Robert Theodore Trumpy Jr. (born March 6, 1945) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), from 1968 through 1977. He was a two-time NFL

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

er and a two-time

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the lea ...

. Following his playing career, Trumpy spent many years as a broadcast

color analyst A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

, calling four

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s. He was given the

Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award The Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, created in 1989 and named for the late longtime NFL commissioner, Pete Rozelle, is bestowed annually by the Pro Football Hall of Fame "for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in profes ...

by the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

in 2014.

Early life

Trumpy was born on March 6, 1945. He is reported to have been born in

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

, and then raised in

Tremont, Illinois Tremont is a village in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,277 at the 2020 census. Tremont is located 14 miles southeast of Peoria. History James Chapman settled in the Tremont area in 1820, followed by William Sterli ...

. His family moved from Tremont to

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...

, when his father Robert Sr. had a job transfer. Trumpy began attending Springfield High School as a sophomore, after first attending Tremont High School, where he played multiple sports. He was all-state in football and basketball. He was on Springfield's state championship basketball team, and he was team captain as a senior, as well as being named All-State. He played in four different state tournaments that took place at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

during this time, two in basketball and two in track, where he won the 1963 state meet in long jump and tied for fifth in high jump. He was inducted into the Basketball Museum of Illinois Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1991, he was among the first inductees into the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1996 he was inducted into the Springfield High Hall of Fame in 1996.

College career

After graduation in 1963, Trumpy played college football at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Since freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity team, his first season was in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, where he caught 28 passes for 428 yards and 2 touchdowns. He missed his last two games of the season with a knee injury. Trumpy then transferred to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, which required him to miss the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

season. In

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, he converted to tight end, catching 9 passes for 159 yards and 2 scores. After graduation, Trumpy was drafted by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

and served 180 days during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Professional career

After being discharged from the Navy, Trumpy worked briefly as a bill collector before being selected by the AFL's Bengals in the 12th round (301st overall) of the 1968 Common Draft. Despite his low draft selection, Trumpy worked hard in the offseason and managed to earn the starting tight end spot in the team's lineup. He didn't disappoint in his rookie season, recording 37 receptions for 639 yards and three touchdowns, and earning a place on the AFL Western Division All-Star team. In Cincinnati, Trumpy played under hall of fame coach

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American American football, football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), the National Football League (NFL), and the American Football League (AFL). ...

, head coach Tiger Johnson, and offensive coach

Bill Walsh William Ernest Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007) was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast off ...

, another hall of fame coach and offensive innovator. In

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, Trumpy averaged 22.6 yards per catch, on 37 passes for 835 yards and nine touchdowns. Trumpy was selected first-team AFL All-League tight end by numerous entities, including the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP),

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illin ...

, the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary new ...

(NEA), and

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI), and second-team by ''

The Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' and the Professional Football Writers of America. He was again selected to the AFL All-Star team. In a November 1969 game against the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

, Trumpy became the first Bengals tight end to record three touchdown receptions in a single game, helping his team to a 31–31 tie. In

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, with the Bengals now part of the

following the AFL-NFL merger, ''The Sporting News'' and AP selected him first-team AFC All-Conference.

1977

Trumpy continued to play for the Bengals until

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

, earning two trips to the Pro Bowl in 1970 and 1973. In his final season, he caught only 18 passes for 251 yards and one touchdown, but his touchdown was one of the most memorable plays of his career. In a November 20 game against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

during a driving rainstorm, Trumpy caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ken Anderson on a

flea flicker In American football, the flea flicker is an unorthodox or "trick play" designed to fool the defensive team into thinking that a play is a run instead of a pass. It can be considered an extreme variant of the play-action pass and an extension o ...

play that involved three players handling the ball before it was thrown to him. First, Anderson handed the ball off to running back

Archie Griffin Archie Mason Griffin (born August 21, 1954) is an American former football running back who played with the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, wh ...

, who then pitched the ball to receiver John McDaniel running in the opposite direction. McDaniel then handed the ball back to Anderson, setting up his 29-yard touchdown pass to Trumpy. The Bengals went on to defeat the Dolphins 23–17, knocking them out of playoff contention. "It was magic", said Trumpy about the play,

Career statistics

Trumpy finished his 10-year career with 298 receptions for 4,600 yards and 35 touchdowns in 128 games. His 4,600 receiving yards, 35 touchdown receptions, and 15.4 yards per catch average are the most ever by a Bengals tight end (as of 2018).

Broadcasting career

While not a hall of fame player, Trumpy went on to have a hall of fame broadcasting career. He called four Super Bowls, four Pro Bowls, six Hall-of-Fame Games in football, as well as three

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

s and three

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Trumpy had his first broadcast experience in 1964, working with Coley Cowan on a WTAX in a Springfield radio broadcast of a basketball tournament in Springfield. Upon retiring he joined WCKY radio as a sports talk host. Trumpy expanded into NFL broadcasting in 1978, when he joined

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

as a

for telecasts of AFC games, working primarily with

Sam Nover Samuel A. Nover (March 5, 1941 – December 4, 2018) was an American sportscaster. His run of 30 years of sportscasting at the same station is one of the longest in Pittsburgh broadcasting history. Broadcasting career From 1964 to 1968, Nove ...

through 1980, then with

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...

(1981-1983) and

Don Criqui Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster. He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967–2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on ...

(1984–1988). Trumpy and Criqui also served as

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

's lead NFL announcers from 1985 to 1986, calling ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

'' and Super Bowls XX and XXI. In 1992, Trumpy replaced

as NBC's lead NFL analyst, teaming with

Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...

until 1995 (when NBC went to a three-man booth with

Paul Maguire Paul Leo Maguire (born August 22, 1938) is an American former professional football player and television sportscaster. He played as a punter and linebacker in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Early spo ...

and

Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the New York Giants. After playing college football for the Morehead Sta ...

replacing him). The team of Enberg and Trumpy called Super Bowls

XXVII 27 (twenty-seven) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. Mathematics Including the null-motif, there are 27 distinct hypergraph motifs. There are exactly ''twenty-seven straight lines'' on a smooth cubic surface, which give ...

(1993) and XXVIII (1994). He would then be paired with

Tom Hammond Thomas Taylor Hammond (born May 10, 1944) is an American former sports commentator. Hammond began working with NBC Sports in 1984. Hammond covered '' Thoroughbred Racing on NBC'' and '' Notre Dame Football on NBC''. Hammond also served as the ...

(1995–1996) and Charlie Jones (1997) until NBC lost the AFC package to

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

following the 1997 season. Trumpy hosted a weeknight

sports talk show Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often- boisterous on-a ...

WLW-AM WLW (700 AM) is a commercial news/talk radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio. Owned by iHeartMedia, WLW is a clear-channel station, often identifying itself as "The Big One". Its studios are located in Sycamore Township (with a Cincinna ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

(1980–1989), and was Ohio Sports Broadcaster of the Year four times. He left the show to be able to work more assignments at

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division for NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, that is responsible for sports broadcasts on their broadcast network NBC, the Cable television, cable channels NBC owns, and on Peacock (streaming service) ...

, including

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

golf and the

. He was replaced on the sports talk show by

Cris Collinsworth Anthony Cris Collinsworth (born January 27, 1959) is an American former professional football player and sports broadcaster who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons (1981–1988) with the Cincinnati Bengal ...

. On the night of November 10, 1983, while he was hosting his talk show on WLW, the first call that he received was from a despondent woman who said that she wanted to commit suicide. Trumpy spoke to the woman (and, later, her son) for more than two hours until the son gave him their address. He then spoke to the woman and her son for several more minutes after that until his station manager took him off the air. Police in

Forest Park, Ohio Forest Park is the second most populous city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cincinnati. The population was 20,189 at the 2020 census. History The City of Forest Park, Ohio was founded in 1956, two years after priv ...

went to the address that the son had given and took the woman to a local hospital. Trumpy received praise for his actions from the Forest Park police and suicide prevention counselors. He later said that he had to go to therapy because of the incident.Larry Stewart
"Not Just Blowing Smoke, Trumpy Says He's Nervous"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' (January 29, 1993). Retrieved December 23, 2022. Trumpy was an analyst for '' Sunday Night Football'' on

Westwood One Westwood One, Inc. is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1976. The co ...

radio from 2000 to 2007 (save for the 2005 season, when he was replaced by

John Riggins Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played c ...

), and also called playoff games for the network. He was most frequently paired with

Joel Meyers Joel Meyers is an American sportscaster who is the play-by-play announcer of the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also is the lead host of "Above the Rim", which airs weekdays from 10 am to 1 pm ET ...

on the Sunday night games. During the first round of the 2006-07 NFL playoffs, Trumpy and Enberg were in the broadcast booth together for the first time since the 1994 AFC Championship Game, covering the

Colts Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States * Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United State ...

- Chiefs

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

for Westwood One. They were paired again for the

Patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

Chargers Charger or Chargers may refer to: * Charger (table setting), decorative plates used to enhance a place setting * Battery charger, a device used to put energy into a cell or battery * Capacitor charger, typically a high voltage DC power supply des ...

the following weekend. Trumpy was named the 2014 recipient of the

, given by the

for lifetime achievement in NFL broadcasting.

Personal life

Trumpy is married to his wife Pat, and together they have two sons (Matthew and Jason) and six grandchildren (Josh, Jackson, Conner, Kelli, Lauren, Morgan). The couple lives in the Cincinnati suburb of

Glendale, Ohio Glendale is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Hamilton County, Ohio, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,298 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a northern suburb of Cincinnati, and is the site of t ...

. He is a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity.

References

*Ludwig, Chick. Cincinnati Bengals, The Legends. Willmington, OH: Orange Frazer P, 2004. page 25.(1)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumpy, Bob 1945 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American Football League All-Star players American Football League All-League players American Football League players American football tight ends American football wide receivers American sports radio personalities Cincinnati Bengals players College football announcers American golf commentators Illinois Fighting Illini football players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators NFL announcers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football announcers Olympic Games broadcasters People from Glendale, Ohio Players of American football from Hamilton County, Ohio Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award recipients Players of American football from Springfield, Illinois Utah Utes football players Volleyball commentators