Greg Papa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Greg Papa
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| Born |
Gregory Charles Papa
October 10, 1962 |
| Sports commentary career | |
| Team(s) | Indiana Pacers (1984–86) Golden State Warriors (1986–97) Oakland Athletics (1991–2003) San Antonio Spurs (1997–2000) Oakland Raiders (1997–2018) San Francisco Giants (2004–08) San Francisco 49ers (2019–present) |
| Genre(s) | Play-by-play |
| Sports | National Basketball Association Major League Baseball National Football League |
Gregory Charles Papa (born October 10, 1962) is a well-known American sportscaster. A sportscaster is someone who announces sports games. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the San Francisco 49ers football team. A play-by-play announcer describes the action of the game as it happens.
Greg Papa has worked for many different sports teams. These include the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Oakland Athletics, San Antonio Spurs, Oakland Raiders, and San Francisco Giants. He is most famous for his exciting play-by-play calls for the Raiders. He also hosted a sports show called Chronicle Live on NBC Sports Bay Area. Greg Papa has won the California Sportscaster of the Year Award three times. He also co-hosts a radio show on KNBR with John Lund.
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Career Highlights
Greg Papa finished college at Syracuse University in 1984. He studied at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. While in college, he was the sports director for the school's radio station. He also announced games for the Syracuse Orange sports teams.
After college, Papa joined the Indiana Pacers' broadcasting team. He worked there from 1984 to 1986. Then, he moved to California. From 1986 to 1997, he was the radio announcer for the Golden State Warriors. During this time, he announced the famous "Sleepy Floyd Game." In this game, Warriors player Sleepy Floyd scored 51 points against the Lakers in a playoff game.
From 1997 to 2000, Papa was the main announcer for the San Antonio Spurs. At the same time, he also announced games for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. He worked with Ray Fosse from 1991 to 2003.
Oakland Raiders
Greg Papa was the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Raiders football team. He worked with former Raiders coach Tom Flores. The Raiders hired Papa in 1997. He was known for his exciting touchdown calls, shouting "TOUCHDOWN, RRRRAID-ERS!!!"
He made some famous calls, like Tyrone Wheatley's long run in a 1999 game. He also announced the controversial "Tuck Rule" game in 2001. In that game, the Raiders seemed to win against the New England Patriots. But a referee's call was changed after watching a replay. The Patriots then won the game in overtime.
Papa later left the Raiders before the 2018 season. He shared that he had some disagreements with the team's owner, Mark Davis. This was after Papa had criticized a decision Davis made in 2015.
Oakland Athletics
Greg Papa was also the television play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. He worked with Ray Fosse. This was from 1991 to 2003.
San Francisco Giants
From 2004 to 2008, Papa announced games for the San Francisco Giants. He worked on both KTVU television and KNBR radio. He also hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the Giants. Sometimes, he would announce games when Jon Miller was away.
In 2006, during a game where Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run, the main announcer's microphone stopped working. Greg Papa quickly took over the broadcast. He explained what happened to the listeners.
Papa returned to baseball in 2021. He hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the Giants again. He still fills in as a substitute host for these shows.
Golden State Warriors
From 2011 to 2020, Greg Papa hosted "Warriors Pregame Live" and "Warriors Postgame Live." These shows were on NBC Sports Bay Area. He also provided analysis during halftime for the Warriors' games.
San Francisco 49ers
In 2018, Papa hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the San Francisco 49ers. He worked with former players like Donte Whitner and Jeff Garcia.
Starting in 2019, Greg Papa became the main radio voice for the 49ers. He handles the play-by-play duties for the team on KNBR 680. He works with analyst Tim Ryan. When the 49ers score a touchdown, he shouts, “TOUCHDOWN, SAN-FRAN-CISCO!”
Other Work
Greg Papa also works for NBC Sports California. He announces games for the California Golden Bears football and basketball teams. He has also announced lacrosse games for the San Jose Stealth and San Francisco Dragons.
Papa used to host Chronicle Live, a nightly sports talk show. He also did the play-by-play announcing for a video game called HardBall 6: 2000 Edition. Some of his Oakland A's broadcast sounds were even used in the 2011 movie Moneyball.
In 2017, Papa started co-hosting a sports discussion show called The Happy Hour. This show was on NBC Sports Bay Area. It was cancelled in 2018.
Personal Life
Greg Papa lives in Danville, California. He has been married to Angela Garay for over 30 years. They have five children: Derek, Alexandra, Danielle, Erika, and Nicolas. His brother, Gary Papa, was also a sportscaster in Philadelphia.
