The Voice Of The Giants

Recently, TGI’s Chris Bisignano sat down with the voice of the New York football Giants, Bob Papa.

When did you get your first taste of sports?

Well, I was born in the Bronx. I got my first taste of sports through my grandfather, who worked in the Bronx County Court House next to Yankee Stadium. During his lunch break, he used to take me to the rooftop of the court house. Before they remodeled the stadium, you could actually see inside. My parents grew up just a few blocks from the stadium, so when we moved to New Jersey, the Bronx was still my playground. We still have a lot of family there, so I look at it as being born in the Bronx, grew up in Jersey.

At what age did you realize that you wanted to be a broadcaster?

When I realized I wasn’t going to be 6’4” 200 pounds like Walt Frazier. I realized my calling might be in a different area. Since I was a little kid, I wanted to do play-by-play. I grew up in a time prior to cable television. You had the Knicks on channel nine on Friday nights with Bob Wolff and Cal Ramsey. The Rangers on the road Saturday nights with Jim Gordon and Bill Chadwick, and also the Knicks on the radio with Marv (Albert). Then, you had the Giants on WNEW on Sundays. The radio was the only way you can consume it. So from a young age, I was captivated by the radio. When I went to Yankee and Ranger games, I always wanted to get the broadcaster’s autograph more than the players.

Who were your biggest influences when you started broadcasting?