ended in May 2017.
In addition to his work on WWL-TV, Henderson in 1986 also become the voice of the New Orleans Saints on WWL-AM, making play-by-play calls alongside color analyst and former Saints quarterback Archie Manning. During their time on the air, many local Saints fans began the long-held local tradition of turning down the volume on the national TV broadcasts of Saints games and instead letting Henderson and Manning do the talking.

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jeanpierre

For those out of the market, or just a lot younger, Hap Glaudi was New Orleans Sports when I was growing up; basically, Jim Henderson before JH...

Absolutely loved that line by Jim Henderson about the getting run over by the Welcome Wagon...

foreverfan

Pigs need to fly again.