Fox broadcaster Joe Buck lost his voice because of a hair plug addiction
Joe Buck has one of the most recognizable and criticized voices in sports broadcasting, serving as Fox Sports' premier play-by-play announcer for NFL and MLB games.
In 2011, he nearly lost that voice when a paralyzed left vocal cord put his career in doubt.
Though Buck initially said a virus affected the nerve of his vocal cord, he now says he was lying. Buck revealed the true cause of his paralyzed vocal cord to Sports Illustrated on Thursday, and expands on it more in his upcoming memoir.
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Joe Buck was addicted to hair plugs.
Buck, who said looks are often valued more than skill in broadcasting, feared hair loss from a young age, and began undergoing hair plug procedures in 1993. During Buck's eighth hair replacement surgery in 2011, something went wrong, and he woke up without the ability to speak.
A voice specialist said there was no guarantee Buck would find his voice again.
Buck believes his vocal cord was paralyzed because of a protective cuff used during the hair plug surgery. But he was "too scared and embarrassed" to tell the world what actually happened.
"Any surgery done to improve one’s looks is not really something someone wants to talk about," Buck tells SI's Richard Deitsch.
Revealing the true cause of his vocal cord paralysis is cathartic, Buck said.
"I would tell myself I needed to look younger, I needed to have thicker hair, I don’t want to look older than I am," he continued. "The truth of it is that it was an ego thing, whether I was on TV or not.”
Buck sought treatment and was able to return to broadcasting later in 2011, which is the last time he had hair replacement surgery. He would consider doing it again, according to SI.
His memoir, Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad, And The Things I'm Not Allowed To Say On TV, will be released Nov. 15.
