Frank Beckmann in hospice care

I was too young to listen to Ufer while he was on the air, so for me, Beckmann was the voice of Michigan football.   I always loved how he called games and I've missed it since his retirement.  Wow, I was under the impression he was older.  Very sorry to hear this.

So many enjoyable memories listening to Frank Beckmann.

Godspeed.

Prayers for Frank and his family.  A great broadcaster.  Not a perfect person and few if any of us are.

Always loved his BPB. When my son (who has since passed) was in high school he was a bag boy at the golf club where Frank was a member. One day my son told him that he had just been accepted into U of M. Frank took off his University of Michigan driver head cover and gave it to him. Always appreciated that. I know my son always frowned about how many jerks there were for members at the club, but he always enjoyed the way Frank treated him.

Sad.  Peace to him and his family.

72. Damn. Prayers.

Thanks for all the memories Frank! You have left an impression on MANY people...

Very sad to read.  Was indeed a truly great football announcer.  God speed to him and his family. 

Beckman had the balls to call out Staee during the Spartan Bob crime known as Clockgate.  

Fuck Staee

George Blaha and Greg Kelser just said some awesome words for Beckman- Blaha said how important he was to his career. Good stuff.

Thanks for the radio memories, Frank.

Mr. Ufer, now Mr. Beckman. Memories of hearing both of your voices for so long, the two greatest!

Hard to say "thank you" with all these tears.  God Bless You

I first remember Frank as the color commentator with PBP Bob Reynolds during Lions' games in the late 70s. Then after Ufer died he became the PBP announcer for Michigan football At first I thought he was a bit ruff as a PBP guy but he really improved. I'm not sure if he left WJR or kept doing Michigan games when they lost the Michigan football contract. He use to have an evening sports show on WJR during the evening which was nice to listen to.

My first introduction into sports talk radio was listening to a 1 hour AM radio show on Monday night at 5pm while I waited for my 6pm class at EMU.  Hosted by Frank Beckman in the late 80's before ESPN Radio and anything that resembled 24 sports talk radio.  And I absolutely loved it.  Prayers to Mr. Beckman and his family.  

Aw, damn it.  I have a lot of fond memories of listening to him while I drove over from Chicago to see my parents many years ago.  Thanks, Frank.

God bless you, sir ?

Sad to hear this news. So many memorable calls. “Charles Woodson! Down the sideline! He’s gonna go!”  I love Dierdorf and Brandstatter as Michigan men, but I have not listened to a UM radio broadcast in 10+ years. It wasn’t good on so many levels despite their passion. Many fond memories of Franks play by play. 

Very sad to hear this news. I met him at a Michigan football Banquet during the Hoke years and he was so kind and generous with his time. For those couple minutes we talked like we were friends. I remember telling him his voice sounds in person exactly like it does on radio. Prayers for his family. ??

Fascinating how a voice or set of experiences shapes our feelings toward a school or period of time. Frank was a big part of my relationship to UM many years ago - a lifelong passion for the school that went well beyond athletics.

Thanks to him for everything that he gave to UM. Godspeed to him and his family.

Really sad to hear this. Frank Beckman was the sports voice I grew up with. Even more than the more legendary names like Ufer or Harwell. I remember his first sports talk show on WJR, Sports Rap (or was it Sports Wrap?), which I think debuted in the late 1970s, with the introduction that included Ufer’s call of Wangler to Carter. Many, many hours listening to Frank on Sports Rap, long before he did Michigan football. Sad. 

I grew up listening to Mr. Beckman. To me he was the voice of Michigan football. 

I never listened to many Lions games but I remember him as great for the Tigers and UofM.

"Polish off the Heisman! Make room on the mantle! Charles Woodson took it away!"

So many great Saturday afternoons were spent with him. I also remember listening to him call Tiger games in the mid-90s. God bless, Frank.

My favorite call of his has to be

 “…to the 40, 45, AND THERE HE GOES!! Charles Woodson! Down the sideline! He’s gonna go all the way! TOUCHDOWN MICHIGAN! Shades of Desmond Howard!”

edit: as a side note, it is incredible how similar those two punt returns are. Same opponent, same direction on the field, same sideline, same method of having to backtrack to receive the kick, similar breaking of tackles to reach that same sideline.

In 1981, I was a freshman in the MMB and living in South Quad. Bob Ufer was recovering from cancer surgery and missed the opening games while recovering. He came back for a few games and then passed away late October 1981. No one could replace Ufer but Frank did a fine job just being himself in the booth and not trying to be the next Ufer. I can still recall some games in the 1980s when live TV wasn't an option so enjoyed listening to him and Brandy call games (can't remember what year Brandy replaced Don "Lundo" Lund, who was Ufer's sidekick).

I'm 58 so can appreciate how "72" can still seem young. Bless you, Frank and family. 

Beckmann's call of the Charles Woodson punt return vs OSU in 1997 still gives me the CHILLS.

So awesome. 

Do yourself a favor and go listen to it again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ITJUOeu98w