Larry Zimmer was a champion for female sports broadcasters long before they were a common sight on the sidelines.

Zimmer, who died Saturday at 88, was an old-school broadcaster, a human sports encyclopedia before Google.

His familiar voice documented every play and touchdown with excitement, accuracy and the charming touch of a Southern accent, a leftover from his childhood in New Orleans.

When Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam became the fourth collegiate football player to surpass the 2000-yard rushing mark in a home game against Iowa State in 1994, Zimmer’s call was informative and human at the same time.

“He’s on his way! 20! 10! 5! Did he get in? Yes he did!” Zimmer yelled. “I admit, I’m choked up, I tell ya. What a golden moment!” he said as Salaam was lifted on the shoulders of his teammates.

Zimmer was one of Colorado’s most iconic sports broadcasting legends, and during his stay at the Lakewood hospital, he had several visitors from close friends, from his former radio station (KOA), the University of Colorado and the Denver Broncos, including many former players. He also received numerous phone calls and text messages from the same shared through his wife of 51 years, Brigitte.

The two met in 1971 when she was the sports secretary for Denver’s 1976 Olympic effort.

As sports director at KOA radio, he was a pioneer for females in sports journalism when women were considered outcasts to any men’s locker room. Brigitte Zimmer told The Denver Gazette that “to Larry, women were just as capable as men in their own way. They had the same talents,” she said. “Just because the gender was different didn’t the mean the brain was different.”

He gave Julie Browman her first chance at on-air sports broadcasting, bringing her under his wing at KOA radio as an 18-year-old intern and then placing her on the station’s “Saturday Morning Sports” program. She then went on to be a sports broadcaster in San Diego before she returned to Colorado as a sideline reporter for the Avalanche and Nuggets.

“He definitely took a chance. He wanted us all to be successful and he gave the avenue to do it,” said Browman. “That launched my career.”

Susie Wargin, Bronco sideline reporter and sports personality since 1988, agreed. She remembered Zimmer as a teacher.

“He was so unbelievably supportive of me and anything that I did,” she said. She remembered he never spoke in a negative way, always a student of any game.

In 1987, he gave a 28-year-old female reporter the chance to cover features for the Buffaloes and the Broncos. Zimmer brought me into the fold to be a member of KOA’s broadcast team for University of Colorado Buffalo football broadcasts. This meant I got to travel with the team as the pre-game host.

Traveling with a group like that brings rich memories of dinners at dives and at famous hometown restaurants like Misty’s Steakhouse in Lincoln, Nebraska. I remember a Thanksgiving when my kids for once thought I was cool because they were invited to sit at the CU team table for stuffing, sliced turkey and canned cranberry sauce at the Lincoln Holiday Inn.

Zimmer studied every game in the old-school way so that he knew the history of each player and their numbers.

He was a health nut and he often dragged me on slow-speed runs, to get me to appreciate the beauty of every midwestern Big 8 and then Big 12 town from Ames to Stillwater, but his favorite place to jog was the Missouri countryside where he went to college. One time, we explored the fields and the railroad tracks in running shoes when the Buffs played the University of Missouri. He shared his alma mater with former CU head coach Bill McCartney and the two had many a conversation about the rivalry.

In fact, Zimmer’s call of the infamous CU/Missouri 5th down game in Oct. 1990 was measured and non-biased, again, always the measured student of down, time and distance. I remember how he filled what would have been vacuous airtime on the radio broadcast as players, coaches and officiators moved around on the field for fifteen minute, confused. Finally, recognition trickled in that there had been a mistake in the down count by the chain crew, one of whom, ironically, was a math teacher.

Zimmer’s trusted call was spot on.

Former CU Associate Athletic Director and Sports Information Director David Plati, who was a dear friend, wrote Zimmer’s obituary:

At CU alone, Zimmer was behind the microphone for 486 football games (22 bowls), along with 525 men’s basketball contests for 1,011 overall.  He started out as an analyst on Bronco games in 1971 and took over the play-by-play duties for Super Bowl XXIV in 1990 through the ’96 season, working a total of 536 preseason (122), regular season (394) and postseason (20) games combined, including four Super Bowls.

When including the football games he called for the University of Michigan (51) and Colorado State University (34), it raised his overall total to 571.  That adds to 1,107 games between the college and professional ranks.

Zimmer is survived by his wife, the former Brigitte Bastian; son Lawrence III (Linda); daughter Tracey Robb (J.C.); and a granddaughter, Shannon Robb.

A veteran, Zimmer’s memorial will be held at Ft. Logan Cemetery.