The “Voice of the Pirates” will be honored Wednesday night at the East Carolina University basketball game with a moment of silence and a tribute to one of his most iconic calls at halftime, according to ECU Athletic Director Jon Gilbert.
It will also be a “Paint it Purple” game at Minges Coliseum.
Jeff Charles died at the age of 70 on Friday while in New Orleans with the men's basketball team. Longtime broadcast partner Si Seymour says the news was devastating.
”One of the AD's called me and said, ‘Jeff just passed out and it doesn't look good.’”, he said, “It was really difficult.”
Si Seymour said Charles gained the admiration and respect of the college sports community nationwide during his 30 years broadcasting ECU athletics, and within hours of his collapse from a heart attack last Friday, Seymour received more than 70 text messages.
“And then the calls kept coming from Tulsa, from Temple, from SMU, from all over the country calling about Jeff and that's how much he was respected,” he explained, “And the calls were coming from ex-players and ex-managers and ex-coaches. The texts were coming from all over. He was just so well respected and so professional in his field.”
Seymour believes that Charles gained that respect with his behavior both in the booth and out of it.
At game time, “He was neutral. If you were playing a team — North Carolina or N.C. State or anybody — he always said the good about those teams too, and so, he gained respect for ECU by being neutral on the air, which is what you're supposed to do. At the end of the game, if ECU won, his phrase was, ‘You can paint this one purple.’”
And during years of shared road trips and hotel rooms, he said their connection never for a moment wavered.
“Never had an ugly word between us," Seymour said, "We just got to be good friends. We would talk about family. We would talk about the teams, and he was so focused and dedicated to what he was doing. He was the pro. He was the guy that's as good as I've ever seen.”
WCTI, NewsChannel 12 Sports Director Brian North has covered ECU athletics for nearly 25 years and said Charles’ unique voice, his unique style, and his catch phrase made him Mr. ECU.
“When you see a big ECU athletic event that happened, Jeff's name and voice are associated with it and it just goes hand in hand with it,” he said, “So, no, he is ‘paint it purple.’ I mean, every successful moment in ECU history is ‘Paint this one purple.’ And that's Jeff Charles.”
North said he learned a lot from Charles as he called many games on the radio.
“Traveling from New Bern, I could never get there for the start of the games at 7:00 but I got to listen to the beginning of the games and I would learn so much I didn't know about the game going in," he said, "I could go cover it a different way and then leave and listen to their postgame analysis. Jeff was a guy who was always approachable and willing to talk and tell you what he knew, but also talked to you and found out what you knew. And we call him the voice but he was such a great listener as well.”
With the advent of YouTube, social media and a variety of ways to gather information and watch events online in recent years, he said Charles may be irreplaceable.
“There will be a void,” North said, “I don't know if you can even replace a guy like that now because everything's changed so much. It's almost like the end of an era is what it feels like with Jeff's passing.”
Charles began working in radio at ECU in 1988, after previous such jobs at Virginia Tech, Illinois and Furman.
He was North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year in 2000 and 2014.
At the appropriate time, A.D. Gilbert said the school will honor and celebrate his impact on the community and ECU Athletics.
The Charles family announced that his funeral will be this Saturday for family and invited guests only. No further details have been released.
