Merrill Reese: the Voice of Philadelphia

“It's Gooooood! It’s Gooooood!” Eagles’s fans know the pretty basic, famous quote of this man of men very well.

If any Eagles’ fan tells you they don’t love Merrill Reese, they are lying. His fairly monotone, very recognizable voice can be heard calling the plays of every Eagle’s game since 1977—that’s 10 years before I was even born.

Wow.

It is an undeniable fact that he is the voice of the Philadelphia Eagles and along with the late Harry Kalas, the voice of the “City of Brotherly Love.”

I can remember from an early age muting every week’s Eagles game and putting on 94.1 WYSP just hear him call the game. It is the voice that chills are made of. The way Merrill paints a picture of the action is mind blowing. Whether it is a game winning field goal or a rush of three yards up the middle, you always feel like you are “under center” with Merrill.

Even though it is a fairly new call, Merrill’s call of the 102-yard interception return by Lito Sheppard will be stuck in my head forever. “Intercepted! Intercepted! Running down the left sideline…the 50…40…30…20…10…Lito Sheppard, running with the football…and he dives into the end zone! He dives into the end zone!”

Merrill is a hometown product, born September 2, 1942 in Philadelphia. He got his degree in communications from Temple University, right in the heart of the city. After bouncing around from gig to gig, Merrill worked as a backup for WIP’s Charlie Smith. From there he worked his way up and finally, was assigned the color commentary job for Eagle’s games.

Ever since he was a kid, it was his dream to call Philadelphia Eagles’ games. He is now living his dream and has done so for over three decades, as is chronicled in his book “It’s Gooooood,” published in 1998.

On May 15, 2005, Merrill Reese was given the Broadcaster of the Year Award by the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters

Going into his 32^nd year, he is tied for the longest-serving current announcer in the NFL with Gil Santos, the voice of the New England Patriots.