RAY DIDINGER
Hall of Fame Sportswriter

RAY DIDINGER reflected on the Philadelphia Eagles’ hiring of the little-known, “non-football” guy to manage a professional NFL team…all that Jimmy wanted to do was give Philadelphia a “Winner” and he started that when he and Leonard Tose hired Dick Vermeil.

BIO: Ray Didinger (born September 18, 1946 in Philadelphia) is an American sportswriter, author, screenwriter, radio personality, and sports commentator, and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Writer’s Honor Roll).

Born to Raymond and Marie Didinger, and raised in Folsom, Pennsylvania, Didinger graduated from St. James High School in 1964. He received a B.S. in Communications from Temple University in 1968. His nickname was “Nauga”, after the animated character used in commercials for Naugahyde. Ray spent four years doing sports radio for WRTI and served as the station’s Sports Director. In 1990, Didinger wrote “The Super Bowl: Celebrating a Quarter-Century of America’s Greatest Game.” He co-authored “Football America: Celebrating Our National Passion” along with Don Shula in 1996 and co-wrote “The Eagles  Encyclopedia” with Robert S. Lyons in 2005. Didinger also co-wrote “The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies” with Philadelphia radio personality Glen Macnow in 2009. Didinger covered the National Football League for THE PHILADELPHIA BULLETIN and THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS for more than 25 years. He was named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. In 1995, he won the Dick McCann Memorial Award for long and distinguished coverage of pro football, and his name was added to the writers’ honor roll in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Didinger is currently a full-time member of NBC Sports Philadelphia, writing articles and appearing on-air in a variety of roles, most prominently in Eagles Pre Game Live and Eagles Post Game Live. Previously, Didinger was a senior producer with NFL Films in Mount Laurel, New Jersey until he was bought out of his contract in February 2009. He has won four Emmy Awards for his work as a writer and producer on the weekly series NFL Films Presents and the Turner Network documentary Football America.

Didinger is married to Philadelphia Magazine restaurant critic Maria Gallagher and has two children David and Kathleen. He also has an English Bulldog named Mack. Ray and his wife are very active with HeavenSent Bulldog Rescue (“HeavenSent”) a New Jersey non-profit corporation, dedicated to the rescue and placement for adoption of Bulldogs.