Filling the shoes of a legend like Bill Hillgrove is a tough sell for anyone. That’s the situation new Pittsburgh Steelers radio play-by-play announcer Rob King is facing ahead of the 2024 NFL season. King has been particularly involved in the Steelers’ offseason content this year, conducting interviews for the team’s website and speaking with former players for the team’s Time Machine video.
King was a logical choice as someone who has been deeply involved in Pittsburgh sports for a long time. There was talk of bringing in someone from outside the team to bring a fresh perspective to the Steelers, but the team ultimately chose the candidate with the most Pittsburgh knowledge.
“Even if you have great candidates from the outside and people who can bring a fresh perspective from another city, I think people are going to be a little resistant to you if you haven’t been in the area as long as he has,” said Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Friday North Shore Drive Podcast Episode. “To do this work and make people happy, you really need a lot of cultural, traditional and institutional knowledge.”
King knows the sports culture well, having played for every professional sports team in Pittsburgh. When a legend like Hillgrove steps down, it’s incredibly important. PPG columnist Jason Mackey, who co-hosts Batco on the podcast, said he doesn’t think anyone deserves or is better off for this opportunity than King.
“King deserves it,” Mackey said. “He really deserves it… I don’t think we fully appreciate what Rob King means to this city.”
King has been a member of the Steelers broadcast team since 2014, helping with pregame and postgame content. He has been involved in Pittsburgh sports for 25 years, including studio work for SportsNet Pittsburgh on Pirates and Penguins games. No outsider has a more intimate relationship with Pittsburgh sports fans than King. It’s a tough job for anyone, but King’s love of Pittsburgh sports allows him to do it right.
2024 will be a strange year for Steelers fans who love tuning into WDVE for radio calls of Steelers games. But for those connected to the Pittsburgh sports scene, there could not have been a better choice to fill that role than Rob King.
