KNBR’s Greg Papa announces cancer diagnosis, steps away from broadcasting
A sports radio and broadcasting legend is stepping away to deal with a serious health issue.
Greg Papa, the longtime radio voice of the Raiders who calls 49ers games and has a show on KNBR 680 in San Francisco, announced on Friday he has been diagnosed with cancer and will be away from broadcasting while he receives treatment.
“Thanks to everyone for your prayers and good wishes as I begin this fight. Go Niners!!” Papa wrote in a statement released through KNBR’s social media.
In addition to his work broadcasting 49ers games on the radio, Papa hosts the “Papa and Silver” show with co-host Greg Silver that airs midday weekdays on KNBR.
He worked previously as the radio voice of the Raiders from 1997 to 2018. He also called Oakland A’s games from 1991 to 2003, San Francisco Giants games from 2004 to 2008, and hosted pre- and postgame shows surrounding Golden State Warriors games on NBC Sports Bay Area from 2011 to 2019.
Papa took over as the radio voice for the 49ers in 2019. San Francisco went to the Super Bowl that season and fell to the Kansas City Chiefs while his signature “Touchdown, San-Fran-Cisco!” call became the team’s audio fixture. The 49ers reached the Super Bowl against the Chiefs again in 2024, which was played in the Raiders’ new home in Las Vegas, Allegiant Stadium.
“This would be Al Davis’ worst nightmare,” Papa said in a phone interview with The Sacramento Bee for a feature story about calling the game in his former employer’s new home. “I’m sure it’s not Mark Davis’ favorite. But I’m sure their thought is, ‘the Niners have the Super Bowl in Super Bowl 60 and they’ll go play in their stadium.’”
In the story, Papa said his relationship deteriorated with the Raiders in 2015 when the team interviewed former owner Al Davis’ long-time nemesis Mike Shanahan for their vacant head coaching position. It led to Papa being let go three years later.
“With Al, it was personal. It was everything,” Papa said. “... After a while, I just went off. I said Mike Shanahan can coach 31 teams in the NFL. He cannot coach Al Davis’ Raiders. And to even bring him in the building for a meeting, Al better be dead. He didn’t get buried. He’s in a mausoleum next to John Lee Hooker. But you don’t want him coming back to life. If he knows about that, heaven help you.”
Papa, 62, broke into the industry after graduating from Syracuse in 1984. His first job in professional sports was with the Indiana Pacers before moving to the Bay Area to call Warriors games in 1986. He worked for the San Antonio Spurs from 1997 to 2000.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 1:11 PM.
