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Eagles announcer Merrill Reese still thinks FedEx Field is a ‘dump’

“I’m not a fan of that booth, but I’ll go back to the dump,” Reese said of the Commanders' stadium.

Eagles radio announcers Mike Quick (left) and Merrill Reese will be calling Sunday's game against the Commanders at FedEx Field.
Eagles radio announcers Mike Quick (left) and Merrill Reese will be calling Sunday's game against the Commanders at FedEx Field.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Merrill Reese has been calling Eagles games for 45 years, and knows a good booth from a bad one.

On Sunday, when Philadelphia takes on the Commanders, he’ll be calling the game on 94.1 WIP from a bad one.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Reese and longtime broadcast partner Mike Quick are traveling with the team and calling every road game in person. That means they’ll be heading down I-95 to Washington, D.C., to call Sunday’s game from FedEx Field, which Reese thinks is one of the worst stadiums in the league. In his own words, it’s a “dump.”

“That is not my favorite place, but the Eagles are there so we will be there,” Reese told The Inquirer.

» READ MORE: Eagles fan’s phone blows up after ‘Monday Night Football’ appearance

Fans are already aware of the deteriorating conditions at the stadium, which debuted in 1997 and is among the oldest in the league. Eagles fans who were injured after a railing at the stadium collapsed last season are suing the Commanders. That was several weeks after a pipe burst, drenching fans in stagnant rainwater some thought was raw sewage.

But what makes FedEx Field such a bad place to call a game? According to Reese, announcers are in the corner of the end zone beneath an overhang, and the seating is so low it’s difficult to make out the yard lines beyond the 50-yard mark. It’s also impossible to see the scoreboard.

“I’m not a fan of that booth, but I’ll go back to the dump,” Reese said.

Despite his annoyances, Reese doesn’t think FedEx Field is the worst place to call an NFL game. Among those that rival the Commanders’ home with their bad sight lines are the newly renamed Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh; State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.; and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

“They’ve reconfigured that stadium. We used to sit on the 50-yard line, middle level. Now the broadcast booth in Miami is completely glass enclosed in a corner of the end zone where you can’t see about a third of the field,” Reese said. “You travel all the way to Miami to call the game off a monitor.”

Despite the praise he received for his call of the Eagles’ win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, Reese is also not a fan of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Reese said he was nervous before Tom Brady’s final Hail Mary attempt, but not because he was afraid of the outcome.

“I was nervous because we were seated in the corner of the end zone,” Reese said. “And that play was going to culminate 110 yards away from where I was seated. I just didn’t want to be known as the broadcaster who blew the Super Bowl.”

“So many of these broadcast booths are not made with the broadcaster in mind today,” Reese said. “The number one goal, and I think it’s pretty obvious, is to put in as many suites and as many high-priced ticket areas as they possibly can.”

Quick hits

  1. The NFL has a new halftime sponsor for the Super Bowl: Apple. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it’s a multiyear partnership that could also be a sign the tech giant is the favorite to land the rights to NFL Sunday Ticket beginning next season. DirecTV is in its final year of its NFL deal, and announced it would reimburse subscribers after two straight weeks of outages.

  1. Speaking of Apple, its streaming service — Apple TV+ — is airing Friday’s Red Sox-Yankees game exclusively. Why does that matter? Because slugger Aaron Judge is going for his 61st home run, which would tie Roger Maris’ 1961 Yankees record of 61 home runs (Barry Bonds hold the MLB record with 73 home runs). So expect to see Twitter flooded with complaints from Yankees fans about the game not airing on TV or at the bar.

  2. On Sunday, NFL RedZone — the league’s popular commercial-free whiparound show — will be offered to viewers for free on Dish, Hulu Live, Sling, and YouTube TV.

  3. Former 97.5 The Fanatic host Nick Kayal is returning to Philadelphia, but he won’t be talking sports. Instead, Kayal will be the new morning host on 1210 WPHT, where you can expect to hear more about President Joe Biden than the Eagles. “I’ve had strong opinions over the last three years that I haven’t been able to share on the air,” Kayal said Thursday. “I’m at the point now where it’s like my political opinions are stronger than my sports opinions. I felt like I had to make that transition.”

  4. Fox Sports college football announcer Gus Johnson is “doing great” after being forced to leave last Saturday’s Oklahoma-Nebraska game during halftime, according to broadcast partner Joel Klatt. Johnson is expected to call Maryland-Michigan alongside Klatt on Saturday.