 Ilkin in 2009 | |||||||||
| No. 62, 79 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Offensive tackle | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1957-09-23)September 23, 1957 Istanbul, Turkey | ||||||||
| Died | September 4, 2021(2021-09-04) (aged 63) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 263 lb (119 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Highland Park(Highland Park, Illinois, U.S.) | ||||||||
| College | Indiana State | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1980: 6th round, 165th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Tunch Ilkin (Turkish:Tunç Ali İlkin; September 23, 1957 – September 4, 2021) was a Turkish-American professionalfootball player and sports broadcaster. A two-timePro Bowl selection as anoffensive tackle with thePittsburgh Steelers, he was the firstTurk to play in theNational Football League (NFL).[2][3] He was voted to thePittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team. After his playing career, he was a television and radio analyst for the Steelers from1998 to2020.[4]
Ilkin was born inIstanbul, Turkey; his parents Mehmet and Ayten Ilkin emigrated to the United States when he was two years old and settled in theChicago area.[5] He attendedHighland Park High School inHighland Park, Illinois, where he won All Conference and All County honors as a football player. In 1975, he was granted anathletic scholarship toIndiana State University, where he played for head coachesTom Harp (1975–77) andDick Jamieson;[6] a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference pick,[7] he was chosen by the Steelers in the sixth round of the1980 NFL draft.[8]
Ilkin playedoffensive tackle for the Steelers from1980 to1992, earning twoPro Bowl appearance honors (1988 and1989). He played for theGreen Bay Packers in1993 before retiring from football. Ilkin served as vice president of theNFL Players' Association from 1989 to 1994. He was named to thePittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team in 2007.[5]
After retiring from football, Ilkin began appearing as a commentator and reporter on sports broadcasts in the Pittsburgh market and, nationally, worked as a game analyst forNBC during the1995 NFL season. He was paired with eitherDan Hicks orJim Donovan.[5]
In1998, he joined the official Steelers broadcasting team ofMyron Cope andBill Hillgrove as an analyst on thePittsburgh Steelers Radio Network.[9] After Cope's retirement following the2004 season, the team decided not to replace Cope, and Ilkin took on thecolor-commentary duties once carried by Cope.[9] He worked alongside sideline reporter and former teammateCraig Wolfley, who, like Ilkin, joined the Steelers via the 1980 draft. As color commentator, Ilkin called the Steelers' most recentSuper Bowl victories inSuper Bowl XL andSuper Bowl XLIII along with Hillgrove and Wolfley.[10] Ilkin and Wolfley hosted a morning radio show calledIn The Locker Room with Tunch and Wolf onWBGG.[11] After2006,In The Locker Room was broadcast daily during the football season: locally on 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh, and nationally on Steelers Nation Radio (SNR).[12]
Ilkin was the senior vice president of the Athletic Training Network, a company that provides athletic training and program material to coaches and players.[13][14] Ilkin also co-authored two books during his broadcasting career:In the Locker Room, andForged In Steel.[5]
Ilkin was an active supporter of the nonprofit organization Light of Life Rescue Mission,[6] a homeless shelter and addiction recovery ministry on Pittsburgh's North Side for over 30 years.[15]
Ilkin was married on April 24, 1982, to Sharon Senefeld, and they had three children: Tanner, Natalie, and Clay.[16] The Ilkins resided inUpper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania. On February 6, 2012, his wife Sharon died following a lengthy battle with cancer.[17] In 2013, he married Karen Rafferty.[18] A convert fromIslam toChristianity,[19] Ilkin was the pastor of Men's Ministry for The Bible Chapel, a multi-site church inSouth Hills, Pittsburgh.[20]
During a November 2013 visit to Turkey, he took part in activities of theIstanbul Cavaliers, and was interviewed by the sports newspaperFanatik. Ilkin said in that interview that he would have liked to coach anAmerican football team in Turkey.[21]
On October 9, 2020, Ilkin announced that he was diagnosed withamyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).[22] Ilkin made the announcement six months before one of his contemporaries, formerChicago Bears defensive linemanSteve McMichael, announced his own ALS diagnosis.[23] ThePittsburgh City Council declared December 21, 2020, as Tunch Ilkin Day in Pittsburgh.[15][5] On June 3, 2021, Ilkin announced his retirement from broadcasting so he could focus on his treatment.[24] Ilkin died of ALS complications on September 4, 2021, at the age of 63.[25] Following his death, the episode ofPittsburgh Dad about the SteelersWeek 1 matchup against theBuffalo Bills did a "In memory of..." tribute to Ilkin.[26]
He can fall back on a degree in finance, but he would rather follow in the mobile, agile footsteps of former Steelers offensive lineman Tunch Ilkin, the lone NFL player of Turkish descent.