Sal Paolantonio is a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

-based bureau reporter for ESPN. Since joining ESPN in 1995, Paolantonio has become a staple in their NFL coverage, as he contributes to shows such as ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and o ...

'', ''

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by Autotrader'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN. Formerly know ...

'', '' Sunday NFL Countdown'' (from a game site) and '' Monday Night Countdown'' (from the ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, ...

'' site). In 2004, he added studio work to his duties, replacing Suzy Kolber as the host of '' NFL Matchup'', an X's and O's football show; joining him are Louis Riddick and Greg Cosell. His best known work for ESPN was his coverage of the Terrell Owens saga with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Paolantonio has also been an adjunct professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia since 2001.

Early life

A native of

Stewart Manor, New York Stewart Manor is a village in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 1,896 at the 2010 census. History Stewart Manor had been called Sunrise Gardens between 1925 and 1927, aft ...

, Paolantonio attended Sewanhaka High School. He graduated from the State University of New York at Oneonta in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He also attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, where he received a master's degree in journalism in 1978. Paolantonio served as a Surface Warfare officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1979 to 1983 where he was awarded the United Nations Medal in 1983. He served aboard and the .

Career

Prior to joining ESPN, he was a political reporter and

beat reporter for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

'' from 1993 to 1995. During that time he also served as a reporter for WPHL-TV nightly news show, ''Inquirer News Tonight'' and hosted ''Saturday Morning Sports Page'' on WIP sports radio. In 1993, he published his first book, a biography of Frank L. Rizzo entitled ''The Last Big Man in Big City America''. In 2018, he published ''Philly Special: The Inside Story of How the Philadelphia Eagles Won Their First Super Bowl Championship''. In 2007, he and fellow sports journalist Reuben Frank put out ''The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players, Teams, Coaches, and Moments in NFL History''. It has been the best-selling NFL book in the country (October 11, 2007) according to Amazon.com. He went on to make the provocative claim in his 2008 folk history, ''How Football Explains America'', that the competition informed the public morality on integration and consciously developed in the mid-20th century into an almost mythic spectacle. With its origins in the closing of the Turnerian frontier, the NFL league, rather than baseball, apparently broke down the

color barrier Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Internati ...

in sports.

Personal life

Paolantonio has been a resident of

Haddon Township, New Jersey Haddon Township is a township in Camden County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 15,407, an increase of 700 (+4.8%) from the 2010 census count of 14,707, in turn reflecting an increase of 56 (+ ...

. He later moved to nearby Moorestown.Aleardi, Marianne (July 2013)
"Ten Questions: Sal Paolantonio; The ESPN correspondent talks sports, politics and Uncle Bill's Pancake House"
''South Jersey Magazine''. Accessed January 11, 2018. "A resident of Moorestown, Paolantonio spends the NFL season watching, talking, breathing football." His given name is Salvatore Anthony Nicholas Paolantonio.

Awards

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References

External links

Sal Paolantonio's ESPN BioSal Paolantonio at ESPN.comSal Paolantonio at ESPN.tv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paolantonio, Sal Living people American television sports announcers American writers of Italian descent People from Haddon Township, New Jersey People from Moorestown, New Jersey Sportspeople from Queens, New York The Philadelphia Inquirer people United States Navy sailors State University of New York at Oneonta alumni New York University alumni Saint Joseph's University faculty Sportspeople from the Delaware Valley Writers from New Jersey National Football League announcers Writers from Queens, New York American male non-fiction writers United States Navy officers Military personnel from New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people)