Eli Gold has called some incredible moments for Alabama football. Tua Tagovailoa to DaVonta Smith on fourth-and-26, the Terrence Cody Rocky Block, Thomas Rayam blocking a Penn State field goal as time expired in 1989.

His tenure as the Crimson Tide’s radio voice, which began in 1988, has seen the best of times for Alabama. The devastating losses have been few.

“There really haven’t been many at all to rival that particular loss,” Gold told AL.com.

Gold was, of course, speaking of the Kick Six. On the eastern side of the state, Auburn fans replay the late Rod Bramblett’s radio call of the game, remembering Chris Davis’ run up the sideline.

In Tuscaloosa, the Crimson Tide faithful would probably like to forget the words Gold said into his microphone that day at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“Kick on the way. It’s got leg. It is sailing. It is short. It is grabbed about eight yards deep in the end zone. Brought back to the near side.”

Gold would rather the game have been an Alabama blowout. Besides making the fans happy, that type of game suits his style, allowing him to weave stories into the game action.

The Nov. 30, 2013, matchup with Auburn wasn’t that. The Tide grabbed leads in the second and fourth quarters, but the Tigers were close, tying the game late before Alabama went to try a late field goal for the win.

As Adam Griffith lined up for the kick, Gold saw Davis in the end zone, ready to catch a miss. Still, he said it never crossed his mind that the unlikely touchdown would actually happen.

“Run down the near sideline. There’s nobody there for Alabama. Auburn’s gonna win. Auburn’s gonna win the Iron Bowl on a run back of a missed field goal. I don’t believe there are any flags down although I could not see one due to the maze of people on the field.”

Calling a play like the Kick Six on the losing team’s broadcast is a unique experience. Not many have been forced into action on a play that gut-wrenching.

Though the stakes might not have included a berth in the national title, count Kentucky play-by-play man Tom Leach among them. In 2002, the Wildcats appeared to have beaten LSU, with players dumping Gatorade on head coach Guy Morriss and UK fans even starting to storm the field at what was then Commonwealth Stadium as time expired.

Unfortunately, the blue-clad revelers hadn’t seen what Leach had. The Tigers, coached by Nick Saban, had just won on a tip-drill hail mary from Marcus Randall to Devery Henderson, a play now known as the Bluegrass Miracle.

Up in the booth, it didn’t feel very miraculous to Leach. The man who once handled a call-in show after the basketball Wildcats lost in the 1992 Elite Eight when Christian Laettner hit “The Shot” as time expired said his chief concern in the moment was accuracy.

But with thousands of fans on the other end of the radio suddenly despondent, he didn’t have to sound upbeat. He remembered some advice from legendary UK play-by-play announcer Cawood Ledford.

“You want to be accurate and tell the true story,” Leach said Ledford told him. “But it’s OK if the people listening know that you want Kentucky to win because you’re the Kentucky announcer.”

On the Kick Six, Gold didn’t have a win call ready to go in his head for if Griffith’s field goal had been good. That’s not how he operates.

So the play didn’t throw him off his rhythm as a broadcaster. In his own words, Gold is a “Professional describer.”

When he’s faced with a crushing moment for Alabama fans, it doesn’t change how he handles the call. Alabama fans by and large know their football.

“I just call it like I see it,” Gold said. “And if they’re disappointed and down in the mouth, well chances are, I am as well. So the energy, the excitement that we might have when wrapping up a big game, is certainly not there when wrapping up that game when you’re on the losing side.”

The Kick Six was no different.

“My immediate reaction was ‘And there’s nobody back for Alabama,’” Gold said. “It just was the way it was. There was nobody back.”

Gold didn’t hear his call again that night. It wasn’t part of the Alabama radio broadcast’s highlights package for obvious reasons.

The next day, he got on a plane to Las Vegas for a NASCAR awards ceremony. On the plane, he got an internet connection and found his call, plus Bramblett’s and Verne Lundquist’s on the CBS television broadcast.

“All three were perfect for their respective audience and for their respective style,” Gold said.

Lundquist was using the picture to tell the story to the masses, taking a more minimalist approach. Bramblett was “Helping the guy down the field,” getting Auburn fans out of their seats during the now-legendary moment.

Both were different than Gold’s approach. All three accomplished what they needed to.

As the 10-year mark approached, Gold described what made the call from Bramblett, who died in a 2019 car accident along with his wife Paula, so memorable.

“His passion and the way he felt about the Auburn Tigers was something just can’t overlook,” Gold said. “That’s what made that call. The fact that it was a touchdown run back, that in its own right is an exciting play, but the fact that he did it with so much passion is what made it special.”

It wasn’t the most fun call of Gold’s career. The loss knocked Alabama out of national title contention in 2013.

But he wouldn’t make any changes to how he handled it in the moment.

“It was what it was, I called it as I saw it and then I said ‘Goodnight everybody,’ and that was basically it,” Gold said. That’s one thing about our business. We don’t have a backspace key.”