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Savran was a true pro’s pro

4 min read

By now, you have read and heard all about the late Stan Savran’s life, his work ethic and how good he was to everyone in the media.

It’s all true.

And it didn’t matter where you worked, how young you were, etc., Stan had time for everyone. He was a true professional’s professional.

Stan never big-timed anyone. In fact, if anything, he gave the reporters who worked at suburban outlets a voice. If you wrote something that interested him or earned his respect in some other way, he’d have you on his show.

And he read everything.

The thing with Stan, as well, was that he always contacted you himself. There was no producer involved like there are on many other shows.

If Stan wanted you to come onto his show, he contacted you himself.

I have hundreds of text messages on my phone, and they all were gracious and typically read like this: “Dale, I know you’re busy, but would you have time to come on with me tomorrow at 12:20? Thanks.”

You never said no to Stan because you knew it was going to be an interesting interview – and not because you made it interesting, but because he did.

Plus, he was the godfather. He was someone everyone in the business respected because he showed so much respect to everyone else.

Stan had been ill for a while. And we used to chat about that while he was waiting at the studios and I was getting ready to do my show at the iHeartRadio studios, first in Greentree and later in Bridgeville.

I also had many opportunities to work with Stan during Steelers’ alumni events on the radio and to see him interacting with the former players was always a treat. I was usually just along for the ride.

But as sick as he was, he always had hope. He had beaten cancer once before, and he was going to beat it again.

Only this time, he didn’t.

But if you have any question about how much he loved his job, Steelers president Art Rooney II shared a story with me this week of something that happened just last week that epitomizes Stan Savran.

Stan was named by Rooney to be part of the selection committee for the Steelers’ Hall of Honor. And he took the job very seriously.

He wanted to make sure that players and individuals from the team’s past got their due.

According to Rooney, the selection committee for this year’s group was scheduled to have its first meeting for this year last week.

Stan, obviously very ill, said he would make the meeting via Zoom.

But, at the last minute, he contacted Rooney and said he wouldn’t be able to take part in the call.

“But, he made sure he gave me the two people he was nominating,” Rooney said.

Diligent to the end.

Stan took the job seriously. It was important to him.

And he took it so seriously not because he took himself so seriously. As Rooney said, “He knew he was covering sports, not World War III.”

But Stan took his job so seriously because he cared about his listeners. He was a conduit for them, and he took that job extremely seriously.

He realized that he was going to the games and talking to the sports stars he was talking to because of the fans. And he always respected that.

It’s what made him so good on the radio. He respected his callers, even the ones with the crazy ideas.

If you ticked off Stan Savran, you must have really done something wrong.

We’ve been blessed in Pittsburgh to have had several iconic people in the media business. Stan was right there with Myron Cope, Bob Price, Bill Hillgrove and others. He shouldn’t have to take a back seat to anyone.

Even as he struggled with his health that forced him to give up his beloved radio show for what he hoped was the time being at ESPN 970-AM, he still managed to call in for weekly hits on iHeart’s other outlets. Until he couldn’t.

And that had to be difficult for him.

Stan lived to do the work.

We’ll miss him.

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