Tom Dillon, the longtime play-by-play announcer for Arizona State University and Arizona Cardinals football games, has died. He was 65.
Former ASU sports information director Paul Jensen said Dillon collapsed at his Phoenix home at about 10 p.m. Monday and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead early Tuesday. The cause of death wasn't known.
Dillon called ASU games for 20 years starting in 1979 and Cardinals games for 12 years through 2001. He then joined Fox Sports Arizona, and in 2005 joined Sports USA Radio Network. He was scheduled to announce the Territorial Cup between ASU and Arizona on Saturday.
Dillon was named Arizona sportscaster of the year 17 times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.
"He was one of those people who kind of worked his way into the fabric and fiber of the whole community," Jensen told KTAR radio. "For close to a 30-year span, he not only was the voice of ASU athletics, concurrent with that he did Cards' games for about 12 years. He also was the voice of a lot of advertising spots on radio and television."
Dillon is survived by his wife, Bonnie, and two daughters.