Robert Wischusen (born October 1, 1971) is an American sports commentator who is currently a hockey, college football and basketball voice for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and the radio voice announcer for the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...
on
WEPN-FM.
Biography
Early life and career
Wischusen grew up in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
, and attended
Union Catholic Regional High School
Union Catholic Regional High School is a private Catholic high school located in Scotch Plains, in Union County, New Jersey, United States. Its motto promises to provide a "quality education in a faith-based environment." Founded in 1962 as ...
in
Scotch Plains. He then attended
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...
and began his sportscasting experience on
WZBC, the school's 1000-watt FM radio station broadcasting to the Greater Boston area. Classmates and fellow broadcasters at WZBC included
Joe Tessitore and
Jon Sciambi, both of whom also went on to become successful sports announcers.
After graduating from B.C. in 1993, Wischusen went to work in sports radio at
WQAM in Miami. After leaving the station he settled in New York, where he has worked since.
WFAN and WABC
Originally, Wischusen worked for
WFAN as a reporter and update host for the station's sports news flashes that air every twenty minutes. During his time at WFAN he began working on the station's Jets coverage, hosting the pregame, halftime, and postgame shows. When WFAN lost the rights to the Jets after the 1998 season, Wischusen followed the coverage to WABC. In 2002, he became the play-by-play voice for the Jets on the station after
Howard David
Howard David is an American sportscaster.
Biography
Over the years, David has been the radio play-by-play man for several pro sports teams including the NBA's New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics and the NFL's New York Jets an ...
departed the team for a job in Miami. During his time with the Jets, he has worked with
Dave Jennings and
Marty Lyons as his color commentators.
ESPN
Wischusen began working for ESPN in 2006 as a secondary commentator for college football and basketball, usually calling games from mid-major conferences such as the
MAC or
WAC. In 2009, Wischusen called
ACC college football regional action on
ABC at 3:30(ET) with
Brian Griese. For the 2010 college football season, Wischusen was once again paired with Griese, this time calling games for the Noon(ET) ESPN2 broadcast. Wischusen is currently calling with
Dan Orlovsky
Daniel John Orlovsky (born August 18, 1983) is an American football analyst for ESPN and former American football quarterback who was active for twelve seasons in the NFL. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL ...
.
In 2021, Andrew Marchand of the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' reported that Wischusen would start calling play-by-play for the
NHL on ESPN
The broadcasts of National Hockey League (NHL) games produced by ESPN have been shown on its various platforms in the United States, including ESPN itself, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, and Hulu. Since 2021, games have been broadcast un ...
.
Other duties
In addition to those duties, Wischusen is a substitute announcer for WEPN and
MSG's coverage of the
Knicks when the announcer
Mike Breen is unavailable due to other commitments. Wischusen also announced for the
New York Dragons AFL
AFL may refer to:
Sports
* American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues:
** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...
team during its first season alongside former Jet
Greg Buttle
Gregory Ellis Buttle (born June 20, 1954 in Atlantic City, New Jersey) is a retired American football linebacker for the New York Jets. He played college football at Penn State University. He was named a Consensus All-American in 1975. In 2005, ...
with whom he currently calls games for the New York Jets
[ ] Wischusen also served as a field reporter for
NBC's coverage of Game 1 of the
2000 American League Division Series
The 2000 American League Division Series (ALDS), the opening round of the 2000 American League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Sunday, October 8, with the champions of the three AL divisions—along with a "wild card" team—p ...
between the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
and
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...
. In 2010, Wischusen teams with
Sean McDonough to anchor coverage of the
U.S. Open golf tournament on
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wischusen, Bob
1971 births
Living people
American sports radio personalities
American television sports announcers
ArenaBowl broadcasters
Arena football announcers
Association football commentators
Boston College alumni
College basketball announcers in the United States
College football announcers
Golf writers and broadcasters
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Basketball Association broadcasters
National Football League announcers
National Hockey League broadcasters
New York Jets announcers
New York Knicks announcers
New York Rangers announcers
New York Red Bulls
People from Union County, New Jersey
Union Catholic Regional High School alumni
Women's college basketball announcers in the United States
Women's National Basketball Association announcers