Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese honored by City Council for his 50th season: ‘He’s a storyteller. It’s amazing.’
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas presented Reese, who has been the team’s play-by-play announcer since 1977, with a framed copy of a resolution honoring his career.
Merrill Reese has spent five decades describing the biggest moments in Philadelphia Eagles history. On Thursday morning, he brought one of those moments to City Hall.
Standing before Philadelphia City Council, the longtime Eagles radio play-by-play announcer recalled the final seconds of Super Bowl LII, when the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots to capture the franchise’s first Super Bowl championship.
Reese admitted he was nervous about what he would say if the Eagles won, but ultimately decided to let the words come naturally. When the final play unfolded, he remembered feeling as if everything slowed down.
“It’s batted around and incomplete! The game is over, the game is over,” Reese said as he recreated his famous call inside Council Chambers eight years later. “The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions! Eagles fans everywhere, this is for you. Let the celebration begin!”
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The recollection was part of a ceremony recognizing Reese’s 50th season as the Eagles’ radio voice. Councilmember Isaiah Thomas presented him with a framed copy of a resolution honoring his career, with Reese’s wife, Cindy, standing beside him.
“Oh, it’s great. It is a great honor,” Reese said. “But I’m telling you, I honestly feel that I’m honored to broadcast these games.”
For Reese, 84, the recognition mattered because it came from the city where he was born and raised.
Reese grew up in Overbrook Park, attended Overbrook High School, and graduated from Temple University, where he developed his broadcasting skills at student radio station WRTI. He has called Eagles games since 1977, and is the NFL’s longest-tenured active radio play-by-play announcer.
His career has included two Eagles Super Bowl championships, an induction into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 2016, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2024.
Despite those accomplishments, Reese said the opportunity to spend his career broadcasting the games of his childhood team remains special.
“I would say probably five or six of us are broadcasting the team that we grew up loving,” Reese said. “It’s just all worked out perfectly for me that I am broadcasting the games of the team I rooted for from the time I opened my eyes.”
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That lifelong connection shapes how Reese approaches his broadcasts alongside longtime radio partner and former Eagles wide receiver Mike Quick. Reese said that although his loyalty to the Birds is unmistakable, he considers accuracy and fairness essential to describing each game.
“We are electronic journalists,” Reese said. “We give you the most honest, accurate description that we can humanly provide. But at the same time, you know where we’re coming from.”
Thomas said the idea to recognize Reese came from discussions with his staff about the broadcaster’s milestone season.
During his introduction, Thomas drew on their shared Philadelphia roots and basketball backgrounds, joking about Reese’s days at Overbrook High School, which also produced basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, who graduated five years before Reese.
But Thomas said Reese’s significance extends beyond his longevity or connection to the Eagles.
“Outside of his Philly ties and outside of his longevity, I think just the person that he is and the person that him and his wife are, like, they’re just good people,” Thomas said. “And I think folks want to see good people win.”
Thomas also praised Reese’s ability to describe games so vividly that listeners can picture the action without watching. He said he frequently listens to Eagles broadcasts while traveling or commuting.
“He calls the game in a way where you could see it when you’re not watching it,” Thomas said. “He’s a storyteller. It’s amazing.”
Inside a crowded Council chambers, some attendees wore Eagles apparel as Reese addressed the room. He concluded his remarks with a fist pump and an emphatic “Go Birds!” encouraging those gathered to join him.
Even after five decades behind the microphone, Reese said his enthusiasm for broadcasting has not diminished — and said he still gets nervous on game days. But that feeling fades the moment his producer signals that the broadcast has begun.
“It all goes away, and I feel as if I’m floating for the next three and a half hours,” Reese said.
Even with all the injuries and ineffectiveness through six games, Sean Mannion is still a believer in the Eagles’ offense, saying the problems are “totally fixable.” The Inquirer’s Jeff McLane and Marcus Hayes have some thoughts on the state of Mannion’s group, as well as a defensive unit that’s also been underwhelming this season. Listen here.
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