The Author Events Series presents Ray Didinger | The Eagles Encyclopedia : Champions II

In Conversation with Merrill Reese

Fly Eagles Fly! They did it again. The Eagles routed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX to claim their second NFL championship in the Jeffrey Lurie era. Hall of Fame sportswriter Ray Didinger has done it again, too, revising and updating his best-selling The Eagles Encyclopedia: Champions Edition to celebrate the latest victory.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts described the city's love for the Eagles as "a Philly thing," and no one understands that better than Didinger, who has followed the team since the 1950s. In Champions II, he brings that history up to date by writing about the Tush Push, Saquon Barkley's reverse hurdle, and other milestones of the season leading up to the team's second Super Bowl triumph.

This new edition includes:

* More than 50 new photographs plus a 16-page color insert.

* Tributes to the team's newest Hall of Fame inductees: Eric Allen, Dick Vermeil and Harold Carmichael.

* Dozens of new player, coach and front-office profiles.

* An expanded chapter on the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry.

* An updated statistics and records section.

The Eagles Encyclopedia: Champions II is a must have for any E-A-G-L-E-S fan who wants to relive the Big Game and all the drama that led up to it.

Ray Didinger was a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Bulletin and Philadelphia Daily News. He was named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times. He won six Emmy Awards as a writer and producer for NFL Films. He has authored or coauthored a dozen books and was the first print journalist inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. He was a talk show host on 94WIP Sports Radio and football analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia. In 1995, he won the Bill Nunn Award for his long and distinguished reporting on professional football and his name was added to the Writers Honor Roll at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

Merrill Reese has been the Eagles’ radio play-by-play announcer for 48 consecutive seasons. A Philadelphia native, Reese was a named sports director at Temple University's station, WRTI, and after graduation he began his professional radio career at WPAZ in Pottstown, PA, calling high school football games. Following that opportunity, Reese began working for WBCB in Levittown, PA, where he currently serves as the station’s co-owner. In 1977, Reese provided Eagles color commentary alongside Charlie Swift at WIP, and the following year, the station made him the lead play-by-play sportscaster. In 1990, Reese voiced ESPN’s award-winning series “NFL Dream Season.” Reese has received numerous awards and recognition, including Pennsylvania Sportscaster of the Year, and being inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. In 2024 he received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s coveted Pete Rozelle Radio and Television Award for broadcasting the team's triumph in Super Bowl LIX.

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