Bill Hillgrove faces 2-game suspension from Steelers, Pitt broadcasts for DUI charge
Bill Hillgrove, the radio voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 1994, will return for the 2020 season but will serve a two-game suspension after being charged with DUI in June. Hillgrove, who also has been affiliated with Pitt since 1969, also will be suspended for the two games of the Panthers football season.
Team president Art Rooney II told the Tribune-Review on Wednesday that Hillgrove will return for his 27th season. Team spokesman Burt Lauten confirmed that Hillgrove, 79, will miss the first two games of the season because of his DUI charge.
“He’s been a great part of the Steelers Sundays for a long time,” Rooney II said. “We’ll be happy to have him back.”
The Steelers have not named Hillgrove’s replacement for the Sept. 14 season opener against the New York Giants and the Sept. 20 home opener against the Denver Broncos. Rob King of AT&T SportsNet filled in when Hillgrove missed the final two games of the 2019 season while undergoing back surgery.
Until last year, Hillgrove had not missed a game since replacing Jack Fleming as the team’s play-by-play voice on radio broadcasts.
On the first two Pitt broadcasts, he will be replaced by 93.7 FM sports director Jeff Hathhorn, according to a Pitt spokesman. Those games are against Austin Peay and Syracuse.
Hillgrove had a preliminary hearing Aug. 11 and faces a formal arraignment Oct. 28.
Hillgrove was cited in June after he crashed his car into Ferri’s IGA Supermarket along Old William Penn Highway, according to a police report. Two windows in the building were broken.
Police said Hillgrove was pulling into a parking spot when he drove directly into the windows. After having a prescription refilled, Hillgrove got back into his Honda CR-V and left.
“That car just got away from me. I’m telling you that car got away from me,” Hillgrove reportedly told police.
He consented to a breathalyzer test, which registered a 0.16% blood alcohol level — twice the legal limit in Pennsylvania.
Joe Rutter is a TribLive reporter who has covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since the 2016 season. A graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Point Park, he is in his fifth decade covering sports for the Trib. He can be reached at jrutter@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.