Sunday, November 26, 2017

6:00 AM

Forty-one years into his job as the radio voice of the Philadelphia Eagles, Merrill Reese still gets butterflies. “From the moment I wake up on gameday, I can feel it,” he says. “I mean, they’re not bad nerves, they’re like … anticipation. You can feel that little rumbling in your stomach. You hope you can remember everything you’ve studied all week.”

Reese devotes his first waking moments on gameday to warding off those nerves by quizzing himself. He lies in bed and goes over the information he’s prepared all week to learn as second nature — the numbers of the opposing players, certain tendencies, notes, etc. Reinforcing it under the calmest of circumstances will help him during the frenzy to come.

6:25 AM

Satisfied with his silent prep, Reese ventures downstairs. This is part two of the gameday routine. He wears the Hawaiian shirt acquired on his honeymoon with Cindy, his wife of 38 years, and the same pair of shorts. He passes his office and turns the corner to the kitchen, where Cindy is preparing breakfast. The meal is the same every time, a hearty stack of pancakes that will keep him full throughout the day. He dares not eat once he gets to the stadium.

8:02 AM

For the last 18 years, the Reeses have lived in Blue Bell, three miles from the intersection of Jolly Road and Wentz Road. Seriously. As Merrill finishes getting ready upstairs, Cindy offers a cup of coffee to a guest — one of the few departures from routine on this Sunday in late November.

There’s no mistaking that Merrill Reese lives here. The TV room is decorated with a pair of framed, signed jerseys — one of Steve Van Buren’s No. 15, the other of Roger Staubach’s No. 12 — for Navy of course. There’s a framed photo over the fireplace of LeSean McCoy hurdling the Lions in the snow, a game ball presented to Reese by the Eagles, and Billie Jean King’s tennis shoes — the two worked together when Reese used to broadcast tennis. A few awards Reese has picked up along the way are displayed as well, among some other spoils.

8:10 AM

There are three loves in Reese’s life. First, his family, which, in addition to Cindy, includes his son, Nolan, and daughter, Ida. Second is the Eagles. And third, there is golf. Reese proudly boasts that he lives two minutes from the driving range. He’s a member of two golf clubs and he plays as much as he can, often with Cindy. To fully appreciate his addiction, though, you have to see his home office. The walls here are covered with even more mementos from Reese’s career — like photos of Reese with Eagles luminaries such as LeSean McCoy, Reggie White and Randall Cunningham, even more awards, and a framed poster from his induction into the Eagles Hall of Fame last season, signed by a host of Eagles greats and employees. There’s a photo of a young Reese, then a Naval officer. There are also too many golf trophies, plaques, and photos to count. But you have to look down to see where the sickness is truly indulged.

You see, not too long ago, Cindy had the perfect idea to surprise her husband. That’s how the floor of Reese’s office became a putting green, with a hole in the corner of the room. As she tells it, the gift was an obvious hit, as she listened from upstairs and heard the repetitive ding of Merrill’s putter and the sound of the ball tumbling into the cup. That is, until the sound changed from “ding” to “thwack.” She walked downstairs to find her husband standing in the living room, across the hall from his office, with a wedge in hand. Chipping is no longer allowed in the house, as the flock of putters in the corner of the office can attest.

8:21 AM

Reese walks downstairs dressed in khakis, a button-down shirt, and a sweater. “I’m wearing the tie,” he says to his wife with a smile. Apparently, Reese wore this Merion Golf Club tie back in Week 3, when the Eagles bounced back from a loss in Kansas City to win at the buzzer thanks to Jake Elliott’s heroics. He’s worn it every game since and the Eagles have yet to lose.

Cindy checks to make sure Merrill hasn’t forgotten anything like his credential or his parking pass. He’s covered on both accounts, so Cindy tells him to have a good game. As always, she’ll be listening.

8:26 AM

With his shadow for the day in the passenger seat, Reese pulls out of the garage as the “50s on 5” satellite radio station plays at a low volume. Soon, he’ll turn the channel to find the traffic report to decide his route to the stadium.

“She’s great. Very unselfish,” he says when asked about Cindy. “Because this is so demanding.”

And then he tells a story you know he’s told many times before.

“She always tells the story of when Ida was born,” he says. “Nolan was born April 20th, so that was no problem. Ida, on the other hand, was born August 29th. And the week before, the Eagles played the Rams in the Hall of Fame Game in Columbus, Ohio. So I got there and she called me, and she said, ‘I think this might be it.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute. Take your time. I’ll be home after the game and we have a whole week with nothing but a Thursday night game, and then we start the season 10 days later in New York. So you can pick any other day.’ So, of course, I got home and everything was OK. And the following Thursday, we had a game against the Lions. She woke up, she said, ‘This is it.’ I said, ‘We have a game tonight.’ She said, ‘This is it!’

“So I called Stan Walters, who was doing the color at the time, and he went — in those days I did the morning sports at WIP — and Stan went in and did the morning sports and I said, ‘I’ll see you at the stadium.’ And the disc jockey was a guy named Ken Garland, who was the biggest star in the city. He goes on the air, ‘Merrill and Cindy are having their baby today’ and all this. Cindy calls the doctor at nine o’ clock, and the doctor says, ‘I’ve been waiting for you to call. I’ve been hearing about this all morning.’ So she gave him the timing of the contractions. He said, ‘Come in at noon.’ Now, she claims she walked in carrying a suitcase and I was carrying my sport jacket and everything for the game. The doctor looked at me and said, ‘What time do you have to be out of here?’ I said, ‘3:30.’ He said, ‘OK, no problem. We’ll break your water, we’ll give you some Pitocin, and you’ll be out of here at 3:30.’ At 3:15, Ida was born, and I was on my way to the stadium.”

8:34 AM

Frantically, Reese knocks on the wood panel in the middle console. That’s after he confirms that he’s never missed a game in 41 seasons of calling Eagles games. He’s worked sick, of course, through fevers, stomach viruses, and even food poisoning once in New Orleans. Now, he makes sure not to eat anything too spicy or garlicky in the lead-up to gameday in order to avoid any kind of indigestion that might interrupt his sleep the night before. He typically goes to bed around 11 on Saturday night, once the football games are over.

As he tosses a cough drop into his mouth while changing gears, he explains that he tries to prepare his voice on Friday and Saturday by avoiding long phone conversations and loud restaurants. What else does he do for his voice? “Pray,” he says with a laugh.

8:40 AM

Reese started broadcasting Eagles games on the radio in 1977 not as the play-by-play man, but as the color commentator. He became the play-by-play man with two games left in that first season after his partner Charlie Swift tragically committed suicide. Along the way, his partners have included Herb Adderley, Jim Barniak, Bill Bergey, Stan Walters, and now Mike Quick. Caught up in retelling this history, Reese realizes he has missed the exit from the Blue Route to I-95. No matter, he says, we can take this the whole way.

8:49 AM

The morning routine is only slightly altered depending on the time of the game. He’ll still get up at the same time and have his pancake breakfast. If it’s a night game, he’ll take a nap after breakfast and then do a brief workout. For a mid-afternoon game, not much changes except the departure time. He always makes sure to leave at least four and a half hours before kickoff.

The car emits a brief dinging noise to indicate that Reese is speeding. “This car is so fast,” he says.

The Eagles are 9-1 and have won eight games in a row leading up to today’s game against the Chicago Bears. Behind Carson Wentz, they look like a Super Bowl favorite. Reese is asked whether this already ranks among his favorite Eagles seasons.

“I’m excited every season, but this makes it … I mean, eight-game winning streak. Nine wins,” he says, shaking his head in disbelief. “And I love Doug [Pederson]. Doug is just, Doug is the easiest coach I’ve ever worked with in terms of my access to information, my comfort level with him. Just amazing. And I’m not surprised. But people, some people questioned his qualifications when they hired him. I was never suspect. Never at all. Doug is smart. He’s been around. He’s a wonderful communicator. I thought they hired — I thought it was a great choice.”

8:57 AM

Reese estimates that he works about 70 hours per week. In addition to his responsibilities with the Eagles and WIP, he’s also the co-owner and general manager of a radio station in Levittown, WBCB. A typical weekday sees him up at 6 a.m., joining WKYW for a phone interview around 7:15, heading into the Levittown office for sales meetings, then jetting down to the NovaCare Complex. He also hosts two weekly radio shows. He finds that the memorization has gotten easier as the years have gone by. Often, Cindy will help quiz him on the opposition at night. He only played nine holes yesterday, though he did play 18 on Friday.

The car dings again.

9:04 AM

There’s a chill in the air for an Eagles home game for the first time this season, hence the addition of the sweater to today’s wardrobe. While Reese enjoys the romanticism of football in the elements, truth be told he’s happier in the late summer when he can drive to the stadium with the top down and throw in a CD. Usually, that means the soundtrack to a Broadway show, like Grease, Jersey Boys, or his all-time favorite, Showboat. Cindy is the real stage aficionado of the two, even though much of Merrill’s youth was spent acting in commercials. He says he appeared in “hundreds,” thanks to the gentle nudge of his mother.

As he makes his way off the exit and turns right onto Pattison Avenue, Reese pops another cough drop and says that his favorite movie of all time is “A Face In The Crowd,” with Andy Griffith, which he says should be required viewing for anyone in communications. And he loves to read. Some of his recommendations include “The Tender Bar,” by J.R. Moehringer, “Natasha,” by Suzanne Finstad, “One Summer” by Bill Bryson, and “Manhunt,” by “James whomever.”

All of a sudden a large SUV honks mercilessly. “This has become a real bottleneck lately,” Reese says.

9:16 AM

“I love you, Merrill!” screams an Eagles fan wearing a white No. 11 jersey as Reese turns into the parking lot at Lincoln Financial Field. “My greeting,” Reese says with a smile. He is with his people.

9:22 AM

Walking toward the stadium now, Reese is stopped by an older fan in a black No. 11 jersey.

“I just want to shake your hand,” the fan says. “You’re the man. Call a good game, buddy.”

“Good morning, Merrill,” one of the parking staffers says a few seconds later.

“Hi, how are you?” Reese responds.

“What’s the final today? Give me a final.”

“Thirty-one to 14.”

When Reese goes through the security line upon entering the stadium, his 2004 Super Bowl ring becomes a topic of conversation.

“I wear it every day,” he says. “I mean, I don’t wear it for golf.”

9:27 AM

Reese takes the elevator up to the Club Suites level and enters the press box, saying “Hi,” in his unmistakable deep voice to a pair of stadium staffers. He quickly glides into the bathroom to brush his hair before walking over to the soda fountain, where he fills up a cup with an even split of Coke and Diet Coke. From there, briefcase in hand, he makes his way down the hallway and into the WIP radio booth.

“Gentlemen!” he announces as he opens the door and crosses the threshold.

“Hey, Merrill,” replies an upbeat man with white hair, who’s untangling a maze of cords. That’s Lane Massey, the chief engineer for the broadcast who has been with Reese since 1992.

“Wait ‘til you see the little dance he does,” Massey says, after Reese explains that he’s being followed for the day.

Now he’s really with his people.

9:32 AM

The booth itself is divided into two parts. The larger part, the back of the booth, houses most of the equipment that makes the broadcast happen. In the front, just a few steps below, are the front-row seats where Reese and Quick will call the action. Those two sit on the far right side of the front row, but it’s early and that spot is still being set up. So Reese takes a chair on the other end of the row, plops his briefcase on the counter and opens up the Philadelphia Inquirer sports page to leisurely make sure he hasn’t missed anything.

Dave Spadaro enters the booth to introduce a friend to the venerated Reese. “Hi, Merrill,” he says, not in his own voice but rather in an exaggerated Merrill Reese impression.

This, of course, is nothing new. Everyone in Philadelphia has their own Merrill Reese impression, and Reese has heard most of them.

“It’s really fun because [his voice] is very unique,” Massey says later. “And what’s happened is nobody imitates Merrill anymore, except Joe Conklin. Everybody else imitates Joe Conklin. It’s gotten so far that Conklin gets everything about it. It’s just hysterical.

“I mean, Conklin does mannerisms,” Reese says. “You know, Conklin gives you all the mannerisms but not the actual voice. I sure hear a lot of it.”

Does that mean anyone has the green light to show off their best Merrill Reese to the man himself?

“I guess, yeah,” he says. “I certainly don’t mind.”

9:41 AM

The talk of the booth this morning is the announcement a day earlier that former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly is taking over as the head coach at UCLA. “I have a new team to root against,” someone says while Reese polishes off the sports page.

He takes a look at his notebook, where all of his notes sit, ready to be plucked at the right moment. It’s a gameday bible of sorts.

“I’ll put an open in here,” he says as he thumbs through, “and then I’ll lead into, ‘There’s so much at stake in every game, even though the NFC East is pretty much in hand. Earning homefield advantage is huge. Both the Vikings and the Saints are right on the Eagles’ heels.’ Then I’ll have a list of stuff that I can bring up. Running game, officials, uniforms, third downs.”

Down on the field, it’s rehearsal time for the pre-game festivities. A bald eagle circles the stadium while the National Anthem singer does the early version of her rendition. Reese’s ears perk as he looks up from his notebook.

“Is that Lauren Hart?” he asks, before writing something down.

9:51 AM

“Merrill! The legend!” a voice barks from the back of the room. It’s Jeff Joniak, the radio play-by-play voice for the Bears, stopping by for a pre-game tête-à-tête.

“You look younger every day,” Joniak says, eliciting a laugh from Reese, who repays the compliment.

“You sound great. You sound terrific,” Reese says.

“Ditto, of course,” Joniak says. “I love hearing your voice. I love the history of the game and you’ve got the biggest bulk of it right now in our business.”

Over the subsequent six minutes, the two trade insider knowledge on their respective teams. Things like how amenable each coach is to work with, how impressive the young quarterbacks are off the field, potential X-factors for today’s game, and stories from the past of coaches who weren’t so accommodating. Reese tells his counterpart how much of a surprise Patrick Robinson has been, recovering from a “terrible” summer to become a key playmaker.

As Joniak returns to his booth — directly to the right of the WIP booth, partitioned with glass so it’s visible from Reese’s perch — Reese tells him to “Have a great broadcast.”

9:58 AM

There are three members of the broadcast team who are stationed on the field rather than in the booth. Howard Eskin is the sideline reporter and will chime in with injury updates throughout the broadcast. Then there are the two parabolic mic operators, Andy Coffin, wearing a Kamasi Washington T-shirt, and Dan Rosenthal, who are setting up their equipment in the booth. They’re responsible for the sounds from the field that are piped into the broadcast.

In 1992, the broadcast changed from AM to FM, requiring some changes in the hardware.

“Lane was an engineer at YSP. He did music. He wasn’t a sports guy. So our first game was the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio against the Raiders,” Rosenthal describes, as Massey groans. “And Lane came just to show the other engineer how to do all of this. And I guess he realized the other engineer wouldn’t be able to do it. And Lane’s been doing it ever since. So I started then too. I had interned for Merrill when I was in college, and then he called me, it was like the next year, and he was like, ‘We’re gonna have these parabolic mics, do you want to do one?’ So I said, ‘Yeah, sure.’ So I’ve been doing it pretty much since then.”

Coffin, who knew Massey from his history of doing sound for bands, joined the team four years later.

10:05 AM

“Can I go over to my office now?” Reese asks, before lifting up his briefcase and shuffling over to the seat he’ll occupy for the majority of the afternoon. The front row of the booth is a tight squeeze. Quick sits on the far right, Reese one spot to Quick’s left, overlooking the 40-yard-line on the south end of the stadium. Reese ranks stadiums not by their atmosphere or geography, but by their effect on the way he does his job. Lincoln Financial Field ranks near the top, while the two ends of his preference spectrum both reside within the division. Washington is “the worst in the world,” because of the low vantage point stuck in the corner of the end zone. Pittsburgh and Arizona also offer terrible viewpoints, Reese says.

His favorite booth to call games in is the one at MetLife Stadium: “It’s the fact that we’re dead on the 50, and the thing that makes it so special is when you look down, the scoreboard is at ground level too.”

That means he doesn’t have to constantly avert his eyes from the field to a higher scoreboard in order to disseminate information like time remaining in the game, time left on the play clock, or down and distance.

“That ground-level scoreboard at MetLife,” he lusts. “Uh! That’s everything.”

10:11 AM

With the sports page for the Philadelphia Daily News now open, Reese tests his microphone for the first time today. He’s asked if he thinks he’s as good at the job now as he’s ever been.

“I hope so,” he says. “I always go with football coaches who say that you don’t ever stay the same — you get better or you get worse. And I work very hard to be at my best every week.”

Indeed, Reese is insistent that he sees no end in sight.

10:17 AM

Of course, after 41 years, he has his favorites and his laments. He rattles off the date of “December 19th, 2010,” as his best game. More colloquially, that would be the Miracle at the New Meadowlands, when DeSean Jackson’s punt return on the final play of the game cemented one of the most memorable wins in team history.

Reese says he never regrets a quip he should have made or a lethargic game. The only errors that stick with him are inaccuracies. And he has a story about the one that sticks with him most. He doesn’t have this date memorized, but it occurred on November 3, 1996.

“My call came at the end of that Eagles-Dallas game when the Cowboys were driving,” he recalls. “They’re down inside the 10-yard-line, and the Eagles are protecting the lead and the Cowboys are driving. We’re wayyy up in Texas Stadium. They look like dots on the field, and I can’t use binoculars on pass plays, otherwise you lose the ball. So, there’s a pass into the corner of the end zone. [Troy] Aikman goes into the corner of the end zone, and I’m shielded, but I see a green helmet and I see an interception. And I say, ‘Intercepted! Intercepted!’ I’m biding my time. ‘Coming out of the end zone, to the 5, to the 10,’ as they go to the 15, I look for Derek Boyko, who’s my spotter. Except that Joe McPeak, a total professional, was so overcome that the Eagles had made the interception that he tackled Derek Boyko and the two of them were on the floor, so I looked down. Now I look up and I see 23 has the ball, so I go, ‘Troy Vincent! He’s at the 40, he’s at the 50, he’s at the 40, the 30. The Eagles win! The Eagles win! The Eagles win, as Troy Vincent makes the interception.’ We go into the break and now they go to a replay and I see, it’s James Willis, and in the time that I looked down and looked up, he had lateraled it to Troy Vincent.”

Reese is careful to make sure this doesn’t sound as if he’s blaming someone else for the brief error.

“I always blame myself,” he says. “The spotter may make the mistake, but I make the mistake first. They back me up. I mean, I’ve never done a perfect game ever. Suddenly, last week, OK, the ball’s knocked out of the hands of Dak Prescott. It’s picked up, but I’m looking down and I see the 3 coming down the sideline with the loop — on these jerseys, it’s very tough. So he picks it up, he’s down the sideline, and I go, ‘It’s picked up by Timmy Jernigan. He’s at the 30. No, it’s Nigel Bradham,’ because I finally saw the ‘5.’ It’s the ‘9’ and the ‘5.’ And you can’t see sizes.”

He laughs before telling one more anecdote.

“Once in Buffalo,” he says. “I got so absorbed that I said, ‘He’s at the 48, the 50, the 52.’ But I came out of it really well. You know what I said? ‘Well that’s what happens when you’re close to Canada.’”

10:27 AM

Both newspapers devoured, Reese moves on to the Bears’ media guide. The door to the booth opens, and in walks the day’s other visitor.

“George!” Reese proclaims.

George Forster is one of Reese’s best friends. Naturally, he’s the head golf pro at Radnor Valley Country Club. Once a season, he joins Reese in the booth for a home game as a spectator.

Reese puts down his blue PGA pen and he and Forster head to the press box cafeteria.

10:35 AM

Reese sips on a cup of hot tea with lemon while Forster eats some breakfast. Sitting with Reese in the press box means an endless procession of interjections as fellow media members pay their respects. Chip Kelly is again a popular topic, in between the discussion of how young golfers these days always seem to hit the ball so far. Reese mentions Zach Johnson as an example of a successful short hitter.

Former Eagle and WIP host Ike Reese, no relation, sits down at the table to break bread. Both Reeses have earned the use of “we” in reference to the team.

“Let’s not make this one a tough one all the way into the fourth quarter,” Ike says.

“We shouldn’t have to, but you never know.”

“Any Given Sunday. You know that better than anybody.”

“I know that better than anybody. I’m scared to death.”

10:57 AM

Reese ducks into the bathroom to wash his hands and gets one more cup of hot tea. He and Forster head back to the booth, where they’re greeted by Quick. Quick has been the yang to Reese’s yin for 21 years now, the longest partnership of Reese’s career. Quick also knows Forster well, in part because he too is a golf addict.

In between air swings, Quick explains that he’s hitting the ball better now than he ever has. He asks about Forster’s family and wonders how the course is holding up this late in the season.

11:03 AM

Next week, the Eagles travel for back-to-back games against the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. Because the team will stay on the west coast, everyone is talking about how they plan to spend their time. Quick will bring his clubs along and plans to play a few rounds of golf. He revels in the reaction when he reveals that he’ll be playing a round at the fabled Los Angeles Country Club.

Reese won’t be bringing his clubs, but he’s just as excited about the trip west because it means seeing his son Nolan, a film editor who lives in Los Angeles and will be joining his father in the booth for both games.

Quick and Reese also have a date with Hollywood, where they’ll be guest-starring on an episode of the ABC show “The Goldbergs.”

“How do I know what clothes to wear?” Reese asks in reference to the forthcoming star turn.

“Well, I’m expecting that they’re gonna do that for me,” Quick says.

Reese settles into his seat to write his open. He says it took “10 minutes” for him and Quick to develop their chemistry when they became partners. As with anyone, the best way to judge a friendship is in the good-natured ribbing between the two. Occasionally throughout the season, the team website has placed a camera inside the radio booth to record the reactions to exciting plays. But there will be no “Merrill-cam” today, much to Quick’s delight.

“It’s called jealousy,” Reese jokes, “because it’s not ‘Mike-cam.’”

“Oh no, it’s not that,” Quick says. “If it was just Merrill, I’d be OK with it. It’s because it catches all of my weird shit.”

“I like when he rubbed his stomach,” Reese laughs.

11:12 AM

“If you’re going to say names, pronounce them right,” Reese chastises.

The object of his brief derision is Bill Werndl, himself a longtime sports broadcaster. In this booth, Werndl serves as the “spotter” and, when the game starts, he occupies the seat directly to Reese’s left. He and Reese go back a long ways. His slip-up in this moment is in the pronunciation of the Bears’ rookie running back Tarik Cohen. Werndl pronounced the first name Tar-ik instead of Tar-eek.

Moments later, Reese is “loving up” Werndl, as Quick describes it.

“Now he’s making nice,” Quick says with a laugh. “Because later, he’s gonna be screaming at Billy. So now is like the massaging period.”

11:14 AM

Reese introduces Werndl to the interloper, though the two have met before.

“Sorry, I’m losing it,” Werndl jokes.

“Aren’t we all,” the interloper says.

“Not all of us!” Reese interjects.

Later, when asked about Reese, Werndl says, “He’ll be doing it until he’s 95.”

Again, Reese jumps in. “At least!”

11:19 AM

Quick leaves the booth to go next door to record a segment for the Bears’ pre-game show. Reese and Forster begin to head downstairs to the field, where Reese has two obligations, one with the team website and one with the local CBS station.

As they exit the elevator, a young female fan spots Reese.

“Hi, Merrill!” she shouts, to which Merrill replies with his guttural “Hi.”

“Have a good game!” she responds.

As they make their way through the maze of tunnels on the way to the field, another stadium staffer asks Reese how his Thanksgiving was and urges him to “stay warm.”

“Good to see you,” he says.

The attention doesn’t seem to bother him.

11:23 AM

While Reese waits for Quick to make his way onto the field for their short segment for the PhiladelphiaEagles.com pre-game show, Reese and Forster watch the offensive linemen go through their pre-game routine.

Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland comes over to say hi to the duo. He knows Forster because he makes his way out to Radnor Valley a few times a year. So too, apparently, does Jason Kelce, who also greets the pair before confessing that he hasn’t played at all since the summer.

11:29 AM

For Reese and Quick, there’s no need to rehearse. They pick up the mics for their short pre-taped segment and reel off a breezy 45-second back-and-forth about their “Players to watch.” Quick identifies Malcolm Jenkins, while Reese focuses on Alshon Jeffery.

“My guy to watch is the former Bear, number 17, Alshon Jeffery,” Reese bellows. “He’s been heating up, getting more and more comfortable every week. He’s had three touchdowns in the last three weeks. He also has six on the season and he’s also averaging over 15 yards per reception. So look out for Alshon Jeffery. This is a big day for him. All right, Chris, back to you.”

11:35 AM

Reese is now filming a segment with three members of the local CBS affiliate. He proclaims that this team simply doesn’t suffer from “letdown games,” because “it all starts at the top with head coach Doug Pederson.” Again, he insists that Jeffery will be in for a big day.

On-field duties wrapped up, Reese and Forster begin to head back up to the radio booth. With the wind whipping at field level, Reese is glad he chose to wear a sweater.

“Yo Merrill,” someone wearing a black No. 11 jersey shouts. “Mind if I get a picture witcha?”

11:53 AM

After washing his hands again and stopping to grab his fourth drink since arriving at the stadium this morning — another half-and-half of Coke and Diet Coke — Reese returns to the booth, where he’ll remain until the game is over.

He has one change to the broadcast to run by McPeak, the producer. Usually, the radio broadcast does not include the National Anthem. But Reese thinks it’s worth including today since Lauren Hart will be singing.

“She’s special,” he insists.

McPeak relents, and the two work through shuffling pieces to accommodate the change.

12:20 PM

Though the broadcast officially begins 15 minutes prior to kickoff, everyone begins to settle into their places. That’s after Quick hears Jay-Z playing on the stadium speakers and raps to no one in particular, “I’ve got the hottest chick in the game wearin’ my chain.”

Contrary to Reese’s account that he and Quick were an easy fit from the start, the former star wide receiver says he was not a natural.

“Really it took a couple years [to feel comfortable],” he says. “What I did was I started getting tapes from other people. Started listening to all the stuff when I wasn’t working. The Monday night or Sunday night stuff. I wouldn’t watch, I would listen to the radio. I even went to NFL Films in the offseason and got some games from people that were doing the radio, just so I could study.”

Then he points to Reese.

“Now, since then, he’s written a How-To book,” Quick quips. “Would’ve been helpful back then.”

Quick sits down in his seat on the right of the front row, where there’s a small monitor that will show the TV broadcast. To his left is Reese, then Werndl, who has a Tupperware full of highlighters and a corkboard that features the depth charts for both units on both teams. To Werndl’s left is Terry Small, the statistician. To Small’s left is Paul Jolovitz, a WIP radio host whose role in this booth is to provide interesting nuggets of information to Reese during the broadcast. To Jolovitz’s left is Forster, who has no job today but to watch. It’s the best seat in the house.

12:29 PM

“About 15 minutes!” shouts Joe McPeak, the producer of the broadcast and the longest-tenured member of the team other than Reese. He started in 1984, and aside from that James Willis episode, he has Reese’s full confidence. What he also has, in this booth, is the kind of setup you might otherwise see in a movie about finding a serial killer. McPeak stands to the far right of the booth, behind Quick. The wall to his right is covered with printouts of different ad copy the broadcast team will have to read throughout the game. There’s definitely an “A Beautiful Mind” vibe, as he plucks papers from the wall and hands them to Reese or Quick before laying them to rest in his binder.

“I deal with the engineers, I deal with the sales department during the week, I deal with the on-air talent, Merrill, Howard and Mike, and I pretty much bring everything together,” McPeak says later. “You try not to let the billboards and the commercials interfere with Merrill and Mike, you know what I mean, broadcasting this game. You try to place them in good spots where they’re noticeable but they don’t overwhelm the broadcast.”

12:45 PM

“What a beautiful day,” Reese begins the broadcast, without sounding like he’s reading from something pre-written. He continues setting the stage before introducing Quick into the conversation. Before the first commercial break, McPeak hands a printout to Reese, who deftly reads the copy before throwing to commercial. Minutes later, as the Eagles are being introduced to the crowd, Reese’s unwavering concentration to read the ad copy perfectly while fireworks boom and the decibel level rises is astounding.

1:01 PM

Finally, the action begins.

“Kenjon Barner to the far side, Corey Clement to the near side,” Reese describes so the listener can picture the game through his eyes. “The sun is shining. It’s been shining on the Eagles all season. Cairo Santos, who spent the first four games with the Kansas City Chiefs before being released, to kick off.”

It’s a touchback and the Eagles will start their drive on the 25-yard-line.

1:03 PM

The transcription of Reese’s call of the first play is as follows:

“Jeffery and Agholor to the far side. In the gun, Wentz, double tight end to his left, Blount. Wentz, on first down, is gonna roll, gonna throw, and it is complete to the 29-yard-line as he finds Jeffery. Five-yard pickup.”

Of course, that does justice neither to Reese’s intonations nor the skill with which he conducts the merry-go-round that has just begun. One of the great skills of the play-by-play man, especially in football, is the half-beat pause that allows information to be gathered without breaking up the flow of the description.

The play, then, sounds more like this:

“Jeffery and Agholor to the far side. (Pause) In the gun, Wentz, double tight end to his left, Blount. Wentz, on first down, is gonna roll, gonna throw, and it is (half-pause) complete to the (half-pause) 29-yard-line, as he finds Jeffery. (Pause) Five-yard pickup.”

The information, meanwhile, is gathered with the help of Werndl and Small. Much of the time, Reese can identify the majority of the information himself. But his job is to paint the picture. Werndl’s job is to point to the players involved in the play on his cork board. Small’s primary job on a per-play basis is to pass along the number of yards gained or lost. He has a board that has each number increasing from about -10. He then holds out the board into Reese’s field of vision and points to the appropriate number.

The play, then, sounds and looks more like this:

“Jeffery and Agholor to the far side. (Pause) In the gun, Wentz, double tight end to his left, Blount. Wentz, on first down, is gonna roll, gonna throw, and it is (half-pause) complete to the (half-pause) 29-yard-line, as he finds (Reese looks left to Werndl’s board) Jeffery. (Pause, Reese looks left to Small’s chart) Five-yard pickup.”

When the game begins, this looks like chaos. Soon enough, it’s a beautifully orchestrated dance.

1:02 PM

Harold Carmichael walks into the booth with a plate of food and sits in the back. Including Quick, Reese, Werndl, Small, Jolovitz, Forster, McPeak, Massey, Carmichael, the interloper, and Bryan Thomas, a team employee who is charged with monitoring the broadcast and clipping out any noteworthy calls, there are now 11 people in the booth.

1:21 PM

After the two teams trade punts on their opening possessions, the Eagles have driven into the red zone.

Reese: “It is first and 10 at the 17. Wentz in the gun. Clement to the right. Wentz back, he steps up, (pause) TOUCHDOWN! (Pause for crowd reaction) Perfect strike as he guns it to Zach Ertz. Ertz’s seventh touchdown of the year.”

The exasperated, pitch-rising proclamation of Reese’s “touchdown” is perfect in its conveyance of both earnest excitement and utter relief. It’s both an accurate proxy for an Eagles fan’s own emotions and a sound synonymous with the entire endeavor of being an Eagles fan.

1:24 PM

The first play of the Bears’ subsequent drive is one of the more challenging calls of Reese’s day.

Reese: “Empty backfield, now motion, as back goes Trubisky, he pumps, he fires (pause, as the sound of the crowd cheering intrudes), it’s intercepted! Intercepted by the Eagles, Jenkins, and he’s tackled near midfield. So Jenkins, on the deflection, picks it off, (pause) and they get it back! He lost it.”

Quick: “Gol-ly.”

Reese: “He had the interception on the deflection –”

Quick: “Yes he did.”

Reese: “He ran with it, tried to go backwards, and the ball was stripped away, and the Bears get it at the 50!”

Quick: “Dion Sims rips it out as he’s tackling Jenkins. A huge opportunity here that’s lost by a big tackle by the tight end Dion Sims.”

Reese: “A mistake by Malcolm Jenkins. There’s a time to just go down and protect the football. Instead the Bears have a 1st and 10 from midfield.”

1:31 PM

Jenkins’ fumble does not come back to bite the Eagles, as the defense forces a punt. They continue to sloppily dominate.

Reese: “First and 10, ball at the 7-yard-line. Blount the single set back. Torrey Smith goes in motion. Left to right. Wentz under center on first down. He spins, he gets it off to Blount, Blount across the 10, the 15, (voice rising) 20, 25, 30, the 35, 40 and The Great Big Train goes out to the 42-yard-line. He lost the ball! He may have lost the ball, let’s see. He was out to the 42-yard-line. That was a 35-yard run, (pause) and the Bears get it. That’s two fumbles.”

For the first time, Reese rises to his feet during this call. Alas, if the Eagles as a collective could hear the tone in Reese’s voice, they would feel like an 8-year-old caught disobeying the rules of the house. He’s not mad, he’s just disappointed.

1:42 PM

The first quarter ends with the Eagles up 7-0. Quick rises from his chair and leaves the booth. Reese takes off his headphones, drinks from his glass of water and stretches his arms and back. He says, “Good job,” to Werndl and Small. Quick returns with a bag of chips in hand.

1:49 PM

By now, you’re used to the tempo-pending formula of Reese’s calls. Before the play, he’ll provide the down and distance, whether the quarterback is in shotgun or under center, the formation of the skill-position players, and the identity of the running back in the backfield. After the play, you’ll find out how many yards are gained, the yard line achieved, who made the play, and who made the tackle. That will all be punctuated by the new down and distance.

The fourth play of the second quarter provides perhaps the day’s most memorable moment, as Wentz blindly spins away from blitzing Bears cornerback Cre’von LeBlanc.

Reese: “Eagles have a 3rd and 9. Clement is in. Wentz in the gun, three receivers. Clement to his left. Wentz, calling for the football, takes the snap, he’s back. He’s looking, he pulls away from one man –”

Quick: “Whoa!”

Reese: “He starts to run, he’s across the 30, he’s across the 20, he’s down at the 18. The running Carson Wentz, leaving Bears in his wake.”

Quick: “What a play! This is what this guy can give ya (laughing), outside of the design of the play. He gets pressure coming from the back side, he recognizes that pressure, he spins away from it, and he’s able to get down the field and get a first down. A lot of space to run and Carson Wentz has the ability to take advantage.”

Reese: “LeBlanc, le whiffed.”

Four plays later the Eagles will take a 14-0 lead on a Nelson Agholor touchdown that will bring Reese to his feet for the second time.

2:01 PM

The Bears are backed up against the shadow of their end zone on the south side of the stadium. As Reese says, “If they back up any further, they’ll be on the expressway.”

McPeak hands Reese a sheet of paper.

Reese: “Bears have a 3rd and 17 inside the 1. Now, if he retreats into the end zone and they hold, it’s a safety. PGW, safely delivering the natural gas that Philadelphia’s homes and businesses depend on …”

Quick: “See I don’t care who the quarterback is, facing these guys, the way they get up the field. I would be concerned. More than concerned. I would be worried.”

Reese: “Unless perhaps you’re Tom Brady.”

Quick: “He would be worried.”

Reese: “It is 3rd and 17 –”

Quick: “He would be calmly worried.”

Reese: “Now they’re holding things up again and the Bears are gonna take a timeout.”

This time, it’s Quick’s turn to read one of McPeak’s printouts.

Quick: “There’s always time for Herr’s chips.”

Reese: “Speaking of Chips, one of them –”

Quick: “Oh.”

Reese: “Got the head coaching job at UCLA”

Quick: “How ‘bout that (laughing). Good luck, UCLA.”

Reese: “Good luck, Bruins. (Pause) Nine-thirty-eight to go first half, Eagles up 14-to-nothing.”

Quick: “And now they have to deal with that Ball guy for basketball and now they have to deal with Chip Kelly. Good luck.”

Reese: “It is 3rd and 17. Trubisky in the shotgun, puts Cohen in motion, he has Jordan Howard to his right. Trubisky stamps his right foot, accepts the snap, rolls right, looks right, fires right, out of bounds. And so the Bears are gonna have to punt from nine yards deep.”

2:18 PM

Now up 17-0, the Eagles are driving again.

As the game goes on, Small is responsible for providing Reese with cumulative player statistics in addition to the per-play gains.

Reese: “First and 10 Eagles, ball at the Bears’ 45 yard line. Blount the single-set back, slot to the near side of the field, on first down, Wentz, takes the snap, he looks over the middle, he completes it, and stumbling with the ball, and picking up a first down is Ertz. Ertz picks it up. Down to the 32.”

Reese glances toward Small.

Reese: “Ertz is putting together quite a game. He’s now got five receptions, including a touchdown. First and 10, Wentz back again, standing there, looking, and now he’s gonna run. He’s at the 30 and he slides down at the 25 with a 7-yard gain. Wentz with two scampers for 21 yards.”

For Small, a lifelong Eagles fan who has been in the booth for home games with Reese for 15 years now, the job is a dream come true.

“It’s awesome when you grew up listening to him,” Small says before the game. “And like, Mike Quick is one of my favorite all-time players. For the last 15 years to get to sit two seats away, it’s pretty cool. It’s a pretty good gig. The thing is what you see is what you get with [Reese]. He’s like the greatest guy in the world. He expects a level of performance, even from a spotter, from the engineer, the statistician and everything, but he’s also like a great quarterback. He’ll pick you up when you make a mistake and say, ‘Go on to the next play.’ He’s really a great guy and a great guy to work with.”

A father of two, Small has plenty to be proud of.

“My son does a great Merrill,” he says. “The funniest thing is my son, it was the game where I wasn’t even doing the game, it was a road game where — it must have been San Diego — where Blount went off with those runs. And Merrill’s call was, ‘It’s a runaway train! He’s a runaway train.’ My son’s playing ball in the yard and he must have heard the call somewhere. He’s like, ‘Daddy, I’m a runaway train, I’m a runaway train!’ He’s 12, and he’s met Merrill a couple times.”

2:23 PM

The Eagles are a few plays away from taking a 24-0 lead, but right now Reese is updating listeners on the out-of-town scoreboard. Hopefully no Browns fans are listening.

Reese: “Cincinnati beating our favorite team, the Cleveland Browns, without whom the Eagles would be minus Carson Wentz. We all owe Cleveland, the wonderfully inept Cleveland Browns, a debt of gratitude.”

Quick: “Well, they didn’t figure they needed a quarterback.”

He’s not done.

Reese: “Remember the genius in Cleveland who stepped forward and told the populace there that they didn’t believe that Carson Wentz projected to be a top-20 quarterback?”

Quick laughs.

Reese: “Didn’t they hire a baseball analytics expert?”

Quick: “One of those analytics guys.”

Reese: “Well, I mean, there’s a place for analytics in every sport.”

Quick: “No question.”

Reese: “But you also want a certain amount of football expertise. You gotta be able to look at a player and say, ‘This is an NFL player. This is a special quarterback.’ (Pause) It is 1st and 20. Wentz under center again. Torrey Smith the man in motion, on first down. Wentz comes right back to Blount, they get a hole (crowd noise level rising), to the 30, to the 35, to the 40! He’s carrying people for the first down!

Quick: (Laughs)

Reese: “The train is loose!”

Quick: “He is impressive. You know, this offensive line, they do such a great job. That’s a wham, it’s the tight end that’s cracking down inside and creates a big space and Blount gets to that second level and then just hurdles the safety (laughs) and keeps moving people.

Reese: “Oh, is he something.”

Quick: “He’s impressive.”

Reese: “He is a great, big rumbling train and they can’t stop him.”

2:25 PM

At the two-minute warning, Quick leaves the booth again, returning this time with a drink. A few plays earlier, Wentz successfully converted a quarterback sneak, so the interloper informs Quick that Wentz is 11-for-11 in his career on converting quarterback sneaks. “I might use that,” Quick says with a smile.

2:28 PM

Against his former team, Jeffery will finish with five catches for 52 yards. His biggest impact comes with nine seconds left in the half. Both Reese and Quick are standing.

Reese: “Hollins, Ertz, and the inside man is Jeffery. Slot to the near side, Wentz back, Wentz pumps, Wentz fires, (pause) caught! Jeffery touchdown!

Quick: “Yeah, that’s how you do it to your old team. This time Alshon Jeffery, the inside receiver, lined up to the inside, and the Bears just don’t do a good enough job of defending. He caught this same play last week against the Cowboys.”

The two both start laughing as Jeffery’s teammates line up as bowling pins and he pretends to roll the football toward them.

Quick: “I love these team celebrations.”

Reese: “He lined up the team like they were bowling pins, he rolled the ball and they all veered over to the right.”

Quick: “Love these team celebrations.”

Reese: “What a play.”

2:35 PM

Halftime brings some more visitors to the booth in the form of corporate sponsor guests. Everyone wants to meet Reese. He, of course, obliges politely. Contrary to Quick’s bundle of energy — he’s outside the booth again — Reese says that he won’t leave the booth at all until the game is over. For the second time today, he panics in superstition when told that it sounds like there were no mistakes in the first half. “Ssshhh!” he shushes, before the interloper can finish his sentence.

2:53 PM

The Bears’ best offensive drive of the day comes at the beginning of the third quarter.

Reese: “Corey Graham replaces Patrick Robinson. Howard the single-set back, it’s second down and 10, ball at the Eagles’ 22. This time, this time they go with a double reverse, (pause) it doesn’t work! Because Vinny Curry makes a tackle of Tarik Cohen —

Quick: (Cackling) “Ohhhh”

Reese: “Way in the backfield. They went with the reverse and Tarik Cohen didn’t know what hit him.”

Quick: “You know, I was talking to one of the coaches, and he was a little bit concerned about the razzle dazzle that they have in their offense. They go razzle dazzle this time, and Vinny Curry is deep in the backfield, just waiting to make a big stop.”

Reese: “Well that was razzle fizzle.”

Quick: (Laughs)

Reese takes a sip from his bottle of water, his sixth drink of the day.

3:07 PM

Wentz converts another quarterback sneak on 4th and 1.

Quick: Did you know that Carson Wentz has never been stopped short on a quarterback sneak?

Reese: Well, I wouldn’t — I can’t remember seeing him stopped on a quarterback sneak.

Quick: (Laughs)

Reese: I love the quarterback sneak, especially when you have a big, tough quarterback.

Quick: Hey, that’s your favorite play.

Reese: It is.

Quick: Over the years, you’ve called for that play more than any other play that you’ve called for!

Reese: (Laughs) First and 10, Wentz under center with Ajayi behind him. Wentz turns, fakes, rolls, he looks, he fires, and he completes it. He’s got Ertz for very little. Wentz was moving left, he was grabbed, I don’t know how he got the arm free but he did manage to pick up one scant yard.

Quick looks back with a smile at the interloper, who has now tangibly contributed to the broadcast, albeit without credit.

3:24 PM

Two plays into the third quarter, the Eagles are about to take a 31-3 lead. This, however, will also be the mistake that keeps this broadcast from perfection.

Reese: “First and 10 Eagles, they’re at the Bears’ 35. Ajayi stays in. Wentz under center on first down, Wentz, gives to Ajayi. Ajayi, he’s got a lane (voice rising), he’s at the 30, he’s at the 20 (crowd noise growing), he’s at the 15, the 10, the 5, he fumbles the football into the end zone, recovered by (pause) Jeffery! Touchdown! He was hit at the 2, he fumbled the football, it rolled into the end zone, and it was picked up — was it Agholor? It’s Agholor. It is Agholor. Touchdown.

Quick: “Well, if you hustle, good things happen and Nelson Agholor running down the field, what a great job blocking, and the vision of Ajayi. Great job of getting that cut to the outside, he sees that lane and gets down into the end zone, ball comes out, good job defensively by the Bears pulling that football out, but Nelson Agholor –”

Then, if you listen closely, someone on the field drops the mother of F-bombs. “Oops,” Massey says from the back of the booth.

Quick: “Oops.”

Reese: “At any rate, the Eagles extend their margin.”

Quick: “Boy, those parabolic guys can pick up some sound down there (laughing).”

Reese reads another ad and throws to commercial. Quick leaves the booth again and returns, dancing to Montell Jordan’s “This Is How We Do It.”

3:42 PM

Game firmly in hand, the Eagles send in their backup quarterback to run the offense with over nine minutes left in the game.

Reese: “Slot to the far side of the field, three receivers, Foles takes the snap again, he looks, he fires, and he completes it on the far side of the field as he has Agholor, who was brought down at the 25-yard-line. You know, Foles has quite an arm too. He got that out there with plenty of accurate zip.

Quick: “Listen, Nick can still play the game.”

Reese: “Oh, he can.”

Quick: “No question, now.”

Reese: “He can.”

Quick: “He’s in a position where hopefully he doesn’t have to, but Nick can certainly get it done.”

3:55 PM

The Eagles are about to close out their ninth consecutive win.

Reese: “So there’s a penalty. Three-thirty-eight remaining. Eagles were up 7-0 in the first quarter, 17-0 by halftime, and by halftime you were feeling very, very comfortable. Now it’s 31-to-3. Eagles are going to be 10-1, and this is their ninth straight win. Can you believe that? Low snap, to Trubisky, he picks it up and he fires out to the far side and getting knocked down at the 30-yard-line is Kendall Wright.”

Quick: “Of course I believe it, that’s what you just told me. You wouldn’t tell me anything wrong.”

Reese: “I wouldn’t. (Pause) Well, I was right about one thing. I said before the season —

Quick: “Only one?”

Reese: “(Laughing) I said before the season that I thought this was a 10-win team. I didn’t mean by two days after Thanksgiving.”

Quick: “How many of you really thought that the Eagles would be 10-1. Did anybody? Not in their right minds.”

Reese’s seventh drink is another soda, the exact breakdown of which is impossible to ascertain.

3:58 PM

The outcome may be decided, but the Eagles still have work to do before they leave the field. After Rasul Douglas intercepts Mitchell Trubisky, he runs over to the Eagles’ sideline, where he’s joined by some defensive teammates for a coordinated dance.

Quick: “And they celebrate with a little dance (chuckles). Look at the celebration.”

Reese: “Well they should celebrate –”

Quick: “You know, they used to call that the Bus Stop when I was young. I don’t know what it’s called anymore. It’s some dance where –”

Reese: “That was the Bus Stop?”

Quick: “Some dance where everybody’s — (chuckling).”

Reese: “They called that the Bus Stop?”

Quick: “In rhythm. Yeah (laughing).”

Reese: “I thought when you were young, they called it the Charleston.”

Quick: “That was a different dance.”

Eventually, Quick corrects the egregious error and identifies the dance as the Electric Slide. The interception is overturned, though the dance returns a few plays later when Corey Graham intercepts Trubisky.

4:04 PM

The two-minute warning hits and it’s time for the quarterback to salute his teammates. “Bill, great job,” he says, patting Werndl on the back. “You did a great, great job. Terry, great job. Paul, good job. George, great job.”

Quick makes one final exit and re-entrance.

4:12 PM

Reese: “Please excuse me for being repetitious, or if you’ve heard me say this before. Another rout! Week after week after week, the Eagles are just demolishing teams.

Quick: “This is a good football team.”

Reese: “It’s a very good football team, and we will get a better test next week in Seattle, and then the following week against the Rams in Los Angeles.

Quick: Yeah, the next two weeks, you really test this team to see, on the road, and especially spending the week out in California, it’s gonna be a real, real big test for this football team.

Reese: “Clock still ticking, as we tick off the final 30 seconds. Any re-broadcast of this game is expressly prohibited without advance written permission of the NFL, 94 WIP and CBS Radio.”

Reese then runs down the list contributors to the broadcast as the game ends and the Eagles fight song blares over the stadium loudspeakers.

“Once again, the final score, the Eagles 31, the Bears 3,” Reese says, hands fluctuating in the air for emphasis. “Honestly, it wasn’t that close.”

4:14 PM

Reese takes out his cell phone and calls Cindy. It’s a brief conversation, they agree it was a good game and decide that Cindy will order some pizza for dinner. Then Reese calls Nolan for another quick recap — the team is definitely good, they agree. Finally, he calls Ida, who enjoyed the game as well. Usually, Reese says, Forster is on the list of post-game calls too. Tonight, he’ll join the Reeses for a pizza dinner back at the house.

4:18 PM

Recapping the game, Reese laments the one ever-so-brief blunder.

“There was one where the fumble came and I said, ‘Jeffery,’ first because I saw the top of the three,” he says. “My eyes were on Ajayi and then I looked up. But I fixed it before I was done. That’s really not — it doesn’t count. I thought I had a good game. There’s maybe three games a year that I’m really happy with, but it felt good.”

The interloper has one final question. After 41 years, what is Reese most proud of?

“Besides Lane you mean?” he jokes, much to Massey’s delight. “I mean, I’m proud that people enjoy my work and that I can make somebody’s life a little more exciting by transmitting my love and excitement for what I do to them.”

For now, the tie remains undefeated.

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Top photo: Eagles Hall of Fame inductee Merrill Reese is honored at halftime of the Eagles-Packers game on Nov. 28, 2016. (Matt Rourke/AP)