Stan Savran, a titan of the Pittsburgh sports media industry, died Monday evening at his home. He was 76.
For decades, Savran served as one of the voices of Pittsburgh sports. His career in the city began in 1976 working for WWSM-AM. He soon transitioned to TV and became an icon, working on TV, in radio, and newspaper.
He was best known for hosting Sportsbeat, first with co-host Guy Junker before becoming the sole face of the show. In his nearly 18 years there, it became the longest sports show in Pittsburgh television history. His work in Pittsburgh is almost too numerous to list. Steelers, Penguins, Pirates, he was involved with it all.
His farewell to the show is as sincere a moment as you’ll see in the sports world, a tremendous montage and tribute to him and the team over the years, ending with the crew thanking Stan. Take five minutes to watch this.
In a world that’s become full of more and more hot takes and loud opinions, Savran brought a level-headedness and sense of calm to his viewers, informing and educating as opposed to yelling into a microphone. He quickly became one of the most respected and knowledgeable voices in Pittsburgh. In a sports world that can be divisive, no one had a bad word to say about Stan. Over the last week before his death, he received phone calls from Mike Tomlin, Bill Cowher, and Mario Lemieux.
Following the news, Steelers Team President Art Rooney II issued this statement.
In 2003, he was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, the same place as names like Roberto Clemente and Honus Wagner, two of the greatest baseball players in history. Savran held the same court in the broadcasting world, a legend who gave Pittsburgh sports fans a voice to listen to long before podcasts, YouTube videos, and even blogs like ours were mainstream.
Savran was a friend of the site, a friend to me. He was generous enough to have me on the show many times, giving me a timeslot and opportunity to talk Steelers that he certainly didn’t have to. He will be remembered for much more than those 15-minute hits to discuss Mike Tomlin, Kenny Pickett, or the team’s season, but they’re moments I’m forever appreciative of. Like many, I grew up watching Savran on my TV, listening to him on my radio, and today is sadder without him.
A true sports fan, he embodied what Pittsburgh is about. Good times and bad, they love talking about their team. His ability to zig when others zagged, seeing the good during the bad, the bad during the good, looking at a team or situation from all angles with genuine curiosity, made him a unique and revered voice. Even over the last year, as he battled lung cancer, he worked and talked about sports whenever possible.
“I plan on doing what I do,” he told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in 2022, shortly after being diagnosed.
Stan did what he did better than anyone in Pittsburgh ever has. Better than anyone ever will.
