Cedar Park HS football announcer celebrates 25 years in the role

CEDAR PARK, Texas - Friday night lights is a big deal here in Texas, but Friday's game is a particularly special one in Cedar Park.

Brad Cone is celebrating 25 years of being the voice of the Timberwolves.

You may recognize his voice before you recognize his face.

"I was at the Austin airport one time, somebody recognized my voice, stopped me walking to an airplane saying, 'are you the announcer at Cedar Park? I recognize your voice," Brad Cone, voice of Cedar Park High School Timberwolves, said.

Brad Cone has been announcing for the Timberwolves since 1998 when Cedar Park High School opened their doors.  

He never once missed a season ,even after he was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma earlier this year.

"I’m grateful for the school and LISD to invite me to do this and to put up with me for a quarter of a century, this has been a great time," Cone said.

Cone has created a bond with the community through the love of football.  

Right before kickoff, Cedar Park High School honored him and recognized his dedication to the school.

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He says the community has been part of his family, especially during his cancer diagnosis back in March this year.

Brad has endured multiple surgeries and numerous rounds of chemotherapy, and throughout his treatment, he and his family received an outpouring of support from "Timberwolf Nation," the local Cedar Park sports community.  

"My two daughters started a GoFundMe page, and in just a couple of days the Cedar Park sports community raised all that money for me," Cone said. "Fans, coaches, ex players, some players that are in major league baseball or players who are in the NFL contributed money to it, they made my cancer trip not cost a cent."

Cone says his care team has coached him through the whole cancer journey. The treatment and community support team has really pushed him to continue to do what he loves.

"Fortunately, as we started talking about what the treatment was going to be like, Dr. Porter said 'hey, by August you should have enough energy to do football again' and it was true," Cone said. "I’ve been doing football since the start of season."

As Cone is finishing up his cancer treatment this month, he wants to remind other cancer patients to always have faith.

"There's almost always hope, I try to stress that," his oncologist Dr. Ashleigh Porter said. "Mr. Cone has stayed positive, he has incredible support, his wife and family and the community in Cedar Park has really rallied behind him as well, and I think that’s really a perfect recipe for success for any cancer patient."

Cone says he plans on returning to the announcer booth next season.