New Kansas City Chiefs PA Announcer Nate Rohr Talks ‘Tough Situation’ With Dale Carter (Exclusive)

New Kansas City Chiefs public address announcer Nate Rohr had a whirlwind few days before stepping behind the microphone at Arrowhead Stadium for the team’s home opener last weekend.

Rohr acted as the Chiefs’ new PA announcer for the team’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, September 14, replacing longtime announcer, Dale Carter, who abruptly announced his resignation on Thursday, September 11. 

“The Chiefs reached out Thursday inquiring about my availability for the game that Sunday,” Rohr exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, September 19. “They were saying there was a possibility they might need me for the game. I said, ‘Yeah, I would be.’ They said they’d get back to me as to whether or not they would need me. They got back to me later on Thursday and said, ‘Hey, we need you.’”

Rohr, who also works as the public address announcer at Memorial Stadium for University of Nebraska football, is friends with Brad Young, the Chiefs’ Director of Live & Gameday Production. 

When the team needed a fill-in secondary public address announcer for their home opener in 2018 against the San Francisco 49ers, Young called Rohr. 

“I think they liked what I had done, so that was how they selected me,” Rohr explained of his new role. “Obviously, I was very excited when they reached out.”

The public address announcer role became available after Carter announced he was leaving the job after 16 seasons. 

In a Facebook post on Friday, September 12, Carter said the team had crossed a “red line” in telling him he would no longer be permitted to perform his iconic “It’s. Third. Down.” call during games, instead going with a new voice who would “shake things up.”

“I reached out to [Carter] on social media to thank him, because he’s been really supportive,” Rohr said. “In a tough situation like this where a change is made, even though he resigned, it could be a situation where the prior announcer could make things difficult for the new guy coming in.”

Rohr continued, “He’s said publicly, and he’s also said to me privately, that he’s supportive of me. He congratulated me for getting the role. He wished me the best of luck in the role and said he hoped to see me in it for a while.”

As for Rohr’s fresh take on the third down call, he explained he likes to “hold out [the word] ‘third’ for as long as I can.”

“One rule I didn’t know about until Sunday that will be a continued adjustment for me is that, by NFL rule, you can’t have anything coming over the public address system after 20 seconds on the play clock,” Rohr said. “In college, or at least in the Big Ten [Conference], you can have stuff going over the public address system until the center comes over the ball.”

He added, “As much as I’d love to have an increased impact on third down, the NFL rules think otherwise.”

Rohr will resume his duties at Arrowhead Stadium when the Chiefs return home to host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, September 28.