Michael O’Grady and Naomi Girson | sports editor & staff writer

Bill Hillgrove, the former longtime radio voice of the Steelers and Duquesne alum, was honored Oct. 3 by the American Journalism Historians Association at a ceremony at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco Downtown.

As part of the AJHA’s 43rd annual convention, Hillgrove received the Outstanding Local Journalist Award for Substantial Contribution to the Public Interest, an award given out to a local journalist in that year’s convention city “whose work has had a positive impact on the community,” according to its website. Along with Hillgrove, New Pittsburgh Courier editor Rod Doss was also honored.

Hillgrove is a Pittsburgh legend after having called 30 years of Steelers football alone, including two Super Bowl victories. To add to his legacy, he still broadcasts University of Pittsburgh football and basketball, two jobs he has kept for more than 50 years. He also broadcasted Duquesne basketball in the early 1960s while he was a student.

Slippery Rock professor Katrina Quinn perhaps best summarized Hillgrove’s impact on the city.

“In these coal, iron, oil, steel, clothesline immigrant communities of Western Pennsylvania,” she said, “names like Bradshaw, Franco and Mean Joe, they flow like precious stars in the heavens, and then there’s Bill Hillgrove.”

Pittsburgh’s unique relationship with Hillgrove is explained by the city’s fanaticism with the Steelers and the structure of broadcasting in football. In the ‘Big Four’ North American professional sports leagues, which are the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA, the NFL is the only league that doesn’t outsource its games to regional television networks. The games are showed to a wider audience, and as such, are on networks like CBS, FOX and others. The only option for a local broadcast available to football fans is on the radio.

For some cities, that means nothing. Only the diehards listen enough to know their hometown broadcaster’s name, but Pittsburgh is special. The Steelers are the biggest brand in town, and so by extension Hillgrove is revered.

Hillgrove retired from NFL duty following the conclusion of last season, making way for new radio voice Rob King. Already, he has been honored by the Steelers, who invited him back to Acrisure Stadium for their Week 3 home opener.

Hillgrove’s acceptance speech, true to his experience in radio, wasn’t scripted. Despite having one written down, he decided to forgo it and yet remained completely captivating, as if broadcasting a game. He shared what he’d learned over the years and echoed his knowledge to other journalists, either aspiring or already dedicated.

“If you want to get into the world of journalism, be yourself, be versatile, be humble and have a great reverence for the facts,” he said. “I remember at Duquesne University, in the school of journalism, that if you would turn in a paper with one factual error, it was an F.”

Hillgrove emphasized the importance of versatility for a journalist, and credited his alma mater for giving him that ability to advance his career.

“I was able to make a living in the business as a disc jockey,” he said. “And then when the sports opportunity came along, I was ready, because I’d prepared myself at Duquesne.”

Some self-proclaimed highlights of Hillgrove’s career were his attendance for Pitt’s 2003 Big East Conference title in New York, and Tony Dorsett’s breaking of the then-NCAA record for career rushing yards in Annapolis in 1976. When calling the Steelers, Hillgrove’s favorite memory was Super Bowl XLIII, specifically Santonio Holmes’s game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds left.

“I can’t see Santonio Holmes, I can’t even see that part of the end zone,” he recalled. “But I watched the official, and when I saw his hands get up to his hips, I called touchdown, and it was one of the most fortuitous things that ever happened to me.”

A little-known fact of Hillgrove’s stint with the Steelers is that he never intended to have it. When the play-by-play role for Steelers radio opened in 1994, Hillgrove didn’t apply, but Steelers owner Dan Rooney was impressed enough with his Saturdays calling Pitt that he signed him on for NFL Sundays.

“I’m glad it happened,” Hillgrove said. “It really made my career.”

The convention included some journalists who had never heard of Hillgrove before his selection for the award, but his character and his speech earned their respect.

“I’ve always enjoyed the culture of the Steel City and seeing it from afar, understanding the Steelers and what it means to the town,” said Louisiana native and Ohio University professor Aimee Edmondson. “And this really brought that home.”

In contrast, some attendees had spent years listening to Hillgrove. One in particular, Matthew Baird, lamented on what Hillgrove’s retirement means for Pittsburgh sports.

“I just think he’s an institution,” Baird said, “and it’s kind of sad because he’s stepped away from the Steelers and soon he’ll be stepping away from Pitt, it’s just inevitable. He’s the last Pittsburgh broadcaster who called championships. No one from the Pirates, Mike Lange is gone from the Penguins, Billy is the last one.”

Though Hillgrove is in the twilight of his career, he could still go out on a high note. Pitt football’s win over North Carolina on Saturday improved them to 5-0, jumping them to the No. 22 ranking in the AP Poll. On the court, the Panthers look for a third consecutive season with 20 or more wins and a second NCAA Tournament berth in three years.

Hillgrove will be behind the mic to call whatever happens, but on Thursday night, it was all about him.

“I want to thank the committee for this wonderful award,” he said, “I want to thank the city of Pittsburgh, I want to congratulate the Pittsburgh Courier. This has been a great evening and thank you for allowing me to be part of it.”