The Philadelphia Eagles secured the George Halas Trophy on Sunday night as champions of the NFC, guaranteeing the team a spot in Super Bowl LIX. Including the final two weeks of the regular season, the Eagles have won five consecutive games, a consistency in which has seen Devan Kaney reporting on the field for broadcasts on SportsRadio 94WIP.
Growing up as a dedicated Eagles fan with a penchant for sports broadcasting, Kaney cherishes the opportunity to report on the team. Even though she regarded herself as being the best candidate for the position, there is still a sense of disbelief that it has become a reality. As Kaney is in the early stages of the job, she is aware that Super Bowl LIX could be her final game on the broadcasts after the role abruptly opened towards the end of the season.
“It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been honestly the best time in my career,” Kaney said. “I feel like it’s a pinch-me moment. Not to be cliché, but it’s every day, I’m like, ‘Is this real life? Really, I got this job?’ and I have to remind myself that I have worked my butt off to get here, and that’s kind of what I conveyed when I pitched myself for the role.”
Kaney was propelled into the job after the radio station parted ways with longtime host and reporter Howard Eskin in late December. While he attributed the departure to “irreconcilable differences,” a subsequent report alleged that Eskin had a physical altercation with a female employee at the station. In a statement posted to social media, he denied the report but acknowledged that he had raised his voice towards her since he was irritated about being interrupted while in conversation.
In the summer, an employee at Citizens Bank Park alleged Eskin had given her an unwanted kiss. Audacy investigated the account, and Eskin was suspended from Philadelphia Phillies home games for the remainder of the season. Although Eskin had been the Eagles radio reporter for more than a decade and helped build SportsRadio 94WIP, Kaney did not feel significant distress occupying the job. On the contrary, she has focused on working with the award-winning duo of Merrill Reese and Mike Quick, meeting expectations and implementing feedback.
“I don’t want to disappoint them,” Kaney said. “I want to prove that they made the right choice in choosing me to fill Howard’s shoes. But taking over for Howard – I’m not Howard, I’m never going to be Howard and I’m okay with that. I’m not trying to be anything like him, so I don’t really feel pressure in that sense.”
Kaney has an important role on the broadcast in compiling information, making shrewd observations and communicating with the commentary booth and listeners at large. Broadcast producer Joe McPeak has helped her in the role, and she has also conveyed her familiarity and expertise surrounding the team to contemporaries on the field, some of whom include Erin Andrews and Melissa Stark. Elements of her previous reporting experience have eased the transition into the job, including covering Phillies postseason baseball this past October, but she entered the position with sweeping proficiency regarding storylines and developments combined with a passion for the team.
“I think that’s why I love journalism because I love constantly learning things, and it’s just like a fun role to be able to go down to the locker room and ask these questions and listen to what the players have to say,” Kaney articulated, “and then [we] get to figure out how we can work them into the game broadcast if they become relevant during the game.”
As Reese and Quick call the game, Kaney is along the sidelines fulfilling her obligations amid a zealous crowd averaging nearly 70,000 fans. Kaney remains focused on extrapolating the factors that surround the on-field play. Through it all, she tries to remain clear and concise while reporting accurate information and serving the audience.
“It’s almost just more pressure to make sure you nail your hits because you only get so many,” Kaney explained, “and also, especially in football, it’s making sure you fit them in the time that you have before the ball is snapped or before the ball is kicked or whatever play is about to happen.”
Kaney started her career working in entertainment media following graduation from the University of Pittsburgh, but she gradually developed confidence to seek out opportunities in television and radio. After starting her journey in news, she received an opportunity to work with the National Lacrosse League to host national content and produce digital content. The job was based in the Philadelphia market, and she felt being situated in the locale could pay dividends.
JAKIB Media Sports hired Kaney in 2021 to host its live postgame show after Eagles football, an opportunity that allowed her to work alongside Marc Farzetta, Derrick Gunn, Mike Missanelli and Seth Joyner. She was simultaneously seeking out additional opportunities and reached out to Mike Golic Jr., who was working for ESPN Radio at the time, and she began to receive offers and inquiries in the area.
“I grew up listening to WIP,” Kaney said. “It was just always very intimidating to me, and he gave me advice that I still think about almost every day to this day, and it’s, ‘If you’re able to host a four-hour sports talk show, everything else is cake. Everything else is easy,’ and that’s the most accurate thing to this day.”
Kaney officially joined Audacy in 2022 as an analyst on the BetQL Network and later became a contributor on SportsRadio 94WIP for its morning drive program with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie. Lending her insights and expertise to the airwaves, she considers herself fortunate to be surrounded by a group of teammates with vast experience in the business.
“I’m pretty witty, and I always say our love language on the WIP Morning Show is kind of giving each other a hard time, so kind of being sarcastic [and] little fun jabs, but I think in everything, I don’t take it too seriously,” Kaney said. “It’s sports, it’s radio, it’s entertainment – people are listening to us on their way to work, they’re trying to start their day off on the right foot. It’s not brain surgery, and just have fun, right?”
Being able to discuss sports four hours a day, despite the early morning start time, is a privilege Kaney recognizes has helped exhibit her personality while sideline reporting. When she is disseminating occurrences and developments gleaned through her work, she tries to impart familiarity to the audience. On top of that, she tries to add detail that the audience may not customarily hear on a broadcast ranging from parenthetical nuance to emotive manifestations.
“I think it’s important to remember that we’re covering sports and we’re covering human beings, and it doesn’t have to be all black and white and we’re not doing brain surgery,” Kaney said. “I think it’s important to add colorful details and background to my reports, and it’s not always good news. A lot of times, what I report on is negative because I’m reporting on injuries, but it’s important to note, like, ‘Well, Quinyon Mitchell went to the blue tent, but his teammates were all supporting him on the sideline.’”
Since she is at the training complex throughout the week and contributing to daily programming, Kaney does not find herself having to complete significant research before the games. On the contrary, she maintains an understanding about the latest narratives surrounding the team and aims to display her awareness and comprehension amid the live game broadcasts.
“The hardest part is not getting too emotional about it, but luckily I haven’t – and I don’t want to jinx it by saying this – but I haven’t experienced a loss yet, so everything’s been pretty positive so far,” Kaney said. “So I haven’t really had to deal with the disappointment, and it stinks that if I do experience a loss, it’ll be the end of the season for me work wise on the sideline as well, but that’s not something I think I would ever let affect my reporting or on-air style.”
Since assuming this new responsibility, Kaney has balanced a busy schedule with her other responsibilities around the marketplace. Outside of her work in radio, she is an in-arena host for Philadelphia Flyers games at Wells Fargo Center, although she recently hosted her first game in about two months. Furthermore, Kaney continues to serve as a weekend sports anchor for Fox 29 Philadelphia, a forum that also permits her to discuss local teams and take on new obligations.
“I’m not reading highlights on the radio, so being able to cover Temple basketball and their wins, I never had an opportunity to really do that, so it gives me reps in that area,” Kaney explained. “I don’t want to say it’s like checking off another box because that diminishes the importance of it, but it’s not like a repetitive job. It kind of helps me make sure I’m up to date on what’s happening in Philly sports, and it provides TV coverage that I don’t have otherwise.”
Through the variety of roles and responsibilities Kaney holds, she acknowledges the fundamental nature of staying healthy and receiving enough rest. Traversing various corners of the sports media landscape amid the football season, she knows the importance of exhibiting a strong work ethic and taking advantage of downtime. Nonetheless, Kaney admits that effectively balancing her schedule and avoiding fatigue is something she is still figuring out.
“I think I need to work on being better at saying ‘No’ to things,” Kaney surmised. “Sometimes, I think a lot of people in the business have this issue where it’s like every opportunity, ‘Sure, I’ll come on your show. Sure, I’ll hop on that,’ and sometimes I have to have a firm talk with myself and say, ‘You got to say ‘No’ sometimes because you need to sleep.”
As Kaney heads to New Orleans to cover Super Bowl LIX, she will enter the final game with aspirations to continue working in the job for years to come while expanding her role with SportsRadio 94WIP. Sustaining her commitment to hone the craft and refine her skills, she will continue to seek feedback from her Eagles broadcast colleagues and station brand manager Rod Lakin. No matter the circumstance though, Kaney looks to illuminate stories and yield positive contributions to the broadcast as the team seeks to reign victorious next weekend from the Big Easy.
“For me, success is gaining respect from my peers and, most importantly, listeners, and making sure that I am a reliable and go-to source of information, but also of entertaining stories, of insightful stories about Eagles players and Philly athletes and teams in general, making sure I am up to date on the storylines,” Kaney said. “And really it’s about respect – just gaining the respect of listeners and also entertaining them at the same time.”
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