How do you set out to tell the story of a rich, well-lived life? When you’re Jack Ankerson, you start at the beginning, of course. As the former voice of the Norfolk Tides, original General Manager of the San Antonio Spurs and one-time practice quarterback for an NFL team, you might as well tell it in order because each story becomes more fascinating than the last.
And that’s exactly what Ankerson has done in his new memoir, Jack of All Sports: An Ordinary Man with an Extraordinary Life, which recently hit shelves.
Wisconsin Days
If you listen closely to Ankerson’s deep, booming voice, you can hear a touch of his hometown, Neenah, Wisconsin. As a young man, he quickly became an all-conference triple threat in football, tennis and basketball.
He then moved on and played three sports at Ripon College, which Anderson describes as “unheard of.” It was basketball and tennis that brought him to Ripon (he was an All-American) but football is what got him drafted as a practice quarterback with the then-St. Louis Cardinals. If his schedule wasn’t full enough, he commanded a corps of cadets in college before nearly pivoting to a full-time military career.
“A general said, ‘Lieutenant, how about coming with me to Korea?’ I said, ‘But I’ve got to go back to football.’”
Although his time in the NFL was short, he was ready for a new adventure.
A Fortuitous Meeting
Having moved from the gridiron to a corporate sales job, he found himself sitting next to a perfect stranger on a cross-country flight. The stranger, it turns out, was Mike Storen who left his mark on the American Basketball Association (later the NBA) as an executive. After a year of back-and-forth talks, Storen convinced Ankerson to work in the front office of the Kentucky Colonels. A short time later, Ankerson was hired as the first GM of the San Antonio Spurs.
“I was probably the only employee when they got started in San Antonio,” he says.
He helped choose the Spurs’ black and silver color scheme while commuting between Louisville and Texas. He helped name the team. He hired staff, scouted talent and ran the business side. In his words, he did everything but sweep the floors.
The fateful meeting with Storen still resonates with Ankerson a half-century later.
“Isn’t it funny how one little thing—hopping on that flight—can change everything?
The Voice of the Tides (and the Monarchs)
Ankerson’s next move brought he and his wife, Ellie, to Norfolk as the new GM of the Virginia Squires. When that career had run its course, a call from an old friend took him in yet another new direction.
Norfolk Tides GM Dave Rosenfield asked Ankerson to fill in as the in-stadium PA announcer in 1987. Though he’d dabbled in radio before, he wasn’t sure whether to take the job.
“I never thought about that,” he said. But Rosenfield insisted: “With your voice? Do it for a year.”
One year became seven, and the Tides moved to Harbor Park. Then came more radio, and Old Dominion, where he voiced men’s and women’s basketball, football, soccer and baseball. If it involved competition, Ankerson called it.
The Book
When Ankerson took a step back from his announcing duties in early 2025, he set out to put all the details of these memories onto the page. It began with a series of Thursday morning conversations with co-author Tess Robinson, who suggested they divide the book into innings rather than chapters.
The result is an engaging, breezy read that covers 83 years of amazing stories.
“Everybody says they enjoy it,” he says. “The reading is good. The pictures are all good, and it’s easy reading.”
Today, Ankerson is still quick, still sharp and deeply engaged in the community of Norfolk.
“People say, ‘There’s no way you’re 83.’ I love hearing that. There’s a lot to do with staying totally involved. It’s just having a purpose.”
But it’s his family that keeps him young.
“My oldest daughter was a two-time soccer All-American, my youngest played three sports in high school, two in college… she’s still playing volleyball at 52.”
Needless to say, the Ankerson family is happy to carry on their father’s legacy of excelling in whatever they take on. And Jack couldn’t be prouder.
Jack of All Sports is available on Amazon, local bookstores and at the Mermaid Market at 232 E. Main St. in Norfolk.
