Wasson: ‘Legend is next …’ Meet the man behind the Finebaum persona

“Legend is next …”

With those 3 words, a persona was born – equal parts introduction and warning. And with those 3 words, perhaps the most emotional, passionate, some-might-say-crazy sports talk radio caller you have ever heard is ready to blast more eardrums.

Legend is, well, a legendary caller on The Paul Finebaum Show – heard and seen around the country on the SEC Network as well as radios across the Southeast. The show, which began in Birmingham in the late 1990s with Finebaum stirring a pot filled every day with similarly rabid Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide fans, has sprouted well-known callers like Legend who espouse to a nationwide audience the passion that is equally singular to the region and reviled as positively wacko to folks who simply don’t understand.

Sports talk radio is a unique melting pot in that people can let their fandom unfurl behind the relative anonymity of just their voice. In Legend’s case, it is also a nickname – self-assigned moments before his first call to Finebaum’s show.

“I was driving around Birmingham listening to bad rock ‘n roll, so I switched the channel and came across Finebaum on the air talking to Tim Brando – who was defending (former Alabama basketball coach) Mark Gottfried over something or another,” Legend says in a phone interview with SDS. “Paul just threw out the number, so I called to try and tell Brando what an idiot he was. I didn’t want to give my real name because of my background, so I told the producer I was ‘the Legend’ and I wanted to talk to Tim Brando; he is an idiot for supporting Mark Gottfried.

“They (put) me right through, and the rest is history.”

Legend’s background is something unknown to 99.9% of Finebaum’s listeners — but not to Finebaum. It’s also one Legend doesn’t mind sharing. Gary Wilson was 17 years old in 1981 when he and an 18-year-old male got into an altercation in Winston County, Ala., with 17-year-old Randy Dwight Barton.

Barton was killed, and Wilson and the other man were charged with murder.

“It was a bad thing, I wish it had never happened,” Wilson says. “I got a life sentence and served 15 years. So yeah, there’s another side to ol’ Legend.”

Finebaum knows the tragic backstory of what happened 43 years ago and continues to be an integral part of Wilson’s second chance at building a better life.

“I have had multiple private conversations with him,” Finebaum says. “I know his story about as well as someone could know it. He has told me it privately, and he has told it publicly.”

Wilson did 18 months in the county lockup while facing the possibility of being executed. After his conviction, he did stints at St. Clair Correctional Facility, Draper Correctional Center, Elmore Correctional Facility, Red Eagle Honor Farm Work Center and then finally Birmingham Work Release before being released on parole in 1996. Along the way, he says he found God, earned his GED and a 2-year college degree.

“I was saved in prison and was a traveling evangelist for 7 years after I got out,” Wilson says. “A lot of people knew me as a preacher before Paul’s show came along. The way Legend came about was like this: One night in DeFuniak Springs, Fla., I went into a prison and shared my testimony and about 100 men came up to receive the Lord with me. When I was about to head back to the hotel, an inmate was running behind me yelling, ‘That guy is a legend!’ That’s how it all began.

“When I first started calling Paul, we had a long talk about it on the air. (Rival caller) Jim from Tuscaloosa always calls me a killer during his calls. Paul and I use it as a warning, to put the guns down and enjoy life without taking a life. In fact, we are waiting on state to approve Paul and I talking to prisoners about my experience.

“Heck, Paul helped me get a job at ABC (the local affiliate station in Birmingham). I am the first Finebaum caller to get an NIL deal.”

Finebaum confirmed the he has spoken with Legend about visiting prisons and sharing his story — that while a terrible decision can’t be undone, it can be overcome.

“I have communicated with the DOC in reference with him,” Finebaum said. “In having several e-mail comms with them, they wouldn’t be continuing this without knowing them well.”

Legend, who grew up near Baltimore and gleaned his, ahem, passionate level of fandom from his father – a rabid Baltimore Colts and Orioles fan whom the son says would get just as riled up then as the youngest of 3 sons get today. In other words, becoming a Legend is definitely a generational affair.

“He was crazy like I am now, cussing coaches and referees out whether we were there or in front of the TV,” Legend says in his unique, nearly Louisianan drawl. “I thought that was the natural way you viewed sports. But most fans aren’t truly fanatical like me. There are some, sure, but not many. I probably get it from my family.”

Ah yes, the fanaticism. It isn’t unique to Legend necessarily, as stadiums and sports bars do brisk business catering to the fanaticism somewhere within us all. But when you combine Legend’s particular fanaticism with that voice … well, magic happens.

“True story, this morning I was at work — I work for a steakhouse – I was unloading a truck. As the driver was leaving, he asked me if I was Legend from the Finebaum show. I said I am, and there can’t be two people with that same voice. It’s like those American Express commercials, you may not recognize me by name, but you sure as heck know the voice.”

Ah yes, the voice. Even if you aren’t truly Finebaum-educated, perhaps you caught the 60-year-old Legend ranting about Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer after the Crimson Tide lost to Vanderbilt – a clip that went viral and ramped up his unique brand of fame a whole new notch.

The call everyone was waiting for… Legend has spoken https://t.co/3yBfrHCfBZ pic.twitter.com/mucC4qm8Mh

— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) October 7, 2024

“He has always been a great caller, someone who has played a significant role if not one of the most dominant. But he’s never more influential than this football season,” Finebaum told SDS. “When he went in on DeBoer after the Vanderbilt game, and all the attention it got on my network. … I was put in a position after Vanderbilt and Tennessee to be asked by Mike Greenberg and others if he is an outlier or the real deal.

“He represents the way a lot of fans think, and is easily the most influential sports radio caller I have ever encountered. To call in with that take after Vanderbilt, and do it off the cuff, is amazing. So you think about he is on ESPN, SportsCenter, Get Up, and countless other interviews I have done about the Legend call. And now, what he says about an Alabama game matters. Forget me, more people want to know what Legend says than what the host says. It is a unique position for someone to be in, and I am 100 percent behind him. It is what makes our show stand out, and what stands the test of time.”

Even Legend was surprised by the reaction to the Vandy call.

“Paul posted that clip, and over 4 million people saw it,” Legend says. “I got comments from overseas – some loved me, and others said I am ignorant and stupid. I would be a great case study of arrogance, as teams produce these kinds of fans.

“I am glad to make them laugh, make them hate, make them love. There isn’t anything like Paul and the platform. When he leaves, it’ll be a sad day in Fanville. I don’t know if I will call today or wait until tomorrow. I probably call 3 times a week, while I used to call every day. People mention me so much, I get tired of myself. I get Legend fatigue.”

Finebaum, who has been on the radio for almost 30 years with thousands of callers of all ilks, knows that the secret to his success partially lies in the brand of callers like Legend — though Finebaum is quick to acknowledge that there is only one Legend.

“The one thing we do is we make sure our callers feel welcome, and that we have their back,” Finebaum says. “We won’t always agree, might interrupt and hang up if they go over the line. But they feel enabled and emboldened and unencumbered to say what they believe, and that it will matter. And Legend does that better than anyone.

“I speak for a living, and I don’t know if I could speak extemporaneously for as long as him. The energy and dramatics and theatrics – all important. I sat there that night when Alabama lost to Vanderbilt, and the second that game in Nashville went final, I knew it would be a big night. But you’re still waiting for that call, and at 6:01 pm when I said, ‘Legend is next,’ it was like a nuclear device went off.”

And where, you may ask, does 4-time Finebaum Caller Champion Legend end and Gary Wilson take over?

“The important people know the real name, but everyone knows the Legend,” he says at full volume through the telephone. “People who call me Gary feels weird. You lose your real identity at some point along the way. Even my Momma before she passed called me Legend.”

To talk radio legends like Legend, as the SEC advertising slogan goes, it just means more.

And Wilson?

“I owe everything to God and a praying mother who never gave up on me,” Wilson says. “I am so thankful for men like Paul and Pete Spackman (founder of Adullam International Ministries), who fought to get me out of prison.

“I am so thankful for a second chance, and I am so thankful for the people God put in my life to show me how to live right.”

David Wasson

An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.