NFL, NBA broadcaster returns to Syracuse for Glickman Award

NFL, NBA broadcaster honored with Glickman Award

SU alum Ian Eagle announces NFL games on CBS and Brooklyn Nets games for the YES Network.

Story by Trevor Kriley

Published: November 2, 2018

Ian Eagle had plenty of people to thank Thursday as he returned to his alma mater.

The longtime sports broadcaster credited Syracuse University and the relationships he developed here for his nearly 30-year career.

“I’m so proud of this school,” Eagle said. “I’m so proud every time someone asks me where I went to school.”

Eagle, the 2018 recipient of the Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media, returned to the Newhouse School accompanied by family and friends he’s made throughout the media industry.

The “who’s who” of sports broadcasting were also in attendance as Eagle received the annual award, which honors former sportscaster and Syracuse alum Marty Glickman. These guests included prominent Syracuse alumni and fellow sportscasters, such as Jason Benetti, Brian Higgins, Sean McDonough, Beth Mowins, Matt Park and Mike Tirico.

As Benetti took the stage to speak about Eagle, and it became clear from the Chicago White Sox announcer’s remarks that the people who know him best have not only tremendous respect for his talent as a broadcaster but also as a human being.

“At every turn when I have needed someone to lean on in this industry,” Benetti said. “Ian has always been there.”

Eagle, who graduated from SU with a degree in journalism in 1990, is an announcer for NFL on CBS and the Brooklyn Nets NBA team on YES Network. While at Newhouse, Eagle launched his sports broadcasting career by announcing lacrosse, basketball and football games on WAER.

“Ian sees the game through his own prism and is the light that shines through all of our prisms,” Benetti said.

Tirico, who received last year’s Glickman Award, presented Eagle with this year’s honor.

“The game is never about him, but because of him, you enjoy the game,” Tirico said.

This sentiment was best represented after Eagle’s son Noah — a Newhouse School senior and aspiring broadcaster himself — finished his own speech. He said his father taught him to be himself, put work into what he does and be a good person.

“I’m so proud to say I’m Noah Eagle, and I’m following in my father’s footsteps,” the younger Eagle said.

When his son came down from the podium, Ian Eagle met him at the edge of the stage and embraced him as applause rang out through the auditorium.

Every eye in the crowd was fixated on the stage at the front of the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium, enamored by each and every speaker. And the 2018 recipient of the Glickman Award not only reached, but exceeded the bar set by those introducing him.

He had the audience invested in his experience as a student at Syracuse before he was a household name. He had everyone in stitches as he described an early broadcast being picked apart by Marty Glickman himself and recognized the influence the legend had on his life.

“Syracuse is the cradle of sportscasters because of Marty Glickman,” Eagle said.

But most importantly, he inspired those hoping to follow in his career path.

“Be authentic, more than anything else,” Eagle said. “Put good into the world. Have a positive disposition. If you’re constantly complaining, if you’re constantly agitated, make a conscious decision to change.”