Ryan Glasspiegel
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Joe Benigno is retiring this week after 25 years on air at WFAN in New York. He is a remarkable story in sports media, and we might never see anything quite like it again. A die-hard Mets and Jets fan, Benigno was a regular caller to the station. He won the right to guest-host a show through a listener appreciation day promotion and wound up earning the overnight shift. Here’s a Sports Illustrated story about how he went from Joe in Saddle River to a job at WFAN at the peak of the station’s powers.
Later, Benigno did a number of years in midday with Evan Roberts before the pair moved to afternoon drive. On Monday, Jets legend Joe Namath called in to wish Benigno well in his retirement:
Namath was Benigno’s favorite athlete ,and you could tell he really appreciated the surprise call.
Imagine what it would be like to get a call from your favorite athlete from when you were a kid, one who was iconic and won you one of your only championships as a fan. How special is that?
Very cool!