Gil Santos

Gil Santos (born April 19, 1940) is the longtime radio play-by-play announcer for the New England Patriots of the National Football League, and morning sports reporter for WBZ radio in Boston. He retired from WBZ on January 30, 2009. Santos was inducted into the WBZ Radio Hall of Fame on July 9, 2009. He commentated games for the Patriots Radio Network, whose flagship is WBZ-FM (which is branded as "The Sports Hub") to the end of the club's 2012 season. Santos commentated every Patriots touchdown with his trademark "Touchdown, Patriots!" He lives in Raynham, Massachusetts.

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• Gil santos to retire as patriots radio play by play man
• Super bowl xxxvi gil santos call and closing credits
• Milestones
• References

He commentated on Patriots games from 1966 until 1980 when Patriots broadcast rights shifted first to WEEI 590, then to WHDH 850; Santos returned in 1991 when broadcast rights returned to the AM version of WBZ. His 36 years of service made him the longest-serving announcer in the NFL, tied with Merrill Reese of the Philadelphia Eagles; he was also the final team play-by-play announcer from the American Football League era. From 1971-78 and 1990-2011, his partner in the booth was former Patriots kicker Gino Cappelletti, except for the opening eight games of the Patriots' 2001 season when Cappelletti was hospitalized with an illness and former Patriots player Peter Brock substituted for Cappelletti. Cappelletti retired from his position prior to the 2012 season and was replaced by Scott Zolak.

In addition to the work at WBZ, Santos commentated games for the Boston Celtics, Boston Breakers, Providence Friars basketball, Penn State Nittany Lions football, and Boston College Eagles football. He was born in Acushnet, Massachusetts and grew up in neighboring Fairhaven. From 1959 to 1971, when he joined WBZ full-time, Santos worked at WBSM and WNBH in New Bedford, and WSAR and WALE in Fall River. On January 10, 2009, Santos retired from WBZ at the end of January. He stayed within the organization as Patriots play-by-play announcer when the team's network switched from WBCN to the new WBZ FM.

In April 2012 Santos suffered a bout with pneumonia and was briefly hospitalized, calling into question his future as Patriots play-by-play announcer. He nonetheless announced he would return for one final season as Patriots broadcaster.

Santos retired from the Patriots after the 2012 NFL season. In April 2013, Bob Socci was announced as Santos' replacement.