Merrill Reese gets some love

by JasonB on Jul 11, 2007 10:29 AM EDT in Philadelphia Eagles News

In a town that has seen some of the most iconic figures in sports broadcasting like Harry Kalas & Gene Hart I think sometimes Merrill Reese gets lost. He's been the voice of this city's most beloved team for 29 years now.

Sure. he's an unapologetic homer... but that's always been part of charm. He's both an artist who, with his words can paint a vivid picture of football game in your head and a fan just like the guy sitting next to you.

"Turn down the sound on your TV and crank up Merrill Reese" is more of a tradition than it is a slogan in this town.

It was pretty fun to read what Reese thought were his favorite calls.

Thinking back on his career, the sports caster cited two moments of broadcasting football that he considered his favorites -- and perhaps not coincidentally, they both came in Eagles' victories against the hated Dallas Cowboys.

The first was "Wilbert Montgomery running" in the 1981 NFC Championship game.

The other was in 1995, when Dallas needed just one yard to continue a potentially game-winning drive, and tried two consecutive runs up the middle with superstar back Emmitt Smith. The hard-working Eagles defense remained strong, he recalled, and came out victorious.

Who could forget? "They stop him again!!! They stop him again!!!"

And of course, we all know that signature FG call.

He said that his fans always want to focus on the field goals.

"They like the 'It's gooooood,' " said Reese, reproducing one of his signature calls -- one that he was happy to use last season after a David Akers' field goal split the uprights to win a playoff game against the New York Giants.

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I didn't think Merrill Reese could get any cooler

But this article just makes me like him even more. I love that he's a homer, but he's also pretty blunt about it when the team isn't playing well.

I wish there was a site with audio of his most famous calls, his emotion just makes listening to the game more fun.

by BrianS on Jul 11, 2007 10:53 AM EDT reply actions

oh there is my friend!!!

http://www.eaglesendzone.com

this guys name is Ted and he deserves an award for how awesome that site is!

700 Level

by 700 Level on Jul 11, 2007 11:33 AM EDT reply actions

Audio section... nice!

http://www.eaglesendzone.com/audiotrax.html

Just don't anyone tell the radio station... shhh!

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Jul 11, 2007 11:57 AM EDT up reply actions

haha...

i always wondered how they got away with that :)

I love that you can download the last two minutes of the Dallas game from last year... its almost dvd quality.

another GREAT site for eagles video is...
http://eaglesfootball.milfordgrandprix.com/

This is the guy that made the popular weapon x video last year... all of his vidz are fully downloadable

700 Level

by 700 Level on Jul 11, 2007 2:04 PM EDT reply actions

ESPN.COM does it again

sooo our birds have the 17th and 19th best WR and RB corps in the league...with the number 2 offense. Can i get a resounding wtf

by jon c on Jul 11, 2007 2:35 PM EDT reply actions

Hehe

They'd pretty much have to have the best offensive line(which they might) and QB to make up for what they seem to think are such mediocre RB/WR corps.

Also, it's just madness to say the Eagles have the 19th best RB corps.

Bleeding Green Nation Philadelphia Eagles Blog

by JasonB on Jul 11, 2007 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Look at Footballoutsiders

They rank the teams by breaking down every play of every game and comparing the results to league averages for similar down, distance, yardline, and score. What a concept - compare apples to apples!

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamoff.php

Based on this, the Eagles were #5 Passing and #2 Rushing last year. Those rankings pass the smell test, especially the smell test of Westbrook and his 5 yards per carry average.

As far as wideouts as a group, the rankings based on last years results should probably be - IND, CIN, DET, DAL, NOL, ARI, NYJ, PIT, PHI.

by Andrew @ Bleeding Green Nation on Jul 11, 2007 3:40 PM EDT up reply actions