PITTSBURGH — Tunch Ilkin, whose career with the Steelers stretched from being a two-time Pro Bowl tackle and team captain to long-time radio analyst and humanitarian, died Saturday morning, according to his best friend and former teammate, Craig Wolfley.
Ilkin, who retired from his role as a broadcaster on the Steelers Radio Network after being diagnosed with ALS last year, was 63. He had been in UPMC Presbyterian hospital since last week with pneumonia, Wolfley said. Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV was the first to report Ilkin's death Saturday morning.
"He hit heaven's gate at full sprint with a lot of high-fives and hallelujahs," said Wolfley, who has been Ilkin's best friend and sidekick since they both joined the Steelers in 1980 — Wolfley as a fifth-round draft choice from Syracuse, Ilkin as a sixth-round selection from Indiana State. "He's one of the greatest men I've ever been privileged to lock arms with."
Ilkin, who was born in Turkey and came to the U.S. with his family when he was 2, played 13 seasons with the Steelers and one with the Green Bay Packers until his retirement after the 1993 season.
"We are heartbroken by the passing of Tunch Ilkin," Steelers president Art Rooney II said in a statement. "He was a man of faith who dedicated his entire life to being a devout Christian and family man. His passion for the game of football was evident in his everyday life. As a player, he fought his way through tough times of being cut and injured, but continued to make an impact as a leader. ... We were fortunate to have Tunch as a player and broadcaster for so many years."
Ilkin joined the Steelers broadcast team in 1998, alongside play-by-play man Bill Hillgrove and color analyst Myron Cope. When Cope retired after the 2004 season, Ilkin ascended into the role as lead analyst alongside Hillgrove. He attacked that position in the same manner he did as a player — using tireless film research during the week to be prepared and offer pinpoint analysis for the radio listener.
"Working with him was a dream," Hillgrove said. "He was insightful, he knew exactly what he was talking about, he did his homework. He was a pure pleasure to be around. Beyond that, as a person, he was concerned about other people more than himself. He always displayed that."
Ilkin spent a lot of time caring for and attending to others, especially those most in need. He worked tirelessly for the nonprofit organization Light of Life Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter and addiction recovery ministry on the North Side, for more than 30 years. He and Wolfley would always work at the shelter on Thanksgiving morning, preparing and serving food to the homeless.
"After his playing career, Tunch continued to make an impact in our community in so many ways. His efforts and dedication to the Light of Life (were) unparalleled, and his desire to always help others made everyone appreciate him," Rooney said in a statement.
Ilkin also served as a pastor of men's ministry at The Bible Chapel, a non-denominational church in the South Hills, after converting from the Islamic faith to Christianity.
"He was an incredible man," Wolfley said. "He loved Jesus and he loved people. That love just poured out. He was one of those special guys, those generational guys, one in a million."
But it was as a football player that Ilkin first made his mark in Pittsburgh. An undersized tackle who relied on technique and intelligence, he often went against players much bigger and stronger, never backing down from a challenge against the likes of Lyle Alzado and Reggie White. But he always said the player who gave him the most trouble was Jim Skow, an unheralded defensive end with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1986-89.
Ilkin was named to the Pro Bowl in 1988 and 1989, the year the Steelers made it to the AFC championship game. But after the Steelers drafted tackle Leon Searcy with the No. 1 pick in 1992, Ilkin was let go following the season and signed with the Packers. He played one year in Green Bay and retired.
A natural-born leader, Ilkin served as vice president of the NFL Players Association from 1989 to 1994.
Ron Blackledge, his former offensive line coach, called Ilkin an all-pro, even though he was never named all-pro.
"Tunch was a self-made all-pro. He was a very smart player," Blackledge said. "When I got there, he was a backup to every position on the offensive line. We played him at right tackle, moved him to left tackle and then we moved him back to right tackle.
"At the end of the year, I asked him as I do every player. 'How can I help make you a better player?' He said, 'If you left me at one position I think I'd be pretty good.' Boy, was he right. The next year he gave up no sacks."
Ilkin was such a technician that other NFL teams, in addition to the Steelers, brought him in to training camps after he retired to teach offensive linemen what became known as the "Tunch Punch."
"Tunch was into the punching and karate and became an expert at punching," Blackledge said. "He was so quick with his hands. He developed that all by himself and I incorporated it into what we did. The one day I asked [former Steelers tackle] John Jackson how many punches he did in the weight room that day. John said 25 or 30. Tunch was right behind him, and I asked Tunch how many he did. He said about 2,500. John's jaw just about dropped. I said to John, 'That's why he's an all-pro.' "
Once in the radio booth, Ilkin combined insightful analysis with some good old-fashioned favoritism, once repeatedly pleading "someone tackle him" when Indianapolis Colts defensive back Nick Harper was running untouched after scooping up a Jerome Bettis fumble at the goal line in a 2005 playoff game. He could deliver the occasional malaprop, too, such as the time he said an opposing player "got his bell cleaned."
Ilkin's good nature and comedic barbs came through on his weekday radio show, "In the Locker Room with Tunch and Wolf," on ESPN Pittsburgh. But that was just part of Ilkin's greatest quality — making everyone feel better about life, about themselves. It was part of his everyday routine, not just on radio.
One of Ilkin's favorite stories was when the Steelers played the New York Jets at the end of the 1983 season, the game that turned out to be the final of Terry Bradshaw's career. Bradshaw had not played all season because of an elbow injury but started against the Jets and promptly threw two touchdowns to take the Steelers to a 14-0 lead on way to a 34-7 victory.
Ilkin approached Bradshaw on the sidelines and said he thought the game plan was to run the football against the Jets, not throw.
"Tunch ol' boy, I'm a gunslinger, not a mailman," Bradshaw said to him.
Former players from around the league were saddened to hear about Ilkin.
"He was classiest of the classy, just a good human being," said former Cleveland Browns tackle Doug Dieken, who played against Ilkin and, like him, later became a radio analyst for the Browns. "He was a great ambassador for the Steelers and the NFL. When you have guys like that, you raise the bar for your kids — I want you to grow up to be a Tunch."
Dieken often appeared on Ilkin's radio show when the Steelers were playing the Browns that week.
"That's the only reason I looked forward to the Pittsburgh game anymore — he and Wolfley," Dieken said. "We'd bust chops. Tunch was almost too good a guy to bust chops with."
Former New York Giants quarterback and CBS analyst Phil Simms, who befriended Ilkin after their playing days were complete, said: "He was by far my key to information about the Steelers when we had their game. He was just great. What I really loved was knowing, as a former player, how much he loved it."
Ilkin is survived by his wife, Karen, and three children — Tanner, Natalie and Clay. His first wife, Sharon, whom he met in college and married in 1982, passed away in February 2012.
