The Voice Behind the Miracle

Jonathan Bruce Wiener ’10 didn’t know that his voice was about to become part of college football history on October 27, 2007.

From a broadcasting setup in Jackson, Mississippi, the energetic, spirited Trinity University student was calling a football game that appeared to be ending in heartbreak. With two seconds remaining, Trinity trailed Millsaps College 24-22 and needed 61 yards to win. It all came down to this: one last play, one final chance.

Then, a “miracle” occurred. Quarterback Blake Barmore ’08 started it off with a pass to Shawn Thompson ’10. Scrambling down the field ensued, and the ball was lateralled 15 times to seven different players before Riley Curry ’09 scored the winning touchdown.

Wiener’s dynamic call rose with the moment, capturing the exhilaration of the play as it unfolded.

The play would be called the “Mississippi Miracle.” Television footage from the play made its way to ESPN’s SportsCenter. The accolades piled up, including a $100,000 scholarship as the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance of the Year, an ESPY Award nomination, and a photo of the play on a cover of Time magazine. In 2019, team members and others associated with the play were inducted into the Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame.

The webcast and the play-by-play of Wiener, who goes by Jonathan Bruce professionally, were played countless times on networks and YouTube. As of January 2026, the YouTube video has over two million views.

“I remember all of the excitement afterward, the awards and interviews, the ESPYs, and everything that came with that,” says Bruce, who was visiting his hometown of Jackson at the time of the game.

For Bruce, the experience was more than a front-row seat to college football history. It was a formative moment in a career as a television journalist that was just beginning. Bruce has spent the past four years working as a news anchor at ABC13 (KTRK-TV) in Houston, where he anchors the 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. newscasts. Bruce credits his education at Trinity for his success as a broadcaster over the past 16 years. He graduated with a degree in English and gained a world of experience in his chosen field.

“At Trinity, I had the opportunities for broadcasting,” Bruce says. “I took some classes with KRTU. I also worked for the Trinitonian for a number of years, writing sports stories, but the big one was the opportunity to get involved in calling the broadcasts for Trinity Tigers football.”

He credits Trinity not only for giving him opportunities behind the microphone, but for shaping the way he thinks, writes, and tells stories.

“The other part would certainly be the education that I got, specifically in the English classes. I started out as a communication major because I knew I wanted to do broadcasting, but I was so inspired by the English professors to read literature in those settings. So much of the curriculum is learning how to think critically and construct a narrative. That is very much what I still find myself doing today.”

His English courses broadened his perspective in ways that continue to serve him as a journalist.

“Being an English major opened my world to literature from every different age and every different place,” he adds. “I think that makes me so much better as a journalist when I’m trying to interview people from all walks of life.”

Bruce’s journey to Trinity began in Jackson, where he attended Murrah High School, a large public school, and played baseball. He later transferred to Williston Northampton School in Massachusetts before beginning his college search.

“I was looking for a great liberal arts college in a major Southern city,” Bruce says of his selection of Trinity. “I wanted a wonderful school with great academics, to play baseball, and a school with great opportunities. Trinity in San Antonio fit the bill in every way. By the time I got to Trinity, I was ready to move on from baseball and focus on broadcasting.”

In addition to broadcasting and the Trinitonian, the musically talented Bruce sang in the Trinity Choir. He says, “It’s all part of performing, whether you are on a radio microphone or a stage microphone.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Trinity, Bruce studied at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism in 2011.

His professional broadcasting career started as a sports reporter for Fox 40 in Jackson, and he later became a radio host at Alpha Media, an ESPN station located in the greater Jackson metropolitan area. Bruce served as a television host for six years for the NFHS Network, which livestreams high school sports events.

Bruce and his brother, Henry Wiener, started Bash Brothers Media. The successful operation has produced sports documentaries and other projects for nearly 10 years.

He then had a stint as a digital anchor for KKTV in Colorado Springs, Colorado, before receiving the call that brought him to Houston in December 2021.

Looking back, Bruce sees a clear throughline from that fateful webcast in Mississippi to a major-market anchor desk. His advice to students hoping to follow a similar path to a broadcasting career is simple.

“Take and make every opportunity that you can,” Bruce says about the industry. “There is nothing like getting the experience. Even if they are the smallest opportunities, they can create momentum for something very big. I got involved in everything I could, including internships in the summer, because all of a sudden, you’ll look down and say, ‘Man, I’ve done a lot.’ I think employers really might be interested in this.”

Nearly two decades after the Mississippi Miracle, the play still lives on, not only in highlight reels and record books, but in the voice of this Trinity alumnus who was ready when the moment arrived.