Eagles announcer Merrill Reese still thinks FedEx Field is a ‘dump’

Merrill Reese has been calling Eagles games for 45 years, and knows a good booth from a bad one.

On Sunday, when Philadelphia takes on the Commanders, he’ll be calling the game on 94.1 WIP from a bad one.

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Reese and longtime broadcast partner Mike Quick are traveling with the team and calling every road game in person. That means they’ll be heading down I-95 to Washington, D.C., to call Sunday’s game from FedEx Field, which Reese thinks is one of the worst stadiums in the league. In his own words, it’s a “dump.”

“That is not my favorite place, but the Eagles are there so we will be there,” Reese told The Inquirer.

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Fans are already aware of the deteriorating conditions at the stadium, which debuted in 1997 and is among the oldest in the league. Eagles fans who were injured after a railing at the stadium collapsed last season are suing the Commanders. That was several weeks after a pipe burst, drenching fans in stagnant rainwater some thought was raw sewage.

But what makes FedEx Field such a bad place to call a game? According to Reese, announcers are in the corner of the end zone beneath an overhang, and the seating is so low it’s difficult to make out the yard lines beyond the 50-yard mark. It’s also impossible to see the scoreboard.

“I’m not a fan of that booth, but I’ll go back to the dump,” Reese said.

Despite his annoyances, Reese doesn’t think FedEx Field is the worst place to call an NFL game. Among those that rival the Commanders’ home with their bad sight lines are the newly renamed Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh; State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.; and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

“They’ve reconfigured that stadium. We used to sit on the 50-yard line, middle level. Now the broadcast booth in Miami is completely glass enclosed in a corner of the end zone where you can’t see about a third of the field,” Reese said. “You travel all the way to Miami to call the game off a monitor.”

Despite the praise he received for his call of the Eagles’ win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, Reese is also not a fan of U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Reese said he was nervous before Tom Brady’s final Hail Mary attempt, but not because he was afraid of the outcome.

“I was nervous because we were seated in the corner of the end zone,” Reese said. “And that play was going to culminate 110 yards away from where I was seated. I just didn’t want to be known as the broadcaster who blew the Super Bowl.”

“So many of these broadcast booths are not made with the broadcaster in mind today,” Reese said. “The number one goal, and I think it’s pretty obvious, is to put in as many suites and as many high-priced ticket areas as they possibly can.”