George,
Your post about Allen Stout has led me down a research rabbit hole. I’m probably going to write up a detailed summary of his career, but I have determined that he should get more recognition as a “Voice of the Vols.” Here are some highlights of what I have found so far.
He was a graduate of Central High School and began his radio career on WNOX while still a student. In 1936, he helped to originate high school football broadcasts in Knoxville on the radio. Stout was then on WROL and Horace (Mike) Hunnicutt called games that first year on WNOX. He first began calling UT football and basketball games in 1937 and also for a few years in the 1940s. Broadcast rights to UT football typically switched hands between local stations prior to the founding of the Vol Network. Stout had several years' experience as the “Voice of the Vols” before officially becoming the Vol Network announcer in 1951. He also did football games for the University of Virginia for two years and possibly Ohio State prior to 1951. The News-Sentinel reported that he twice turned down a MLB play by play job with the Philadelphia Phillies to stay in Knoxville He eventually left Knoxville in 1952 to go to WLW in Cincinnati.
Stout gained national notoriety in 1946 for his live news coverage of the “Battle of Athens” where the corrupt Athens, TN political machine was violently overthrown by a group of WWII veterans. Stout stayed in the air for hours as a gun fight raged between the veterans and corrupt local law enforcement. This broadcast could be one of the most significant moments of early Knoxville radio history. Stout is also credited for naming Roy Acuff’s band “The Crazy Tennesseans” during a broadcast on WROL.
Stout died in 1969 in Cincinnati at the age of 52. A deeper look at his career shows that he was a pioneer of sports broadcasting in Knoxville. He did broadcast UT football games for several seasons prior to 1951 and should be celebrated with the other Voices of the Vols.
Russell Mayes
WKCS Radio