When it comes to sports in Chicago, there are always certain names that pop in your head immediately. Names like Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Ryne Sandberg, Jeremy Roenick and Phil Jackson. For sports radio listeners in Chicago, the names Marc Silverman and Tom Waddle from ESPN Chicago are just as synonymous with Chicago sports.
The two hosts are the longest running sports talk duo in Chicago, having started together in 2007. These days, the pair start their on-air shift with a thirty-minute Crosstalk segment with the midday show, Carmen and Jurko and hosts Carmen DeFalco and John Jurkovic. From 3 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., the airwaves belong to the show I eavesdropped in on this week, Waddle & Silvy.
The thirty-minutes from 2:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. is a change that was put in place early last year, extending the midday show an additional hour, while keeping Silverman and Waddle on for four total hours.
‘Silvy’ has been a sports radio personality for the last three decades, with his first daytime hosting role coming as a sidekick to Jay Mariotti in 2004. Tom Waddle was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent wide receiver in 1989 and played for the team his entire six-year NFL career. He started his media career after his playing days were over and after being in the space for a decade, he found himself paired with Silverman.
As they get set to celebrate 18 years together later this year, you know the duo has to be doing something right. Most shows and/or partnerships don’t last this long. However, as you tune into the show, you quickly realize these are two guys who love to talk sports together, and more specifically, love to talk football together.
I chose this show for this week because I am genuinely interested in what the Bears will do with their head coach opening as I think it will make for great content. Either Bears ownership will completely change their standard practices and compete for one of the top names available, or they stick to what they are known for and the fans and media in Chicago respond accordingly.
Following Crosstalk, the beginning of the show starts with talk about Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and whether or not he should be who the Bears target. Here, you learn very quickly that even though the station is the home of the Bears, you are going to get conversation that is presented from all sides.
After talking about why the team might want to target Freeman, Waddle asks, “If you’re Marcus Freeman, why would you want the chaos of this franchise? … Maybe the Notre Dame job, from his perspective, is a better job at the moment than the Bears job.”
The show is a true ‘voice of the fan’ and unlike a lot of shows these days, the fans are welcome to take part in the show via the phone lines. After Silverman and Waddle talk thoroughly about the Bears head coaching search and flush out the idea of Freeman as a candidate, they engage with the listeners and get some of their opinions.
Later, another former Bears player and current Bears analyst Tom Thayer would jump in for a sponsored visit. In addition to talking Bears, the interview is timely because Thayer played at Notre Dame, although he admitted he is much more wrapped up in what is happening in the NFL.
A technical difficulty occurred when Thayer got disconnected from his Comrex unit, but ‘Silvy’ is a pro and after having some fun with it and then realizing it might take a few minutes to get him back, he threw it to sound from Paul Finebaum talking about the Notre Dame job and how things have changed since Freeman took over. By the time the audio had played, Thayer was back, and they went right into his thoughts on whether or not Freeman had made Notre Dame more likeable.
Thayer was an excellent guest and had some great thoughts on what the next Bears head coach needs to be. Silverman asked him, “What is your priority as far as the next head coach?” Thayer talked about accountability and said, “That’s what I need to see out of every member of the football team that goes into that locker room every day.”
With the Bears coaching search being what most sports fans are talking (worrying) about in Chicago, the visit from Thayer was perfect. It was what the hosts had talked about and now the guest was brought in to give their take on the topic. And, noticeably, neither Silverman or Waddle felt the need to show off how much they know and not ask questions, they brought up the topics they had been discussing and let Thayer have the floor to respond.
‘Silvy’ would later ask Thayer about the prospect of hiring someone like Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator who is high on a lot of lists as the top coordinator candidate for head coaching vacancies. He asked how you know someone like that can be what you need them to be when they have no history as a head coach. Thayer talked about that being up to the people in the room during the interview process to judge if they see a leader or just someone selling themselves to get the job.
Later in the show, Doug Kezerian, the Chief Content Officer and Senior Betting Analyst for Only Players comes on in another sponsored segment and talks wagering. The guys do a good job of making the segment as relatable as possible, in this case talking about former Bears quarterback Justin Fields and some wagers related to his Pittsburgh Steelers in their playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.
I always like to point out how shows execute picks segments. In this case, the segment was filled with great information a football fan might want even if they don’t ever plan to place a bet. This is much better than just throwing out games and having picks without context or explanation.
Later on, there was a sponsored segment called ‘Waddle’s World’ where Waddle throws out various topics that might be trending in sports or entertainment, other items of interest or odd news that comes up. In this episode there was talk about Zion Williamson, the NBA becoming a league of ‘Dunk n Chill’, the new owner of Michael Jordan’s Chicago home selling shares of his investment in it, the ‘Costco Guys’ and other social influencers, $.25 cent burgers at Wendys, and more.
Robert Mays who covers the Bears for The Athletic joined as a guest for even more opinion on the Bears coaching search. Mays likes Ben Johnson but points out he may get better offers with better offensive situations. He also said he is surprised Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is not someone the Bears have shown interest in. He backs that up by mentioning Coen having worked under Sean McVay and names others who have also been part of McVay’s ‘Coaching Tree’ including the Bengals’ Zac Taylor, the Packers’ Matt LaFleur and the Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell list.
In a rather heartwarming moment at the end of the Bears talk, Silverman brought up Mays having lost a longtime pet recently which led to several sharing similar losses in the past. It was one of those things that can happen in a show, unexpectedly, which has a lasting impression on the audience, as it shows the human side of the hosts in a relatable topic to almost everyone.
A second picks segment came later on, which is cleverly named ‘Like it, Love it, Just a Taste of It.’ You’ll be surprised to hear it was a sponsored segment and it was the hosts along with producers Jeff Meller and Tyler Aki competing in a challenge where each one picks an upcoming wager they like, one they love and one they might be interested in putting just a little taste on. It was also well done for a picks segment, although with all of the various picks being made there was less time for support of the picks being made. The segment did, however, give us a great line from ‘Silvy’ who said he loved the Eagles at -5 over Green Bay simply because, “I think the Eagles are good and the Packers are not.”
As the show started to wrap up, they recommended some television shows, series and movies for people to watch over the weekend in a ‘What to Watch For’ segment which did in fact have a sponsor attached to it. Then, after talking about friend of the show Barstool Big Cat’s confession that he did not grow up in Chicago, it was Aki who finished out the week with a segment called ‘Aki’s A-List.’
Chicago sports fans know exactly what they’ll get when they tune into ESPN Chicago in afternoon drive. They know Marc ‘Silvy’ Silverman and Tom Waddle will have segments that will keep them informed and give them lots of strong opinion on the topics they care most about. They know they’ll have segments where they’ll laugh and be entertained.
And they know all of those segments will be sponsored (kudos to the ESPN Chicago sales team!).
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
