By Jenn Pirri

In 40 years a lot has changed in the National Football League, but one thing – one voice in particular – has not.

Merrill Reese. Eagles. Everyone knows his name.

His iconic voice has vividly brought Eagles games - the good, the bad and the ugly - to life since 1977.

Reese makes it his mission to reach the hearts of Eagles fans everywhere, every gameday.

Reese was born in Philadelphia in 1942. As a child, he played every sport imaginable. Tennis was his passion, but football was always on his mind. By the time Reese reached his senior year of high school, he knew that his calling was not on the field, but in the booth.

"When it came time to go to college, and think about college and what I wanted to be, there was no doubt in my mind," Reese says. "In my high school yearbook it says, 'Aspires to be a play-by-play broadcaster.' It was my goal and my dream."

Reese enrolled at Temple University and began studying communications and broadcasting. It was in college where he was able to hone his craft as the play-by-play announcer for Temple’s radio station, WRTI-FM. Throughout college, Merrill called various sports and really gained the experience he needed to start a career in broadcasting.