Pittsburgh — The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the 2024 season without a vital part of the city’s sports heritage, who has called the action on the radio for the past 30 years. Bill Hillgrove, a longtime play-by-play broadcaster for the Steelers Radio Network, has retired, the team said. He will continue to announce football and men’s basketball games for the Pitt Panthers, but a significant chapter of his illustrious career is concluded.
“Bill Hillgrove’s contributions to both the Steelers Radio Network and the Steelers organisation 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,” Art Rooney II, the president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, said. “He has played an important role in broadcasting to our amazing fans on our radio network, but he has also found time to participate in so many special events since he began working alongside the great Myron Cope on the airwaves in 1994.” Bill will be missed by Steelers Nation, but we are happy for him and his family to enjoy their retirement.
Hillgrove, a Central Catholic High School alumnus and Western Pennsylvania native, attended Duquense University before working at several radio stations in the city during the 1960s and 1970s. He became Pitt’s basketball announcer in 1969 and then colour commentator on Panthers football broadcasts the following year. Hillgrove has remained a regular on those shows ever since.
He was chosen by Steelers owner Dan Rooney to succeed Jack Flemming as “The Voice of the Steelers” in 1994, and he has called 460 total games, 35 postseason games, and four Super Bowls for the Steelers, including victories in Super Bowls XLIII and XL.
