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. He is currently the radio voice for the San Francisco 49ers football team.
Throughout his career, he has also announced games for many other famous teams. These include the Indiana Pacers, Golden State Warriors, Oakland Athletics, San Antonio Spurs, Oakland Raiders, and San Francisco Giants.
Greg Papa is most famous for being the radio play-by-play announcer for the Raiders for many years. He also hosted a sports talk show called Chronicle Live on NBC Sports Bay Area. He has won the California Sportscaster of the Year Award three times. Today, he also co-hosts a radio show on KNBR.
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Greg Papa's Career Journey
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 in charge of sports and announced games for Syracuse's teams on the radio.
Early Broadcasting Roles
From 1984 to 1986, Papa worked for the Indiana Pacers basketball team. He was part of their TV and radio broadcast team. After that, he moved to the West Coast.
From 1986 to 1997, he was the radio announcer for the Golden State Warriors. He was there for many exciting games, including one where player Sleepy Floyd scored 51 points in a playoff game.
Between 1997 and 2000, Papa was the main announcer for the San Antonio Spurs basketball team on TV. During these years, he also announced baseball games for the Oakland Athletics on TV. He worked with Ray Fosse from 1991 to 2003.
Announcing for the Oakland Raiders
Greg Papa was the play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Raiders football team for a long time. He worked with former Raiders coach Tom Flores. The Raiders hired Papa in 1997.
He became known for his exciting touchdown calls, shouting "TOUCHDOWN, RRRRAID-ERS!!!" One of his most famous calls was during a controversial game in 2001. The Raiders seemed to win a playoff game against the New England Patriots. But a referee changed a call after watching a replay. This game is known as the "Tuck Rule" game. The Patriots ended up winning in overtime. Papa's time with the Raiders ended before the 2018 season.
Working with the San Francisco Giants
From 2004 to 2008, Greg Papa announced games for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. He worked on both TV and radio. He also hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the Giants.
In 2006, during a game where Barry Bonds hit his 715th career home run, the main announcer's microphone stopped working. Greg Papa quickly took over the broadcast to tell listeners what happened.
Papa returned to host Giants pre-game and post-game shows in 2021, which he did for one season. He still sometimes fills in as a host for these shows.
Broadcasting for the Golden State Warriors
From the 2011–12 season until 2019–20, Greg Papa hosted "Warriors Pregame Live" and "Warriors Postgame Live" on NBC Sports Bay Area. He also provided analysis during halftime for the Warriors' regular season games.
The San Francisco 49ers Voice
In 2018, Papa hosted pre-game and post-game shows for the San Francisco 49ers on NBC Sports Bay Area.
Since the 2019 season, Greg Papa has been the main radio voice for the 49ers. He handles the play-by-play calls on KNBR 680, working with analyst Tim Ryan. When the 49ers score a touchdown, he shouts, "TOUCHDOWN, SAN-FRAN-CISCO!"
Other Sports and Shows
Greg Papa also works for NBC Sports California. He announces football and basketball games for the California Golden Bears college teams. He used to host Chronicle Live, a nightly sports talk show about Bay Area sports.
He also co-hosted a sports discussion show called The Happy Hour from 2017 to 2018. His voice was even used in the 2011 movie Moneyball, which was about the Oakland A's baseball team.
Greg Papa's 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.
