INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Long before he became the Voice of the Indianapolis Colts, Matt Taylor spent Friday and Saturday nights answering telephones for a high school sports radio show.

The job paid minimum wage, required him to give up weekends with friends and consisted of writing down scores called in from around Indiana. Looking back, Taylor credits that opportunity with launching the career that eventually led him to the Colts’ radio booth.

“Well, the biggest piece of like real world advice I can give that really helped me was just don’t say no,” Taylor said. “Treat everything you do, like it’s the Super Bowl, because it’s your Super Bowl. You never know who’s watching and you never know who’s listening.”

Taylor, who grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Franklin College, said he always wanted to work in broadcasting but found his passion for sports play-by-play while calling games as a college student.

“I know I wanted to work in sports, sports broadcasting and do it professionally and do it as close to home as possible,” he said.

Taylor chose to build his career in Indiana. He worked a variety of broadcasting jobs, including calling high school and small college sports, working at a country music station in New Castle and eventually joining Indianapolis radio station IMS Communications in 2008.

Starting as a part-time employee, Taylor worked his way through the organization before joining the Colts in 2012. His initial role focused on managing the team’s radio network and producing content rather than calling games.

 “I like to say my DNA, my thumbprint, is all over everything and now I’m doing play by play on top of all the other stuff,” he said. “It’s kind of a jack of old trades job where you’re juggling a lot of balls, but I joke it beats working. It beats having a real job.”

Taylor became the Colts’ lead radio play-by-play announcer in 2018, but his first experience calling an NFL game came unexpectedly in 2014 when longtime broadcaster Bob Lamey became ill before the regular-season finale against the Tennessee Titans. Taylor learned about an hour before the team’s flight that he would handle play-by-play.

“I got straight to the hotel, then just started grinding, stayed up till about two o’clock, three o’clock in the morning just trying to be over prepared,” he said.

Despite the short notice, Taylor remembers the assignment as both professionally and personally significant.

“It was a big, pinch myself type of moment.”

Preparation remains central to his approach. Taylor said reading league coverage year-round and compiling detailed spotting charts allows him to be ready for virtually any situation that unfolds during a game.

“I probably over prepare,” he said. “During a game you maybe use like five percent of what you’re actually ready to go with, but you never know what that five percent’s going to be.”

Calling an NFL game also requires processing constant communication from producers, statisticians, analysts and sideline reports while describing live action.

“I hear at least three voices every single play,” Taylor said. “It’s like being an air traffic controller.”

Since taking over as the Colts’ lead announcer, Taylor has called memorable moments ranging from Adam Vinatieri breaking the NFL’s all-time field goal record to the franchise’s historic game in Berlin.

“It felt like the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the World Cup all in one,” Taylor said on his description of the Berlin game.

Beyond the broadcast booth, Taylor regularly interviews players and coaches, relationships he says have been built through professionalism and trust over more than a decade with the organization.

Although the NFL season officially ends with the Super Bowl, Taylor said there is little downtime. The combine, free agency, the draft, minicamps and training camp create a nearly year-round schedule, leaving only a brief window during the summer.

“It really does sort of consume you. It does kind of take over your life,” he said.

Ultimately, Taylor said his goal extends beyond simply describing football.

Whether listeners are driving home, running errands or unable to watch the game on television, Taylor hopes his broadcasts provide both information and entertainment.

“I think that’s the biggest compliment that you can get is people take enjoyment based on how you’re using your voice as an instrument and the picture that you’re painting with your words and your description.”