NEW ORLEANS — Tom Brady won’t be the only new broadcaster working the Super Bowl Sunday.
Turn the radio dial to 94.1 WIP, and you’ll still hear longtime announcers Merrill Reese and Mike Quick calling the game. But joining them in the broadcast will be Devan Kaney, whose sixth game as the Eagles sideline reporter is easily her biggest.
“I feel over the moon and in a little bit of disbelief. It’s definitely surreal,” Kaney told The Inquirer. “I knew that I’d be covering the Eagles throughout the playoffs, but I didn’t really process that the Super Bowl could be in play as well.”
For Kaney, working the Super Bowl for the first time is the latest step in her quick rise at the popular radio station. She was hired as a part-time host in June 2022, but quickly became a regular on WIP’s midday show, then hosted by Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie. When Angelo Cataldi retired in 2023, DeCamara and Ritchie moved to the mornings and took Kaney with them.
In addition to her roles at WIP, Kaney also works as a weekend anchor at Fox 29. It might come as a surprise that someone in so many public roles is very shy and reserved by nature. So there was no way she was going to walk over and introduce herself to Fox Sports sideline reporter Erin Andrews during the NFC wild-card game.
Fortunately, Kaney didn’t have to.
“I feel a tap on my shoulder, and it’s Erin Andrews introducing herself to me,” Kaney said. “I was like, ‘What is going on?’ She was so kind and happy they had replaced a man with a woman in the role.”
Howard Eskin’s departure paved Kaney’s path to the sideline
Prior to joining WIP, Kaney covered the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League as a sideline reporter. She also did her fair share of sports reporting during TV stints in Chicago and Boise, Idaho, and began to miss covering live games in Philly.
Thankfully, working with DeCamara and Ritchie afforded her the opportunity to cover the sidelines during the station’s annual Turkey Bowl, where they all call a local Thanksgiving Day high school football game. She also covered the Phillies for the station as a reporter during their playoff run last season. But she hoped for more.
Suddenly, late in December, longtime WIP host Howard Eskin — who also served as the station’s sideline reporter during Eagles games — abruptly left the station following an incident with a female staffer. About a week later, on the day after Christmas, WIP program director Rod Lakin called Kaney to offer her the job through the end of the season.
“It was the best Christmas present ever,” Kaney said.
Lakin said picking Kaney was an easy choice. Not only did she have a lot of experience, she already worked well with everyone at the station, including Reese.
“She’s done great,” Lakin said. “It’s a tough job. You have to be someone that’s a really good communicator. You also need to be able to change quickly — circumstances change all the time in the NFL, and you’ve got to deliver that information quickly and in a collaborative way, because the game doesn’t stop.
As for the job itself, Kaney said the only way to do it right is to over-prepare. So she spends her time at as many practices and media availabilities as her schedule will allow, speaking to as many coaches and players throughout the week as she can find.
During the game, when Kaney has news that needs to get into the broadcast — like an injury or an interesting story that relates to what’s happening on the field — she communicates with Joe McPeak, the broadcast’s longtime producer. McPeak will then tell Reese in the most low-tech way imaginable.
“Joe will show me a card that says, ‘Go to Devan,’ and we do it that way,” Reese said.
» READ MORE: Merrill Reese has called every Eagles Super Bowl. His seat this time isn’t ideal.
Kaney part of a new style of sports talk radio at WIP
Kaney couldn’t be any more different than her predecessor. Eskin was one of the original architects of how confrontational sports talk radio was done, referring to callers as “morons” and “idiots” and tossing out outlandish hot takes for people to feed on.
“I’m not a hot take person. I’m never going to say a take just because I want a reaction out of people,” Kaney said. “I’m honest to a fault.”
Kaney’s growth at the station is also a sign of a broader change that’s happened at WIP under Lakin. Out are hosts who, for better or worse, were known for their inflammatory remarks and riling up callers. In are a new group of hosts, including DeCamara, Spike Eskin, and Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski, who bring what some would call a more authentic style of debating topics to their radio shows.
“When Lakin was hiring me, we were doing air checks, where I was kind of doing sample shows, and I said, ‘I can’t force myself to say Tyrese Maxey sucks, because he doesn’t,’” Kaney said. But Lakin surprised her by saying she doesn’t have to take an opposing position with a cohost to make interesting radio — in fact, everyone can agree and the show will still be good, as long as it was an honest discussion showcasing everyone’s personality and chemistry.
“It’s where the landscape of sports talk radio is going,” Kaney said. “It doesn’t have to be the hot, spicy take and the crazy back-and-forth. There’s another way.”
» READ MORE: Phillies’ Alec Bohm shows up at the Super Bowl with ESPN analyst (and Delco native) Erin Dolan