Was NC State’s PA Announcer Fired or Did He Retire?

Dr. Edward Funkhouser has been the the voice of Carter-Finley Stadium for the past 18 years, but this season fans will hear a new voice coming out of the PA system. On September 9th, NC State will take on Marshall in their home opener, and Travis Quinn will be the new voice coming out of the speakers.

The understanding was that Dr. Funkhouser had retired, and after receiving over 90 applicants, the big shoes were filled by Quinn.

The news of the new hire was announced on August 9th. In this GoPack article, it also states that Dr. Funnkhouser would be honored on the field during the home opener, to honor him for all of his years of services.

With that being said, it seems like Funkhouser has no intentions of appearing on the field on the 9th, and has no memory of retiring, but does remember being fired.

“I see reports that and I hear about reports in the media across North Carolina that I have retired, or resigned, or stepped down, and that really wasn’t the case at all,” Funkhouser said. “I thought about the last thing I wanted to do is walk across the football field waving to people saying goodbye and I really didn’t want to say goodbye. I say thank you to the fans. I do say thank you to the fans. I’ve enjoyed doing what I’ve done in Carter-Finley Stadium very, very much.” (TWC)

NC State released the following statement in response:

“We greatly appreciate Dr. Funkhouser’s years of dedicated volunteer service as our football public address announcer. Each year, we consider all areas of our gameday presentation and atmosphere in Carter-Finley stadium and make changes based on a variety of factors.” (TWC)

Obviously there are two sides to every story, but it’s unfortunate to see this relationship end in this way.