Greg Papa will not be on the air for KNBR 680 AM in 2026, a jarring turn for one of the Bay Area’s most recognizable voices.
The station made a programming change that led to Papa being let go from his daily midday hosting role alongside his longtime partner. The move comes after station management enacted a major pivot, and it landed at a difficult moment for Papa, who has recently been recovering from a serious medical diagnosis that required extensive hospitalization.
Papa’s exit is drawing plenty of attention because of what he has meant to Bay Area sports radio for nearly four decades. He has been a fixture across the region’s biggest franchises, including a celebrated run as the radio voice of both the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers.
His résumé stretches well beyond football. Papa spent 21 years as the radio voice of the Oakland Raiders, where his signature “Touchdownnnnnnnnn Raiders!”
call became part of the soundtrack. In 2019, he took over as the play-by-play radio voice for the San Francisco 49ers.
Before that, he built a wide-ranging broadcasting career in the NBA, starting with the Indiana Pacers before moving to California to work as the radio announcer for the Golden State Warriors. He later called games for the San Antonio Spurs.
Papa also spent more than a decade as the television play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics and later called games for the San Francisco Giants.
For now, it is unclear what comes next for the cancer survivor after this latest shakeup in his career.
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