Thirty years ago, Bill Hillgrove was comfortable in his role as the play-by-play man for the University of Pittsburgh calling Panthers basketball games.
Then, all of a sudden, Hillgrove found himself not only in the running for the role of Steelers broadcaster, but the eventual choice to replace the legendary Jack Fleming.
Oddly enough, it’s a role that Hillgrove — who announced his retirement from calling Steelers games Thursday — didn’t even apply for.
In an interview with WTAE’s Andrew Stockey, Hillgrove recalled getting the Steelers’ broadcasting job in 1994, a position he’d hold for 30 years.
“Well, I got a call from Tony Quatrini , who was WTAE’s sales manager, and he said, ‘Mr. [Dan] Rooney keeps asking for your tape.’ I said, ‘Tape? I didn’t submit a tape.’ And he said, ‘Well, he has one and he’s using it to compare, and he likes yours,'” Hillgrove recalled, according to video via WTAE’s YouTube page. “And the next thing you know, I’m a candidate for a job I never applied for. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to be a full-time play-by-play guy. I didn’t wanna walk away from television, but I think I walked away at a pretty good time.”
At the time of Hillgrove’s hiring, he was holding down the play-by-play role for Pitt, and was also working as the sports director for WTAE-TV, serving as a sports anchor, a role he moved into in 1978.
After landing on the Rooney family’s radar, Hillgrove then entered into a magical 30-year relationship with the Black and Gold. Serving as the voice of a generation for fans and the franchise overall, he called games alongside some legendary names like Myron Cope, Tunch Ilkin, Merril Hoge and Craig Wolfley.
Heck of a way to fall into a dream job for the Pittsburgh-area native though. Sometimes, the best moves in life happen as a surprise. That certainly is the case with Hillgrove and the Steelers.
