Bob Papa

Bob Papa
Papa with the NFL Network
Born Robert L. Papa
(1964-09-19) September 19, 1964
Dumont, New Jersey, U.S.
Education Fordham University, '86
Occupation Sportscaster
Title Football commentator, play-by-play, Olympics
Children 4

Robert L. "Bob" Papa (born September 19, 1964) is an American sportscaster. Papa is employed by Golf Channel, announces various Olympic sports for NBC Sports and is known as "the voice" of the New York Giants.

Biography

Early life

Papa grew up in Dumont, New Jersey, and graduated from Bergen Catholic High School in nearby Oradell.[1] He graduated from Fordham University in 1986 but is not related to the San Francisco Bay Area sports broadcaster (and former long-time Oakland Raiders radio voice) Greg Papa.[2] Bob lives in Northern New Jersey.

Career

New York Giants (1995-present)

He is best known as the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Giants, a position he has held since he replaced Jim Gordon prior to the 1995 season.[3]

He announces all 16 regular season games and all postseason games on the radio, and all of the team's pre-season games for WNBC in New York City and simulacast across the state. During his time with the Giants, he has called the team's victories in Super Bowl XLII[4] and Super Bowl XLVI,[5] as well as their loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV.[6]

From 1988 to 1994, he worked on the Giants' pregame and postgame shows on the radio. His work with the Giants also includes his role as host of the YES Network's Giants Training Camp Report, and Giants Access Blue, Giants Chronicles, and Giants Online.[7]

Other Work

Additionally, Papa was the voice of Thursday Night Football on NFL Network until 2012. He files pregame and postgame reports from New York Giants games on Sundays for NFL GameDay Morning and contributes to NFL.com with columns, chats and reports. He works full-time for the Golf Channel during the NFL off-season.

In addition, he was added as a member for Golf Channel and has called boxing for SportsChannel America, ESPN, NBC, and Versus. Papa called the November 23, 2001, match between James Butler and Richard Grant.

At fight's end, after Grant had been declared the winner, Butler sucker-punched Grant, breaking his jaw. Both Papa and his color commentator, Teddy Atlas, loudly called for both Butler's arrest,[8] and permanent suspension from boxing. Butler later pleaded guilty to the slaying of sportswriter Sam Kellerman.[9]

Papa was the radio voice for the New Jersey Nets on WOR for several years in the mid-1990s after Ian Eagle was promoted to television.[10]

From 1989-92, he was the studio host for SportsChannel America's coverage of the NHL. Papa is the host of the Opening Drive on Sirius NFL Radio, the all NFL Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio.[11] From 2008-10, he did play-by-play on NFL games that took place on NFL Network before being replaced by Brad Nessler.[12]

Olympics

A graduate of Fordham University, Papa, along with two more alumni, participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics Games held in Athens.[13] Papa worked on NBC's coverage of the Olympics since 1992, as he covered boxing at the most recent Summer Olympics.

In 2002, he covered cross-country skiing[14] and curling. In 2010, he covered luge, skeleton, and bobsled. He served as the play by play announcer for NBC Sports coverage of Boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[15] He called Rugby at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[16][17]

Personal life

Papa has four sons: Christopher, Will, Nicholas, and Max.[18]

References

  1. ↑ DiTrani, Vinny. "All's Well, Except In Booth", The Record (Bergen County), December 3, 1993; accessed February 5, 2008. "Jim Gordon is suffering from laryngitis, and will be replaced in the WOR-AM booth by Bergen Catholic product Bob Papa from Dumont."
  2. ↑ Ask Bob Papa Archived November 15, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. NFL.com
  3. ↑ "Bob Papa: Behind The Voice". Giants.com. 2016-11-12. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  4. ↑ "Super Bowl Moments: No. 1". Giants.com. 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  5. ↑ "LIVE: Super Bowl XLVI - Giants vs. Patriots". NY Daily News. 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  6. ↑ Raissman, Bob (2001-01-25). "Glickman Will Be Third Man In Papa'S Booth". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  7. ↑ "TV and Web Schedule". Giants.com. 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  8. ↑ Fernandez, Bernard (2014-11-21). "The Tragedy of "The Harlem Hammer" Needn't Be Repeated So Often". The Sweet Science. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  9. ↑ "Ex-Boxer Admits Killing Sportswriter". Articles.latimes.com. 2006-03-28. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  10. ↑ "PLUS: BASKETBALL; Nets Pick Tripucka As Radio Analyst". Nytimes.com. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  11. ↑ "NFL Network: On Air Talent". Nfl.com. 2015-07-21. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  12. ↑ "Raissman: NFL Network disrespects Papa". New York Daily News. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  13. ↑ "Behind The Mike". Articles.latimes.com. 2004-08-08. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  14. ↑ Richard Sandomir (2002-02-05). "SALT LAKE CITY 2002: THE 19TH OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES; Live (Mostly), Prime Time And Shorter". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
  15. ↑ Medium Well: Your NBC Olympics lineup - A blog on sports media, news and networks Archived 2008-08-03 at the Wayback Machine., baltimoresun.com, July 2008.
  16. ↑ "Bob Papa – Rugby Play-By-Play". NBC Sports Group Press Box. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  17. ↑ Biodata, hbo.com; accessed April 13, 2017.
  18. ↑ Zach Berman (2011-01-02). "A man of his words: Play-by-play is Bob Papa's work, love". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
Preceded by
Bryant Gumbel		 NFL Network play-by-play commentator
2008–2010		 Succeeded by
Brad Nessler
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