ESPN sportscaster Holly Rowe’s eyes watered and her voice cracked during the first few minutes speaking to the Selma Quarterback Club on Monday night.

Before a packed crowd at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center, Rowe said her first trip to Selma was amazing. The historic Selma to Montgomery March in 1965 quickly popped inside her mind.

“When I crossed over the Edmund Pettus Bridge on my way here, I realized that’s the Bridge,” said Rowe. “That was an out of body experience.”

Rowe also praised her parents from Salt Lake City, Utah for attending Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963.

“I’m real proud of my parents, that meant something to me,” Rowe said. “We grew up as Mormons.”

Rowe, 52, drew heavy applause and laughter from the audience speaking on a variety of topics, specifically covering college football. 

She’s never missed covering a college football game since starting with ABC in 1995 and moving to ESPN three years later.

Rowe successfully overcame desmoplastic melanoma, a rare, invasive form of cancer and worked through the disease. Her eyes teared up again when she discussed the disease.

“I haven’t missed a college football since ABC hired me, not even with three years of chemotherapy,” Rowe said. “I’ve been on the sidelines for 23 years.”

Rowe, a graduate of the University of Utah, said she grew up a BYU football fan and often got upset whenever the Cougars lost games.

“I was mad in 1974 when BYU lost their 1974 Bowl game,” Rowe said. “Fast forward to Junior High, I was at a girlfriend’s house when BYU losing to SMU 45-25 in the Holiday Bowl with 7:45 left to play. I went into the kitchen and picked up a phone after I saw a sticker that said ‘Dial a prayer.’ I called it and BYU won 46-45 on a Hail Mary. I have a weird fascination with college football.”

Rowe said it’s been a pleasure covering some of Alabama’s football games, especially during the run under Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban. Saban has won five national titles in nine years at Alabama.

“I had a dream about Nick Saban, but it was a clean dream and that meant I’m ready for college football to start,” Rowe joked. “When I first covered Saban, he was at Michigan State, he was very shy.

“To see what Saban has become at Alabama, it’s amazing. We’re looking at something very special here. I regretted not getting the chance to cover coach Bear Bryant when he was at Alabama, but they’re both very similar.”

Rowe also said it’s unfair for Auburn to put coach Gus Malzahn on the hot seat. The Tigers (6-4) host Liberty on Saturday.

“Auburn should’ve never gotten rid of coach Tommy Tuberville,” Rowe said. “I covered them in the Sugar Bowl when they were undefeated in 2004.”

The final meeting of the QB Club will be held on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. and will host reporter and broadcaster Lauren Sisler of ESPN, SEC Nation and AL.com.

Sisler joined the SEC Network in 2016 covering football and gymnastics. On the same night, it will also be the Scholarship Night and Big Ticket Drawing for the QB Club.

The Selma QB Club annually awards five scholarships to local high school football players.

The money is raised through membership fees and contests. The Big Ticket Drawing goes towards funding scholarships.