Fifteen years ago, Super Bowl Sunday of 2002, Mandee Montana hit the radio airwaves for the first time.

I started out at local country music station in East Texas. After months of engineering the board for other people, the management at the station gave me an opportunity to DJ.

My first shift was Sunday, February 3, 2002 from 12 p.m. till 6 p.m. I was incredibly nervous. My knees were literally shaking as I stepped up to the microphone. In the studio with me that day, was mom, and the air personality who had been coaching me, Paula Prince.

Notes 1st Air Shift Mandee
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She helped me write a few lines that were simple that I could re-phrase and use again... which I found in an old file folder Sunday morning.

This certainly helped with the nerves, but I was still young and learning. I had been practicing for weeks by recording myself reading the newspaper, or a senior literature paper. Anything I could get my hands on to practice.

Then it happened. Listen to my first break.

It took me about an hour to get just a little bit comfortable, but I was still nervous, and only 18 years old. Below are a few of the breaks from that first shift. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Fortunately for me, I had wonderful people around me who coached me with kindness and patience. They allowed me to fail and learn, and continue to do so.

Oddly enough, this was also the day that Tom Brady stepped in for the injured Drew Bledsoe and went on to lead the Patriots to defeat Kurt Warner and the Rams "The Greatest Show on Turf." How's that for history?

Today, Brady and Belichick will participate in an unprecedented seventh Super Bowl together, and I'm on the air from 12 p.m. till 4 p.m. Coincidence?

Enjoy the game tonight, and thanks for allowing me to share time with you on the air for the past 15 years. It's truly been my pleasure, and this evening I'll raise a glass to many more... but just one, because I've got to be on the air again tomorrow.

Happy Super Bowl!

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