My Best of the ‘Burgh With Steelers Play-by-Play Announcer Rob King

He likes fireworks — just not as much as the average Pittsburgher.

18 hours ago

Sean Collier,

ROB KING | PHOTO BY TAYLOR OLLASON/PITTSBURGH STEELERS

There are two positions the Pittsburgh Steelers almost never change: head coach and play-by-play announcer.

There have been two of each in the past three decades: Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin on the sidelines, and Bill Hillgrove and Rob King in the booth. King, who replaced Hillgrove in 2024, has been a fixture in Pittsburgh’s stadiums and television studios for 25 years, hosting pre- and post-game shows for the Steelers and Pirates before becoming the official voice of the Steelers.

King, who grew up in Cooperstown, New York, also is an author, spending his time away from the microphone crafting worlds of fantasy; his middle-grade novel “The Door in the Stone” is available now on Amazon and in select local bookstores, with another coming this fall.

We wanted to know: What is Rob King’s Best of the ’Burgh?

What’s your Pittsburgh “hidden gem,” a place that you love that doesn’t get the attention it deserves?

Beaver, Pennsylvania. “It feels to me like an old-fashioned town with great shops and restaurants and a big town square.”

If you could only eat one local meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Tie: Legends Eatery, on the North Side, and Sarafino’s Restaurant, in Crafton.

If Pittsburgh had a theme song, what would it be?

“We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. “Pittsburghers, and Western Pennsylvanians at large, have a great sense of civic pride that brings us all together.”

What’s the annual tradition that you wait for every year?

The holiday season in Downtown Pittsburgh. “Skating at the PPG [Place] rink … the gingerbread houses and Santa Clauses from all over the world, and the Christmas market.”

Favorite Pittsburgh appearance in a movie or on television?

“Mindhunter”

What’s your unpopular Pittsburgh opinion? What is something you think about the city (or a famous aspect of it) that won’t win you any friends?

“I like fireworks. I really love Pittsburgh. I just don’t think I like fireworks as much as the average Pittsburgher.”

Where’s the first place you take out-of-town guests?

An incline ride to Mount Washington

You get one incline ride with any Pittsburgher, living or dead. Who is it?

“Definitely the hardest question. I thought about friends like Stan [Savran], Tunch [Ilkin] and [Craig Wolfley] … As someone who has written and who loves to read, I thought of Michael Chabon and Stewart O’Nan.

But I thought I’d stick to sports … I’m going with Bruno Sammartino. I never met him, I heard he was wonderful and I think his personal story is fascinating.”