Merrill Reese
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Merrill Alan Reese (born September 2, 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a radio announcer in the Philadelphia area.
He is well known as the play-by-play radio announcer for the Philadelphia Eagles on 94.1 WYSP Free FM. He has been the voice of the Eagles since 1977.
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[edit] Early years
He is a graduate of Temple University earning a Bachelor's degree in Communications. While in college, he learned his craft by doing play-by-play over the college's radio station, WRTI FM. At WRTI, Merrill also had a music show every Wednesday afternoon where he spun 45-rpm records from his own personal collection.
After college and a stint in the United States Navy, Merrill set out to obtain his first paid broadcasting gig audtioning at WCOJ in Coatesville, Pennsylvania and WPAZ in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
[edit] Radio career
Reese eventually landed a job at 610 WIP AM working in the summer filling in for Charlie Swift who was the play-by-play man for the Philadelphia Eagles and the station's Sports Director at the time. While Swift was vacationing, Reese began doing the pre-game and post-game shows for the Eagles on WIP and from there, he did color commentary during the games. He became the voice of the Eagles in 1977 after Charlie Swift committed suicide. The 2005 season was his 28th as an Eagles play-by-play man. His current broadcast partner is former Eagles wide receiver Mike Quick. He was formerly joined in the booth by Stan Walters.
[edit] Respected by Eagles fans
Reese is deeply respected by the Eagles' loyal fan base, which has grown to appreciate both his broadcasting style and his extensive knowledge of both the Eagles and the NFL. Quite commonly, Eagles fans watch Eagles games on television with the television sound muted so they can simultaneously listen to Reese's broadcast of the game while watching it.
[edit] Personal
Reese is co-owner of 1490 WBCB-AM in Levittown, Pennsylvania, a Bucks County suburb of Philadelphia.
His autobiography, It's Gooooood!, was published in 1998. His wife Cynthia is a 6th grade science teacher at Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.
[edit] Trivia
Under the alias "Bob", Reese once entered a sound-a-like radio contest in which fans were supposed to imitate him to win. He lost & Adam Dvorin won. [1]
