Longtime Celtics radio play-by-play man Sean Grande clears the air about his cryptic Game 5 sign-off (2024)

Celtics

As he signed off for the season, Celtics radio voice Sean Grande sounded an awful lot like he was saying goodbye.

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe

June 25, 2024 | 8:56 AM

Sean Grande’s call of the final seconds of the Celtics’ championship-clinching victory last Monday captured the moment in both a historical context and the immediate meaning of the victory of this group of players.

But his call was, to some listeners, overshadowed by his seemingly cryptic words that followed at the end of the broadcast.

As he signed off for the season Grande — who has called Celtics games on the radio with analyst Cedric Maxwell since 2001-2002 — sounded an awful lot like he was saying goodbye.

“The 23 years I’ve spent with you guys has been, with the exception of being a dad, has been the honor of my life, and I wouldn’t trade any of it,” he said, while telling Maxwell he loved him. “I recognize that being the voice of the Boston Celtics is probably the first line of my obituary one day. It has been an honor in every way, shape and form an honor could be.”

Grande’s name over the last few months has turned up in industry rumors about openings elsewhere, including the Knicks radio gig and the Bruins’ television play-by-play spot on NESN, which is currently vacant due to Jack Edwards’s retirement.

(Grande has plenty of experience calling hockey, including as a student at Boston University when he paired with former Bruins radio voice Dave Goucher.)

His sign-off after Game 5 even perplexed some high-level Celtics employees, who were uncertain whether Grande was signaling that he wanted to head elsewhere.

In an hour-long conversation late last week, Grande acknowledged he is familiar with the rumors, and didn’t deny that he sometimes hears from other potential suitors.

But he said that his intent is to be back with the Celtics, with whom he is under contract for more than three more years.

“You never know, I suppose, but it’s my No. 1 choice to stay,’’ he said. “And I’ve got 38 months left on my contract with the Celtics. Even if I wanted to talk to other teams, I would have to get permission.”

He said the intention of the sign-off was not to suggest that it might be his last game, but to salute Celtics fans who make a point to listen to the radio broadcast.

“That sign-off was a thank you to listeners for the effort people put into listening to us,” he said, noting that it isn’t as easy as it used to be to sync the radio and television broadcasts.

“Max and I have been engulfed in this extraordinary love which comes from love of the team and love of the moment and relief and all of it. And I swear to God, the last thing I thought about during the game is it being potentially the last game or anything like that.

“It got more attention than other sign-offs in the years, but it wasn’t a lot different from other ones.”

No matter the intent or interpretation of the sign-off, this much is true: Grande nailed the call as the clock counted down the seconds until the Celtics were officially champions for the first time in 16 years.

It is the one, not the national broadcast, that Celtics fans should be hearing for generations to come when highlights from this season are shown.

Grande is more likely to soliloquize than be spare with his words in a big moment. It’s his style. He is excellent at finding the right words, and it works for him and the listeners.

Here, in part, is how he signed off Monday, all the while interspersing the final seconds of play by play.

“The 2024 Boston Celtics are one of the greatest teams in NBA history. They were told they had to win. There’s only one thing you can do when expectations are that high — meet them. And there’s only one way to stop being haunted by the ghosts and the legends and the champions inside this building — join them. Together they have, and together they stand alone.

“And once again, the Boston Celtics stand alone for all time. It is banner 18. The mission demanded . . . is mission accomplished.”

Grande says he doesn’t write out what he’s going to say beforehand in a big moment, but he revealed that there were several different elements to this call.

“Mission accomplished” was a callback to what he said when the Celtics won 2008, which at the time was a tribute to “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert pressing defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld for claiming “mission accomplished” regarding the Iraq War. Russert had died four days before the Celtics won the ‘08 title.

“Meeting expectations” came from a line from the television show “West Wing.” The “ghosts” line had been “sitting there for a while,” said Grande, a reference to the “legendary ones at the top of the building and the ones they have had to overcome in recent years.”

“I’m glad people think it was written out and prepared ahead of time, but you can’t really do it that way, because the game can be chaotic at the end,’’ he said, citing the Celtics’ Game 7 victory in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2022 as one example.

“The last thing you ever want to do is call a crazy 30-second scramble to the end and then go, ‘for the United States of America and all the ships at sea,’ or whatever you decided to do.

“If you get married to something, you’re not paying attention to the game.”