We once asked Allen Thomas Long Coleman what the shelf life of a sports call-in show was. “I don’t know,” he said, “but we’re about to find out.”

Yesterday the man better known as “Big Al,” self-described as “The Voice of Reason” for more than three decades, host of a local program designed to cuss as well as discuss the games people play, announced his retirement.

“The answer is … 33 years and 50 days,” he said, adding, “not bad … especially when some people didn’t think I’d last a week.”

Officially, the native of Petersburg will call it a career a week from Wednesday, although he told his boss at ESPN 106.5 of his decision a couple of months ago.

“It’s time for me to move on … plain and simple,” Coleman said. “Why? Because I want to retire. I’ll be 70 in March. It’s time to let the young guys take over.”

Of course, there’s more to it than that, but be assured he left because he wanted to … not because he was told his time had come.

“I’ve known about it for a long time,” Coleman said. “Don’t forget … I was 33 when I started this in 1992. I wasn’t a puppy then.”

Part of the reason for him to leave his five-days-a-week, 8-10 a.m. “Sports Phone,” which he has presided over since 2016, was his interest in sports “began to wane a little bit,” Coleman said.

Why? How so? And he was off and running at the mouth.

“It’s different than it was when I started. It’s all about the money now. College football and basketball are off the rails. They have more freedom to come and go … piggly wiggly, willy nilly ... than pro players do ... My interest in college football was actually growing. Now, players and teams are being bought. People come and go. How do you follow a team when it’s ‘here today, gone tomorrow?’ Look at the coaches we’ve lost because of this stuff.”

That always has been the beauty of Coleman — his enthusiasm, never one to duck and hide. Right or wrong, “Big Al” lets it all hang out. He unquestionably is one-of-a-kind.

“I get emotional about things,” he said. No kidding.

So, what’s next, now that he’s going cold turkey on his chosen profession? Who knows, this could be the first of several retirements for the man who was a stock broker until one day he decided he could do better than a local sportscaster. On Jan. 7, 1992, he hit the airways for a half-hour to an unsuspecting audience on WRNL (910).

“I’m doing a podcast, ‘Don’t Drop the Soap Sports,’ now. I came up with the name, and I hate it … What does it mean? It doesn’t mean anything,” Coleman said.

Cold turkey or not, some things never change. But seriously, folks … “You have to know when to walk away. Some people know, some people don’t. It was my time,” Big Al said.