Howard Eskin

Legacy of Excellence

Legendary Sports Radio pioneer

Howard Eskin is always there.

Since breaking into the business as an engineer for George Michael upon graduating from Northeast High School in 1968, the "King" of Philadelphia sports media has made it a point to be present.

Whether it's an Eagles practice, Phillies game, Sixers shootaround, or a Flyers news conference, Eskin attends. Often, he'll go to two or three events in a day. And, for many years, he did it around his radio and television schedule.

Eskin spends long hours at the ballpark, on the field, in locker rooms and the press box. He talks to players, managers, coaches and team executives. He asks plenty of pertinent questions. He builds relationships. He interacts with fans. He does it day after day.

Fifty years later, Eskin is still going strong. His work ethic has helped make him a Philly icon, a broadcasting legend in a city more passionate about sports than any other in the country.

"There's nothing that replaces being there all the time," Eskin says. "I just knew that was the way for me. That was the way I was going to make it early in my career. I didn't want to disappoint my parents. I just worked hard to try to be responsible and be good in whatever I did, whether it was a production engineer, whether it was a disc jockey, whatever it was."

Eskin won't stop working, even on the night he's inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He's a sideline reporter during Eagles radio broadcasts, and the Birds are playing against the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football.

"The reason I can't be there is because I'm working, and the reason I think I've been so successful is because work is obviously important to me," Eskin explains.

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Eskin's resume is unparalleled. He launched 610 WIP's initial sports talk show in 1986, hosted afternoon drive for 25 years, hosted WIP's first show when it moved to 94.1 FM in 2011, and is still on the air 36 years later. Now, he hosts a two-hour show on WIP Saturday mornings. He unofficially has hosted about 8,000 radio shows. Before starting at WIP, Eskin made the transition to TV as a sportscaster at CBS- 3 in 1982. He later helped launched Fox 29 News as the channel's sports anchor.

Eskin hosted the nationally syndicated radio show Let's Talk Sports. He wrote a column for the Philadelphia Daily News and has contributed to The Dan Patrick Show, George Michael's Sports Machine, NBC`s Today Show, among others.

A two-time Emmy Award winner as sportscaster, Eskin credits Michael for getting him started and the late Jim O'Brien for pushing him to do sports radio and television. "Jim is the biggest reason I am where I am today and I miss him dearly," Eskin says.

Eskin built his reputation on breaking news. "I just worked hard, and I was always there," Eskin says. "Nowadays, you can watch the news conferences on Twitter. It doesn't work. You have to be there. You have to go to get to know people so they can trust you. You can't just call a guy up and expect him to tell you anything. You have to have some kind of relationship."

Eskin established close friendships with several of the greatest athletes in Philadelphia sports, including Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose and Charles Barkley. Rose began calling Eskin "The King" after a television sportscaster called him the ‘king of sports talkers" in a feature story.

"I'll never forget walking into the Phillies locker room the next day and Rose was the first person you would see when you walk in," Eskin recalls. "He looked at me and said: ‘You're the King.' And then everybody started calling me ‘King.'"

Eskin often says he "never had a bad day" in his life. "I've had bad moments but never a bad day," he says. "The fact I'm doing what I want to do, and I consider myself successful, that's the way I look at it. I hope I never get tired of it. As long as I enjoy it, I'm going to have a good day."

Eskin is extremely proud of raising five successful children. "Every one of them have really good jobs and really big jobs," he says.

When he's not covering sports, Eskin enjoys giving back to the community. His charitable work includes Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Cystic Fibrosis and National MS Society. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society named him "Man of the Year" in 2002. He's helped raise more than $400,000 for the Eagles Autism Foundation.

"I always feel it's important to help others because of my platform, and I will never stop!" Eskin says.

Eskin is also in the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Broadcast Pioneers' Hall of Fame and Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

By Rob Maaddi