The Voices of Norcross High Football

They're heard but rarely seen, their work often taken for granted by the cheering students, parents and friends who come to watch the Blue Devils football teams play each week.

They are the voice of Norcross High School football providing play by play action on the field. Jeff Holcombe, Bobby Lynch and Jae Early, all from Peachtree Corners, dedicate their Thursday and Friday nights to football. It's the second season the trio has been calling the varsity games, the three men also have been calling the freshman and JV games for the last three years.

"We wouldn't have it any other way," said Holcombe of the time he, Lynch and Early spend each week preparing and providing coverage of the games.

Up in the press box Holcombe handles the announcer duties providing play-by-play details during the games while Lynch and Early manage the "spotter" duties which means watching each play with binoculars and feeding the information to Holcombe.

It's a high-stress job with no pay but these three dedicated dads have fun doing it. "We just enjoy being here," said Early. All three have strong ties to the school.

Holcombe's son, Brad a sophomore, plays percussion in the marching band and is on the tennis and swim teams. His older son Jeff, Jr. graduated from Norcross in 2008 and also played on the tennis team and was drum major for two years with the marching band.

Lynch has a son, Nick, who is a junior on the school's tennis and swim team and two daughters 13 and 9 who are future Blue Devils. Early is the only one without a child attending Norcross. His daughter, Charlotte, graduated in 2008 but that doesn't keep him from returning to volunteer his time to her alma mater.

The three arrive early to prepare for the games studying rosters to familiarize themselves with the players and Holcombe to make sure he learns the correct pronunciation of each player's name. After kick-off there are no breaks except at half time when they step back from their duties and Holcombe steps out to watch his son perform with the marching band for the half time show.

Then it's back for two more quarters of non-stop attention to the field. "It's worth it," says Lynch smiling. The men are all friends, they work well together and make the tension-filled job look easy.

But their duties are anything but easy. The next home game you attend, remember you've got this trio of volunteers to thank for providing that play-by-play information.