Where Are They Now?—Mike Quick ’82

By JACK DALY ’01

Mike Quick’s loudest moments at NC State came on the football field and the track.

The communications major excelled as a wide receiver for the Wolfpack from 1979–81, helping the football team win its last ACC title while also setting times in the 110-meter hurdles that still rank among the school’s best. One thing the native of Hamlet, N.C., didn’t do much was talk.

“I was never a person who had a whole lot to say,” Quick says.

That didn’t change appreciably in the NFL. Quick was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the 1982 draft and led the league in receiving yards in 1983. He made five appearances in the Pro Bowl and was a two-time All-Pro during his nine-year career.

After retirement, Quick worked selling supplies for electronics and electrical commodities. He says football first started pulling him back when the Comcast broadcast network offered opportunities for him to serve as a TV analyst. The Eagles’ radio color commentator then left, and Quick stepped into the role in 1998. Quick celebrated his 25th year as an Eagles broadcaster last year.

“It probably shocked a lot of people that I make a living talking,” he says.

Quick, 63, learned to get outside his comfort zone by studying other broadcasters, borrowing tapes from NFL Films so he could listen to broadcasts as he drove around town. It took a year or two, but Quick found his voice by translating the insights gained through his playing experiences and adapting to the demands of radio.

“I love the game, I know the game; I’ve been playing it my entire life,” says Quick. “I think that’s a big plus. I’m attuned to what the game was and what it is today. I think it’s important to have both.”

As one of nine siblings, he regularly comes back to North Carolina to visit family. His niece is married to Al Byrd ’92, a former Wolfpack football player who is now the team’s chaplain, and Quick regularly texts with head football coach Dave Doeren. The path might not have been one Quick anticipated, but it has paid dividends. “I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” he says, “but [broadcasting’s] one of the best things I’ve ever tried.”