When It Comes to NFL Radio Play-By-Play, No Announcer Has Done It Longer Or Better Than Merrill Reese.
If you’ve ever taken in an Eagles Game by turning down the television and sports radio over the last 47 years, you’ve undoubtedly caught the iconic baritone voice of Merrill Reese calling the game.
On Saturday, a key member of Eagles history will receive the 2024 Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. For 47 years, he’s given you an audible window into Eagles games.
For a team as old as the Eagles, radio broadcasting has always been important.
In fact, for the first six years of the Eagles’ existence — their games were not broadcast on the radio at all. The first game that was broadcast was a home game at the Philadelphia Municipal Stadium/JFK Stadium and a 7–0 Redskins win on September 17, 1939. Radio voices have been important to Eagles fans ever since.
In 1949, fans depended on Byrum Saam Eagles play-by-play to hear the Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams at The Coliseum in Los Angeles 14–0. And again in 1960, when the Eagles vs. Packers NFL Championship was blacked out in Philadelphia — fans depended on the radio broadcast to hear the Eagles’ last championship that stood for 57 years until 2018.
During and for years around that 1960 Championship, Bill Campbell was the Eagles’ voice. In 1977, after the suicide of Eagles play-by-play announcer Charlie Swift, a young Merrill Reese took the job.
In his first full season as a commentator, the Eagles were playing the Giants at the Meadowlands in 1978. After the Giants got the ball back on offense up 17–12 with under 30 seconds left in the game when Giants quarterback Joe Pisarcik bounced the football off of Larry Csonka’s hip. Eagles safety Herm Edwards scooped the ball up and scampered into the end zone for the 19–17 win.
Merrill Reese’s call on that play — sharing his disbelief on one of the most amazing plays in football history to Eagles Nation — is one of the most iconic calls in Philadelphia history.
PHOTO: WikiCommons
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