Tunch Ilkin (born Tunç Ali İlkin; September 23, 1957 – September 4, 2021) was a Turkish-born player of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

and sports broadcaster. A two-time

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

selection as an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, he was the first Turk to play in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was voted to the

Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team The Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team was named as a part of the franchise's 75th season celebration in . The club's top 33 players were selected in commemoration of the franchise's founding in . The team was chosen on the basis of fan voting. ...

. After his playing career, he was a television and radio analyst for the Steelers from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Playing career

Ilkin was born in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey; his parents Mehmet and Ayten Ilkin emigrated to the United States when he was two years old and settled in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area. He attended Highland Park High School in

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...

, where he won All Conference and All County honors as a football player. In 1975, he was granted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

, where he played for head coaches

Tom Harp Thomas Harp (born c. 1927) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Cornell University (1961–1965), Duke University (1967–1970), and Indiana State University (1973–1977), compiling a career col ...

(1975–77) and

Dick Jamieson Richard Alexander Jamieson (November 13, 1937 – May 2, 2001) was an American football and baseball player and coach of football. He was the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) in 1997. He also s ...

; a three-time All-

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

pick, he was chosen by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 1980 NFL Draft. Ilkin played

for the Steelers from

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, earning two

appearance honors (

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and 1989). He played for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in 1993 before retiring from football. Ilkin served as vice president of the NFL Players' Association from 1989 to 1994. He was named to the

in 2007.

Broadcasting career

After retiring from football, Ilkin began appearing as a commentator and reporter on sports broadcasts in the Pittsburgh market and, nationally, worked as a game analyst for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

during the

1995 NFL season The 1995 NFL season was the 76th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 30 teams with the addition of the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. The two expansion teams were slotted into the two remain ...

. He was paired with either Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan. In

, he joined the official Steelers broadcasting team of

Myron Cope Myron Sidney Kopelman (January 23, 1929 – February 27, 2008), known professionally as Myron Cope, was an American sports journalist, radio personality, and sportscaster. He is best known for being " the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers". Cope ...

and

Bill Hillgrove William Thomas Hillgrove (born November 20, 1940) is an American sports broadcaster, radio personality, and sports journalist. Hillgrove is a notable broadcaster in his hometown of Pittsburgh, and has worked exclusively in that market. He is the ...

as an analyst. After Cope's retirement following the 2004 season, the team decided not to replace Cope, and Ilkin took on the color-commentary duties once carried by Cope. He worked alongside sideline reporter and former teammate

Craig Wolfley Craig Alan Wolfley (born May 19, 1958) is a former football player and current color analyst for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Along with former teammate Max Starks, he hosts a show on 970 ESPN. College career Wolfley attended Syracuse Univer ...

, who, like Ilkin, joined the Steelers via the 1980 draft. Ilkin and Wolfley hosted a morning radio show called ''In The Locker Room with Tunch and Wolf'' on WBGG. After

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, ''In The Locker Room'' was broadcast daily during the football season: locally on 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh, and nationally on Steelers Nation Radio (SNR).

Business interests

Ilkin was the senior vice president of the Athletic Training Network, a company that provides athletic training and program material to coaches and players. Ilkin also co-authored two books during his broadcasting career: ''In the Locker Room,'' and ''Forged In Steel''. Ilkin was an active supporter of the nonprofit organization Light of Life Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter and addiction recovery ministry on Pittsburgh's North Side for over 30 years.

Personal life

Ilkin was married on April 24, 1982, to Sharon Senefeld, and they had three children: Tanner, Natalie, and Clay. The Ilkins resided in

Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania Upper St. Clair is a township with home rule status in southern Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, situated about 8 miles (13 km) south of Downtown Pittsburgh. It is known for being an affluent suburb with a nationally recognized school distr ...

. On February 6, 2012, his wife Sharon died following a lengthy battle with cancer. In 2013, he married Karen Rafferty. A convert from

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, Ilkin was the pastor of Men's Ministry for The Bible Chapel, a multi-site church in South Hills, Pittsburgh. During a November 2013 visit to Turkey, he took part in activities of the Istanbul Cavaliers, and was interviewed by the sports newspaper '' Fanatik''. Ilkin said in that interview that he would have liked to coach an

team in Turkey. On October 9, 2020, Ilkin announced that he was diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

(ALS). Ilkin made the announcement six months before one of his contemporaries, former

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

defensive lineman

Steve McMichael Stephen Douglas McMichael (born October 17, 1957), nicknamed "Mongo", "Ming" and "Ming the Merciless", is an American former professional football player, sports broadcaster, and professional wrestler. McMichael played college football for the U ...

, announced his own ALS diagnosis. The

Pittsburgh City Council The Pittsburgh City Council serves as the legislative body in the City of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city ...

declared December 21, 2020, as Tunch Ilkin Day in Pittsburgh. On June 3, 2021, Ilkin announced his retirement from broadcasting so he could focus on his treatment. Ilkin died of ALS complications on September 4, 2021, at the age of 63. Following his death, the episode of '' Pittsburgh Dad'' did about the Steelers

Week 1 A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are oft ...

matchup against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

did a "In memory of..." tribute to Ilkin.
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Publications

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References