Mark Stephen is heading into his 19th season as the radio play-by-play voice of the Calgary Stampeders. No one in the Red and White’s 64-year history has called more games.

In addition, Stephen and analyst Greg Peterson form the longest-serving booth tandem currently working in the Canadian Football League.

And yet, Stephen wasn’t even the most veteran broadcaster for a Calgary pro team, at least not until long-time Flames play-by-play man Peter Maher hung up his headset on Tuesday.

Maher had been calling Flames games since 1981 — the team’s second season after moving from Atlanta to Calgary — and was at the mic for an astonishing 3,162 consecutive games.

 “Only 15 more years to catch him!” chuckled Stephen, who attended Maher’s retirement press conference on Tuesday. “It was a jammed press conference with so many Flames alumni there. Mike Vernon was sitting right in front of me and there was Joel Otto and Kelly Kisio and so many others. It was something.”

As someone who works in the same field, albeit in a different sport, Stephen had a special appreciation for Maher.

“Oh, absolutely, “ he said. “If you’re not listening to him and appreciating him and acknowledging what he did, you’re crazy. He did so much, so well. Every game was the biggest game. And that’s not an easy thing to do with the longer schedule and four games in five nights at times and all the travel they do. It really is remarkable.”

Though best known for his work with the Flames, Maher was also the Stampeders’ play-by-play voice in 1985. As a matter of fact, on Oct. 20 of that year, Maher was in Toronto to do the play-by-play for a Stamps victory in Toronto in the afternoon and then hopped a plane to Winnipeg to call a Flames game against the Jets that night.

“I remember listening to it, too,” said Stephen. “He left the second the Stamps game was over. I’m sure he would have had to have a cab waiting downstairs to race like a maniac to get to the airport. I don’t know all the logistics, but I’m sure there was a lot of high blood pressure associated with that day.”

Stephen finds it difficult to imagine calling games in different sports in different cities on the same day.

“It’s an amazing feat, that’s for sure,” he said.