Chet W. Coppock (April 30, 1948 – April 17, 2019) was an American radio broadcaster, television broadcaster,

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

talk personality and author based in Chicago. His fifth book “Chet Coppock: In Pursuit of Chet Coppock” was released in July 2018. Coppock hosted the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

Heritage Series, and emceed corporate sponsorship events for the Blackhawks featuring former NHL stars such as Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito and Denis Savard. He was an occasional contributor to the ''Rant and Rave'' segment on FOX 32 Chicago (

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed WPWR-TV (channe ...

) with Lou Canellis. In 2013, Coppock was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame and honored with the Jack Brickhouse Lifetime Achievement Award. Additionally, Coppock had served as state chairman of Indiana Easter Seals and Indiana March of Dimes, a national spokesman for the Brain Aneurysm Foundation (BAF), and had worked with other charities and foundations to help raise awareness, generate support, and increase research funding. Coppock was also a spokesperson for American Taxi and had done commercial work in the past for clients including McDonald's, Wheaties (National TV spots), Chevrolet and P.F. Chang's — appearing with Chicago sports legends Michael Jordan and Walter Payton. Coppock also participated as a ring announcer for Wrestlemania 2 at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Ill

Biography

Broadcasting career

In 1966, at age 17, Coppock broadcast football and basketball on WNTH radio, the school radio station at

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school whose main campus for sophomores through seniors is in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, with a campus in Northfield, Illinois, for ...

in Winnetka, IL. In 1970–1971, Coppock was hired to produce the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

radio network. Coppock hosted Sport Rap, a nightly Chicago TV talk show on

WSNS WSNS-TV (channel 44) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside NBC outlet WM ...

TV, before eventually becoming a staff announcer with

TV in Chicago. While at WFLD, Coppock developed a friendship with promoter Jerry Seltzer. The association soon led Coppock into a role as the national TV voice of the

Roller Derby Roller derby is a roller skating contact sport played on an oval track by two teams of five skaters. It is played by approximately 1,250 amateur leaguesA Roller Derby league is synonymous with an individual club or team in other team sports, as ...

, a position he occupied for several years. In the mid-1970s, Coppock held a six-year tenure as sports director at then CBS-affiliate

WISH-TV WISH-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is locally owned by Circle City Broadcasting alongside Marion-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23) and low-power, ...

(now a CW affiliate) in Indianapolis. His anchor desk partners included

Jane Pauley Margaret Jane Pauley (born October 31, 1950) is an American television host and author, active in news reporting since 1972. She first became widely known as Barbara Walters's successor on the NBC morning show ''Today'', beginning at the age of ...

. In 1981, Coppock returned to Chicago and joined

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (chann ...

for three years. In 1981, he was awarded a UPI Award in the category of Illinois Broadcasting and Best Sports. In 1984, while working as sports director at WMAQ radio, Coppock approached the station about creating an in-depth, interview-driven radio sports talk show. The move led to the creation of Coppock on Sports, a show in which Coppock spoke with athletes, coaches, GMs and media members in a longer, un-cut magazine format. In 1986, Coppock served as ring announcer during the Chicago portion of

WrestleMania 2 WrestleMania 2 was a 1986 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the second annual WrestleMania and took place on Monday, April 7, 1986, making it the only WrestleMania ...

. Coppock's other appearances for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

include his role as commentator alongside

Gorilla Monsoon Robert James "Gino" Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Sports commentator, play-by-play commentator, and Glossary of profess ...

for RadioWWF at WrestleMania X. He also promoted wrestling events featuring such competitors as

Verne Gagne the Minnesota Golden Gophers wrestling, Minnesota Golden Gophers Laverne Clarence "Verne" Gagne ( ; February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Amer ...

Baron von Raschke James Donald Raschke (born October 17, 1940) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke. Early life Raschke was a three-year letterman with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Cor ...

, and

Dick the Bruiser William Fritz Afflis Jr. (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and National Football League player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with ...

. Some of these shows were held at Chicago's

Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was a ballpark in Chicago, Illinois, located in the Armour Square neighborhood on the near-south side of the city. The stadium served as the home of the Chicago White Sox of the American League from 1910 through 1990. Built by Wh ...

. In 1988, Coppock moved to WLUP in Chicago to continue ''Coppock on Sports'' and also host the pre-game, half-time and post-game shows for the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

radio network. Coppock hosted '' Back Table'', an interview show that was carried by SportsChannel/Fox Sports Net. He also co-hosted ''The

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka ( ; born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former professional American football, football player, coach, and television commentator. During his playing career, he was UPI NFL-NFC Rookie of the Year, UPI NFL R ...

Radio Show'' as well as talk shows featuring NBA coaches

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

and Doug Collins. In 1990–1991 Coppock served as the studio host for the NBA radio network. In 1992, he received a Chicago/Midwest Area Emmy Award for his work on '' Chicago Bears Weekly''. In 1994, Coppock hosted '' NewSportTalk'' on

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

in New York and was one of sixty notable Chicagoans featured in the book ''Great Chicago Stories: Portraits and Stories'' by Sam Landers. In the late 90s, Coppock was heard on

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

Chicago and WMAQ 670 AM Chicago. In 1999, Coppock received the Peter Lisagor Award for Journalistic Excellence. From August 2000 to February 2006, ''Coppock on Sports'' made a return to the airwaves on Sporting News Radio. Between 2006 and 2015, Coppock hosted Notre Dame football and basketball pregame and postgame shows on WLS Radio. In 2009, Coppock launched the ''Coppock On Sports'' podcast, featured in the podcast section of Apple's

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

store. The podcast features regular appearances from ESPN Legal Analyst Lester Munson, and former MLB 31-game winner Denny McClain. In 2009, Coppock penned the ''Coppock on Sports'' blog, covering Chicago sports for www.ChicagoNow.com. Also in 2009, Coppock published his first book titled, ''Fat Guys Shouldn't be Dancin' at Halftime'', published by Triumph Books. Coppock hosted ''The Winning Edge'' on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. In 2011, Coppock appeared as a featured content contributor for the ''Heritage Series'' on the

website, and continues to occasionally emcee Blackhawks events. In 2011, Coppock launched DailyCoppock.com with business partner Michael Romano. DailyCoppock.com features Coppock's video blogs, Coppock's magazine-style video interviews with sports headliners, and Coppock's written blogs on sports and culture. In 2013, Coppock was named the recipient of the "Jack Brickhouse Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame. Coppock is an occasional contributor to the "Rant and Rave" segment on FOX 32 Chicago (

) with anchor Lou Canellis. In 2014, Coppock published his second book titled, ''Chet Coppock: Laying it on the Line'', self-published. In 2015, Coppock published his third book titled ''Buffone: Monster of the Midway: My 50 Years with the Chicago Bears,'' published by Triumph Books.

Movie career

In 2007, Coppock served as a football consultant and had an on camera role in the motion picture " The Express: The Ernie Davis Story" starring

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Big Easy'' (1986), '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989), ' ...

and Rob Brown. The film was released in October 2008.

Personal life

On February 14, 2007, Coppock was attacked in the parking lot following a

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

basketball game in

Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located immediately northwest of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 3,952. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before ...

. Jaime A. Waldron of

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

was found guilty of battery after pleading not guilty, and he was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay court costs. Coppock was involved in a car accident in Okatie, South Carolina, on April 6, 2019. He was taken to Memorial University Medical Center in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, where he died from injuries sustained in the accident on April 17.

Books

Coppock published five books: ''"If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Chicago Bears Sideline, Locker Room, and Press Box with Otis Wilson"'' (Triumph Books, 2017), ''"Fat Guys shouldn't be Dancin' at Half Time"'' (Triumph Books, 2009), ''"Chet Coppock: Laying it On the Line"'' (Self Published, 2014), ''"Buffone: Monster of the Midway: My 50 Years with the Chicago Bears"'' (Triumph Books, 2015). and Your Dime, My Dance Floor (Eckhartz Press, 2018).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coppock, Chet 1948 births 2019 deaths People from Winnetka, Illinois Writers from Illinois Television anchors from Indianapolis American radio sports announcers American television sports announcers American professional wrestling announcers NBA broadcasters NFL announcers Dallas Cowboys announcers Milwaukee Bucks announcers Chicago Blackhawks announcers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football announcers Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators Road incident deaths in South Carolina