Bill Campbell, 91, legendary Philly sports broadcaster

OLD-TIME sports fans remember the moment at Franklin Field, the day after Christmas 1960, when Chuck Bednarik sat on Jim Taylor as the clock ran out on the NFL championship game, giving the Eagles a 17-13 win over the Green Bay Packers.

Bill Campbell was there.

He was there when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the old Warriors against the New York Knicks at Hershey Arena on March 2, 1962, becoming the only player to hit the century mark in a professional game.

And Bill was present for many other epic sports moments in a broadcasting career that spanned nine decades.

He died yesterday in Cooper University Hospital.  He was 91 and lived in Marlton, N.J.

Bill's health had been failing since the death in January of his beloved wife, the former Josephine DeCesaris, whom he married in June 1947. A few days ago, he fell in his home, cracking three ribs and puncturing a lung.

In recent months his memory occasionally failed him, but Sam Carchidi, an Inquirer sportswriter who wrote a book about Bill, said that he had lunch with him two weeks ago and that he was "really sharp. He remembered everything perfectly."

As an example of how sports fans felt about Bill, Sam said, he and Bill held a signing of Sam's book, Bill Campbell: The Voice of Philadelphia Sports, on the Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk in 2007, and "the line was incredible."

"People said they waited as long as an hour and a half for our signatures, and never complained," Sam said.

Bill's smooth, relaxed delivery was recognizable to generations of sports fans, who considered him the voice of Philly sports.

He broadcast the games of all Philadelphia sports teams, college and professional. In other words, if you were a Philly sports fan, you couldn't have missed Bill's almost-courtly delivery.

Bill's career went back so far that he once did a radio show with Connie Mack, the legendary 50-year Athletics manager who died in 1956 at age 93.

Bill rubbed elbows with the great and the near-great in his long career.

While spending time in the Los Angeles home of his friend Vin Scully, the Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster, Bill got to wave to Ronald Reagan, then the governor of California, who had come to visit Scully and was in a car in the driveway.

Bill was close to the Eagles teams of the '60s and considered broadcasting that championship game at Franklin Field one of the highlights of his career. He was close to the late Norm Van Brocklin, the Eagles' legendary quarterback, and other team members.

As for Wilt's 100-point game, Bill didn't think much of it. He felt it was more like an exhibition than a real game. It didn't seem real to him. But a tape of his account of the final point - "He made it! A Dipper dunk! He made it!" - is in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

He thought that Wilt probably would do it again and that others would follow.

When the Sixers won nine games and lost 73 in the dismal 1972 season, Bill never lost his professional cool. "He made every game sound important," Carchidi said.

"Bill was like everybody's favorite uncle," Sam said. "Fans felt like they knew him, the way he came into their home. He was part of their life.

"He never talked down to a listener. He respected the listener. He was a great guy."

"An entire generation of Philadelphia sports fans grew up listening to Bill Campbell," said Daily News executive sports editor Chuck Bausman. "With his authoritative and unique voice, he was the sound of Philly sports."

"It was clear that Philadelphia sports were in his blood," said Eagles president Don Smolenski.

"He was the greatest in the history of Philadelphia broadcasting," said Merrill Reese, veteran Eagles broadcaster. "He was an inspiration to me as I heard him broadcast Eagles games. He painted a wonderful picture with a direct, accurate style."

Bill Campbell was born in Atlantic City and began his broadcasting career at age 17 at a radio station there. He moved to Lancaster in 1941 as a minor league baseball announcer, then came to Philadelphia in 1942.

He started at WIP, then moved to WCAU in 1946 as sports director. He held the same job at WCAU-TV. He did play-by-play for the Philadelphia Warriors from their beginning in 1946 until the team moved to San Francisco in 1962.

He did play-by-play for the Eagles from 1963 to 1970, and the Sixers from 1972 to 1981.

He worked the 10 a.m.-to-noon time slot for WIP from 1987 to 1991.

As Carchidi put it, Bill bridged the gap between Robin Roberts and Cole Hamels, between Van Brocklin and Nick Foles, between Chamberlain and Michael Carter-Williams. He either broadcast the games or interviewed players and coaches on radio.

Bill also was a broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Penn State football and Big Five basketball games.

He was installed in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005 as winner of the Curt Gowdy Award. He was a three-time winner of the Broadcaster of the Year award given by the National Sports Broadcasters.

In addition to his broadcasting career, Bill was a devoted family man. He and Josephine, or "Jo," his wife of 67 years, had one daughter, Christine.

"He was the most unforgettable character," said Christine, a lawyer with the New Jersey Treasurer's Office. "He was one-of-a-kind to me. He was the buoyant Irishman, storyteller, communicator. He always kept the child in him.

"He was loving and had high expectations for his only child. He was proud of me. He always let me know that.

"He took great pride in his career, his long marriage, raising his child, the accomplishments of his personal life."

In addition to Christine, he is survived by two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services: Were being arranged.