Eli Gold

My wife received an alert from WAFF 48 in Huntsville that says it is a treatable form of cancer.
Praying for you Eli!

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My wife received an alert from WAFF 48 in Huntsville that says it is a treatable form of cancer.

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His granddaughter told me the same. Said they’re optimistic and he’s in good spirits.

The article that I saw said he was still hoping to be back in the booth this fall. Stay strong!

Eli Gold, voice of Alabama football, shares latest on his cancer

Eli Gold, the longtime radio voice of Alabama football, has one more round of chemotherapy to go and plans to be back behind the mic for the start of the 2023 season, he told WNSP on Thursday.

Gold missed the entire 2022 season with health issues later found to be cancer. Gold, 69, has called Crimson Tide football games since 1988. Chris Stewart filled in for Gold during the 2022 season.

“It’s not been easy, it’s not been simple by any stretch," Gold said. "I do have one more chemotherapy session to go. The doctors are really pleased, everybody is excited. If the doctors are pleased, then I’m pleased."

For a while, the doctors didn't know what was going on with Gold. He had ongoing health issues since the spring of 2022. He ended up in the hospital for 186 days.

"My legs stopped working way back over a year ago," Gold said. "I woke up one morning and my legs wouldn’t work. I went to bed, I was walking, I walked into the bed room. I wake up the next morning and my legs don’t work."

Doctors treated him for things that actually masked what was wrong with him. He was in and out of UAB hospital about five times, he said. Gold also went through other facilities, including a nursing home that allowed him to get the coverage and treatment he needed.

He didn't find out he had cancer until Christmas Eve. A "terrible case of the hiccups" helped reveal it.

In mid to late December, Gold kept hiccupping to a degree he couldn't catch his breath.

"It was awful and it was scary," Gold said.

Then the doctor brought in to figure out the hiccups stumbled on the cancer. Finally, Gold had a diagnosis. He began chemotherapy on New Year's Eve.

"A week from (Friday) is my last chemotherapy session, and I will be fine, Lord willing," Gold said. "And we move on. It’s just been very, very difficult."

He's able to walk again, and he does best with a walker. Gold said he can also walk fairly well with a cane.

"I can also walk well without either one of them, but nobody really wants me to do that," Gold said. "You know what I’m saying? They’re afraid I’ll take a tumble and then I can’t get up because my legs are not yet strong enough to lift me."

As part of the illness, Gold lost considerable weight. He said about 140 pounds. He had no interest in eating and couldn't keep anything down.

"The doctors told Claudette, my wife, they told her a couple times I might not make it through the night," Gold said. "I was a very sick boy. Turns out, I have gotten better. There’s still work to be done."

Originally, Gold had targeted A-Day to return prior to learning of his cancer diagnosis. But A-Day is a week from Saturday. Instead, he's targeting the fall to call games again.

"Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise, I am planning to be back in time for the start of the regular season," Gold said. "I may show up with a walker, and if that’s the case, big darn deal. There are tons of people that use walkers in this world. If I can get by with a cane, I’ll do that."

Through it all, Gold has remained grateful to UA for its support of him, including phone calls from football coach Nick Saban and athletics director Greg Byrne.
Gold expressed the most gratitude for his wife, Claudette.

“The person who is a caregiver, that is one of the toughest jobs in the world, being a caregiver on a long-term basis for somebody who has been ill or is ill,” Gold said. “Claudette has been spectacular. She’s looked after me. In all those 180 days or whatever it is I was in the hospital, there was maybe, maybe, a week, one week altogether when either she or Elise, our daughter, were not up in the hospital with me."

my guess around 300

My Alabama brothers I know this is unrelated but just to save you some loved ones, get checked for Alzheimer’s at around 40. The symptoms don’t show up until around the 60s but the actual onset of it starts in the 40s.


Godspeed to Eli.

I’m very glad to hear that Eli beat cancer. Good for him.

And this may not be the right thread for this, but I strongly prefer Chris Stewart at this stage in their careers.

Wouldn’t mind him coming back for one more farewell year as Bama wins the championship and he can ride off into the sunset.

Eli had a great voice for it, and he and Snake will always be the voices of my childhood.