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Legendary Steelers Radio Voice Bill Hillgrove Retires

The legendary radio voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers has retired.

Stephen Thompson

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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the 2024 season without an integral part of the city's sports history there to do what he's done for 30 years, calling the action on the radio. 

Long-time Steelers Radio Network play-by-play announcer, Bill Hillgrove, has retired, the team announced. He will continue to call football and men's basketball games for the Pitt Panthers, but a massive chapter of his famed career is over. 

"Bill Hillgrove's contributions to both the Steelers Radio Network and the Steelers organization have spanned nearly three decades that included him serving as our play-by-play announcer for four Super Bowl appearances and countless other memorable games during his tenure," Steelers president Art Rooney II said. "He has played a major role in broadcasting to our amazing fans on our radio network, but he also found time to be part of so many special events since he began working alongside the great Myron Cope on the airwaves in 1994. Bill will truly be missed by Steelers Nation, but we are excited for him and his family to enjoy his retirement."

Hillgrove, a Central Catholic High School alumnus and Western Pennsylvania native, attended Duquense University before taking jobs with various radio stations around the city during the 1960s and 70s. 

He became Pitt's basketball announcer in 1969 and took on the role of color commentator on Panthers football broadcasts the following year. Hillgrove has remained a fixture of those broadcasts ever since. 

He was handpicked by Steelers owner Dan Rooney to replace Jack Flemming as "The Voice of the Steelers" in 1994 and has called 460 total games, 35 playoff games and four Super Bowls for the Steelers, including wins in Super Bowls XLIII and Super Bowl XL. 

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general. 

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