Voice of Pittsburgh Steelers Bill Hillgrove retiring after 30 years
After 30 years, the Voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers Bill Hillgrove is retiring. The team announced the news on Thursday with a statement from Steelers President Art Rooney II.
“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,” Rooney 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.”
A graduate of Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, where he is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame, Hillgrove attended Duquesne University and studied sports broadcasting. After graduation, he began announcing games for Pitt Football and Basketball as part of the sports broadcasting team at WTAE.
Hillgrove exited the TV broadcasting game when the Steelers came calling in 1994. He called local TV sports a “burning building” at the time.
“Then when the Steelers came calling,” Hillgrove said, “I was able to get out of the television business. I thought Mr. Rooney got me out of a burning building because of what’s happened to the local TV sports segments. There are some major market stations that don’t even have a sports department anymore. They figure ESPN is going to attract all of the sports fans, and so they just do news and weather.”
Hillgrove ends storied career with Steelers
The Steelers’ farewell address calls Hillgrove “a broadcasting Renaissance Man.”
“He did an opera show on radio,” the release reads. ‘He was a booth announcer on television. A disc jockey. The overnight sports guy on the radio who provided the daily scores and highlights at regular intervals. Sports Director at WTAE-TV. He is a jazz aficionado.”
Though his time with the Steelers is over, Hillgrove says he plans to continue working with the Pitt Panthers.
“As to the next chapter of my life, I’ll do Pitt football, and I’ll do Pitt basketball because my brother is the engineer, and we room together on the road,” Hillgrove said. “Like we did as kids growing up in Garfield, we’re sharing the same bedroom, only this one’s bigger. I have all of July, almost all of August to myself now. Every once in a while if the Steelers aren’t playing on Sunday, I can get on a boat and enjoy the fall foliage at Conneaut Lake, which I was never able to do before. So it’s all very positive in that way. And frankly, my wife, Rosette, is battling depression, and she probably needs me at home more now than she ever did. So there are a lot of various forces at play here.”