Bob Papa

Known as the voice of the New York Giants, versatile sportscaster Bob Papa made his name in the world of NFL broadcasting before lending his authoritative tones to The Golf Channel, HBO Boxing and NBC's coverage of the Summer and Winter Olympics. Born in The Bronx, NY in 1964 but raised in Dumont, NJ, Papa began his broadcasting career at college radio station WFUV while studying at Fordham University Business School in the mid-'80s. Following a spell as the play-by-play voice of the Utica Blue Sox baseball team, Papa was taken under the wing of pioneering radio announcer Marty Glickman at WNEW where he began to establish his enduring connection with the NFL's New York Giants, going on to host the pre-game and post-game shows on the Giants Radio Network. In 1989, Papa made the move into television when he joined SportsChannel America, where he anchored coverage of the NHL playoffs, handled the blow-by-blow for their boxing series and called Notre Dame basketball. After the channel folded, Papa joined SportsChannel New York where he served as a studio anchor for the Devils, Mets, Islanders and Nets, while in 1992 he covered what would be the first of many Olympic Games for NBC Sports. Three years later, Papa was appointed as the radio play-by-play voice of the New York Giants, a long-standing position which saw him provide the calls for their Super Bowl XXXV and XLII victories. Papa then continued to branch out into other sports, covering cross-country skiing and curling at the 2002 Winter Olympics, and teaming up with Teddy Atlas on ESPN's "Friday Night Fights" (ESPN2, 1998-2015) boxing series, while in 2004 he helped to launch the NFL Channel on Sirius with a weekday morning show titled "Opening Drive." In 2007, Papa joined HBO Sports as the blow-by-blow announcer of "Boxing After Dark" (HBO, 1996-), and a year later joined the NFL Network where he replaced Bryant Gumbel as the play-by-play announcer of "Thursday Night Football" (NFL Network, 2006-). After covering boxing at the Olympics in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, Papa further showcased his versatility when he joined The Golf Channel to contribute to their coverage of the PGA Tour and Champions Tour events.