Ray Didinger

Born to Raymond and Marie Didinger, and raised in Folsom, Pennsylvania, Didinger graduated from St. James High School in 1964. He received a B.S. in Communications from Temple University in 1968. His nickname was Nauga,{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} after the animated character used in commercials for Naugahyde. Didinger spent four years doing sports radio for WRTI, a public radio station owned by Temple, and served as the station's Sports Director.{{cite web|title=The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia|url=http://broadcastpioneers.com/raydidinger.html|publisher=Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia|accessdate=29 December 2010}}

In 1990, Didinger wrote The Super Bowl: Celebrating a Quarter-Century of America's Greatest Game. He co-authored Football America: Celebrating Our National Passion along with Don Shula in 1996 and co-wrote The Eagles Encyclopedia with Robert S. Lyons in 2005. Didinger also co-wrote The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies with fellow-Philadelphia radio personality Glen Macnow in 2009. He wrote his memoir, Finished Business: My Fifty Years of Headlines, Heroes, and Heartaches Hardcover in 2021.

File:Ray Didinger WIP.jpg with Bernie Parent]]

Didinger co-hosted a popular radio show every Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 94.1 WIP in Philadelphia with co-host Glen Macnow. The show featured Didinger and Macnow discussing aspects of Philadelphia sports. It was also common to hear the two talk about movies, since both are avid movie fans. Didinger and Macnow co-wrote a book entitled The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies, featuring what they both considered the all-time best in cinema sports dramas, published and released in 2009.

On May 8, 2022, during his radio show, Didinger announced his retirement effective May 29, 2022. Saying he was in good health and was not being pushed out the door, he would work until the end of his contract and then retire from radio and television. Didinger said he wanted to spend more time with his wife and family.{{Cite web|url=https://www.phillyvoice.com/ray-didinger-retirement-eagles-nbc-sports-philadelphia-daily-news-bulletin-wip/|website=PhillyVoice|title=Ray Didinger, the prince of the city, calls it quits after 53 years |date=May 26, 2022|author=Santoliquito, Joseph}} In 2023, it was announced that Didinger would return to 94.1 WIP as an Eagles contributor in a part-time capacity for the station's new morning show.

File:Bernie Parent Ray Didinger.jpg (left)]]

Didinger covered the National Football League for The Philadelphia Bulletin and The Philadelphia Daily News for more than 25 years.{{cite web|title=CSNPhilly Eagles Insider Ray Didinger|url=http://www.csnphilly.com/pages/archive_didinger|publisher=Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia|accessdate=29 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105041124/http://www.csnphilly.com/pages/archive_didinger|archive-date=2010-01-05|url-status=dead}} He was named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. In 1995, he won the Dick McCann Memorial Award{{cite web|title=MCCANN AWARD WINNERS|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/football-history/mccann-award-winners/|website=Pro Football Hall of Fame|accessdate=18 September 2017|ref=profootballhof}} for long and distinguished coverage of pro football, and his name was added to the writers' honor roll in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Didinger served as a full-time member of NBC Sports Philadelphia, writing articles and appearing on-air in a variety of roles, most prominently in Eagles Pre Game Live and Eagles Post Game Live. In 2022, he retired from his on-air role at NBC Sports. He returned on-air back to NBC sports for the 2022-2023 NFL Playoffs. Didinger was a senior producer with NFL Films in Mount Laurel, New Jersey until he was bought out of his contract in February 2009. He has won four Emmy Awards for his work as a writer and producer on the weekly series NFL Films Presents and the Turner Network documentary Football America.

Didinger wrote a 75-minute play, "Tommy and Me", about his fight to get childhood hero, Tommy McDonald into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As a child, Didinger spent a lot of time with McDonald at Eagles training camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The play "Portrays key moments in his friendship with McDonald."{{cite web|title=Ray Didinger's play "Tommy and Me" coming to Hershey Theater|date=17 May 2022 |url=https://www.abc27.com/local-news/ray-didingers-play-tommy-and-me-coming-to-hershey-theater/ |publisher=ABC 27 News |accessdate=25 August 2022}}

Didinger is married to Philadelphia magazine restaurant critic Maria Gallagher and has two children, David and Kathleen. He also has an English Bulldog named Mack. Ray and his wife are active with HeavenSent Bulldog Rescue (“HeavenSent”) a New Jersey non-profit corporation, dedicated to the rescue and placement for adoption of Bulldogs.

• Bill Nunn Award, 1995.{{cite web|title=McCann Award Winners, 1969-2010|url=http://www.profootballhof.com/story/2005/1/1/mccann-award-winners-1969-2010/|publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame|accessdate=29 December 2010}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year, 5-time winner.{{cite web|title=Pennsylvania - NSSA Hall of Fame General|url=http://www.nssafame.com/General/15361|publisher=National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association|accessdate=29 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428053159/http://nssafame.com/General/15361|archive-date=28 April 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
• Keystone Press Awards, 6-time winner.
• Associated Press Award for Column Writing, 3-time winner.
• Pro Football Writers of America Award for Outstanding Feature Story, 1991.
• Member of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame, 2005.
• "Reds" Bagnell Award, Maxwell Football Club, 2022.

• The Super Bowl: Celebrating a Quarter-Century of America's Greatest Game (1990). Simon & Schuster {{ISBN|0-671-72798-2}}
• Football America: Celebrating Our National Passion with Phil Barber and Don Shula (1996). Turner Publishing {{ISBN|1-57036-297-1}}
• Game Plans For Success (1996). McGraw-Hill {{ISBN|0-8092-3171-9}}
• The Eagles Encyclopedia with Robert S. Lyons (2005). Temple University Press {{ISBN|1-59213-449-1}}
• One Last Read: The Collected Works of the World's Slowest Sportswriter (2007). Temple University Press {{ISBN|1-59213-600-1}}
• The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies with Glen Macnow (2009). Running Press {{ISBN|0-7624-3548-8}}
• Finished Business: My Fifty Years of Headlines, Heroes, and Heartaches Hardcover (2021). Temple University Press {{ISBN|1-43992060-5}}

• Philadelphia Eagles
• NBC Sports Philadelphia

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|id=1556085|name=Ray Didinger}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090515224132/http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1676&dept_id=43786&newsid=15709393 Ray Didinger interview]
• [http://broadcastpioneers.com/raydidinger.html Broadcast Pioneers Profile]
• [http://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/LitMap/bios/Didinger__Ray.html More information on Ray Didinger]
• [https://www.npr.org/2014/01/30/268884853/sports-writer-ray-didinger-on-the-myth-of-the-dumb-football-player Radio interview with Ray Didinger] on Fresh Air (38 mins.; 2014)
• [https://www.behavioralcorner.com/ep-4-ray-didinger Behavioral Corner Podcast interview with Ray Didinger](37:40 mins.; 2020)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didinger, Ray}}

Category:1946 births

Category:Living people

Category:Temple University alumni

Category:American sports radio personalities

Category:Sportswriters from Pennsylvania

Category:Bill Nunn Memorial Award recipients

Category:Sportspeople from Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Category:Sports Emmy Award winners

Category:Writers from Philadelphia

Category:Philadelphia Eagles announcers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:American sports journalists

Category:Radio personalities from Philadelphia

Category:20th-century American writers

Category:21st-century American writers