Dick Maxwell hasn’t forgotten where he got his start.
A Fostoria High School graduate, Maxwell graduated from Bowling Green State
University in 1970. He was the sports information director at BGSU, before
moving on to a successful career working in professional football.
After stops during public relations with the Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Maxwell moved to the NFL commissioner’s office in 1978. He retired in 2006 as
the NFL’s senior director of broadcasting, after 36 years in professional
football.
The founder of the Richard A. Maxwell Project for Sports Media at BGSU, which aids
students in several ways, Maxwell returned to campus Wednesday. The project has
been in existence for the last 18 months.
"The importance of the project is simple. Very few times does someone in my
position really have an opportunity to effectively give back and try to make a
difference in students’ lives here at Bowling Green," Maxwell said.
"If I don’t go to Bowling Green, I simply do not have the professional
career that I believe I was fortunate enough to have.
"We just want to see how we can get this moving forward to make a difference for
students," he added.
As part of the project, a lecture series called "A Conversation With…" is
held in the spring.
This year’s guest was Ed Goren, currently the vice chairman of Fox Sports Media
Group. Goren started at Fox in 1994 after beginning his career with CBS.
Under Goren’s guidance, Fox has become a major player in televising sports,
especially with the NFL. Fox also currently broadcasts Major League Baseball and
NASCAR.
"Ed’s contributions are probably always going to be understated," Maxwell
said. "The influence he has had on how television sports are covered, how
they are presented, is significant."
During his career, Goren has received 46 individual sports Emmy Awards. Goren was
inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame last fall.
Fox put $400 million on the table to out-bid CBS for the NFL television rights in
1994. Goren and David Hill, who was head of Fox Sports, were responsible for
many of the things that viewers take for granted on televised sporting events.

"The different ideas, starting with the Fox Box, going to the bells and whistles
that appear on game coverage and pregame shows; the whole attitude toward it,
it’s really something special," Maxwell said. "As he winds down his
career, it is good he is getting recognition from his colleagues."
The Fox Box is on the screen and shows the score and game time, something that had
never been done before. It was not well received at the start. Now it’s a staple
for TV sports coverage.
"Hill and I joke about it. If we had 10 cents for every sports broadcast that
uses the Fox Box that we created, we would have retired years ago," Goren
said. "The Fox Box was definitely a game-changer."
Other innovations include the first-and-10 line in the NFL; building a football field
in the studio for demonstrations; putting microphones on players during games;
burying cameras in the infield for baseball; interviewing managers and players
in the dugout during games; and using graphics to follow specific cars during
NASCAR races.
"Fox gave me the opportunity to implement ideas I couldn’t do at CBS,"
Goren said. "These are enhancements that aren’t gimmicky; there is a reason
for it.
"I have to go with my gut … I think that you have to believe in yourself. You
have to have bosses who give you that freedom," Goren added. "Not
everything is going to work, but let’s be creative, let’s turn this thing
around."
Goren and Fox basically changed the face of how sports are covered in the United
States and around the world.
Many of the innovations came about because Goren realized that sports were
entertainment.
"We were going to be informative, but we also realized that we were in the
entertainment business," Goren said.
Goren said he plans to retire in approximately three months, but will remain as a
consultant with Fox.
During his visit, Maxwell announced an internship project for BGSU students with the
Detroit Lions and the NFL Hall of Fame.
Also two scholarships, sponsored by Maxwell and his family, were awarded. The
scholarships are named in memory of Maxwell’s father-in-law, Robert F. Collins,
an award-winning columnist for The Rocky Mountain News.
Nathan Lowe, a graduate of Lake High School and a sophomore at BGSU, received one of
the scholarships.
"This is just such a wonderful institution, to see the growth over the years and
the difference it makes in people’s lives," Maxwell said about BGSU.