Voice of Newsom Stadium adds spirit to Friday night lights

By Amanda Rogers

Mansfield Record

If you have seen a game at Vernon Newsom Stadium in the past seven years, you know his voice.

Shann “Stu” Stewart gets the party started for high school football, booming from high in the press box overlooking the Friday night lights.

“Gooooood evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is Stuuuuuuuuu Stewart, the voice of Vernon Newsom Stadium! It is Friday night in the great state of Texas. Who’s ready for some hard-hitting, high-speed high school football action?! Lake Ridge, let me hear you! Mansfield, make some noise! And that is how we do high school football in the great state of Texas.”

Stewart says he knows that people don’t come to the stadium just to hear him announce the games, but he still plans to entertain. His voice, along with the bands, the cheerleaders, the teams, the students, the drill teams and bell guard make Friday night lights magical in Mansfield.

“You have to have confidence and a patient personality to entertain people, even when they don’t look entertained,” he said.

Stewart puts his own personal spin on announcing.

“Starting out, they lay the law down,” he said. “They say ‘name the players, their numbers, the down, distance and what happened on the play.’ I’m thinking ‘That’s boring.’”

So he adds some spice, starting by introducing himself and getting the crowd going by calling them out to yell to support their team. Then he goes for the band.

“One of the first things I do is say hello to the band,” Stewart said. “I was a band nerd.

“You have to want people to listen to you,” he said. “I watch a lot of comedians and entertainers. That guy has a schtick. How can I have my own schtick? I try to invite people in.”

Some of his favorite calls are his doom and gloom calls for third and fourth down to poke at opposing teams, and his call to remind the students to call home and get a ride.

Stewart grew up in Waco and watched a lot of football, from the stands where he played trombone in the Robinson High School band, and his father’s beloved Dallas Cowboys. People started to notice that Stewart had a gift early on.

“They asked me to do a voice over for my church,” he said. “People came up and said ‘You have a great voice. You should be in radio.’”

His father agreed, and helped him get an internship at KBRQ-FM 102.9 – The Bear, a popular rock station in Waco, where Stewart studied under announcer Les Parker. He worked weekend shifts and filled in when people were out from 1994-1998.

And then he walked away, taking up banking as a career. He moved to Arlington and stayed away from broadcasting until 2007, when he took classes and graduated from the American Broadcasting School. After graduation, he got a job at KFWR-FM 95.9 - The Ranch, playing country music on the 7 p.m.-midnight shift from 2007-2011.

Then he launched his stadium announcing career, starting as the public address announcer for the Arlington Impact, the women’s professional football team, and for the Fort Worth ISD, calling high school football games at Farrington Field.

That’s where Stewart came into his own, developing his unique style, calling out the bands and adding his own flair to Texas high school football. One of his favorite memories is of the Arlington Heights high school band, which grew so fond of him that they invited him down for a photo on his final night there in 2016.

By then, his two daughters were attending Timberview High School and Stewart wanted to be closer to home. He began calling games at R.L. Anderson Stadium, but soon set his sights on the big house, Vernon Newsom Stadium.

“I was intimidated by this place,” he said of the 123,878-square-foot, 6,063-seat stadium with a 10-story tall press box.

By 2019, he was announcing the majority of the games there and calling himself the “voice of Vernon Newsom Stadium.”

Of course, there are pitfalls to announcing Friday night lights in Texas.

“Mispronouncing somebody’s name, that worries me, especially homecoming and senior nights,” Stewart admits. “At Farrington Field, I kept (unknowingly) mispronouncing a name. I saw this lady walking up the stands. The stadium attendant let her in the press box and she said ‘You know No. 11 is so-and-so. Would you please pronounce it right?’

“At R.L. Anderson Stadium, they would just knock on the window,” he said.

Monty Clegg serves as his spotter on most nights, making his job a lot easier, Stewart said.

Along the way, he has continued his banking career and even added another gig as the Voice for Hire, calling Bingo three nights a week.

But his best nights are the ones when he’s calling the game and the stadium is rocking, like last year when Lake Ridge played in the bi-district championship, Stewart said.

“I love being behind the mike,” he said. “I love when they notice what I’m doing and when the people in the press box are impressed.”