After retiring from football, Ilkin began appearing as a commentator and reporter on sports broadcasts in the Pittsburgh market and, nationally, worked as a game analyst for NBC during the 1995 NFL season. He was paired with either Dan Hicks or Jim Donovan.[5]
In 1998, he joined the official Steelers broadcasting team of Myron Cope and Bill Hillgrove as an analyst.[9] After Cope's retirement following the 2004 season, the team decided not to replace Cope, and Ilkin took on the color-commentary duties once carried by Cope.[9] He worked alongside sideline reporter and former teammate Craig Wolfley, who, like Ilkin, joined the Steelers via the 1980 draft. Ilkin and Wolfley hosted a morning radio show called In The Locker Room with Tunch and Wolf on WBGG. After 2006, In The Locker Room was broadcast daily during the football season: locally on 970 ESPN in Pittsburgh, and nationally on Steelers Nation Radio (SNR).[10]
Business interests
Ilkin was the senior vice president of the Athletic Training Network, a company that provides athletic training and program material to coaches and players.[11][12] Ilkin also co-authored two books during his broadcasting career: In the Locker Room, and Forged In Steel.[5]
Ilkin was an active supporter of the nonprofit organization Light of Life Rescue Mission,[6] a homeless shelter and addiction recovery ministry on Pittsburgh's North Side for over 30 years.[13]
Personal life
Ilkin was married on April 24, 1982, to Sharon Senefeld, and they had three children: Tanner, Natalie, and Clay.[14] The Ilkins resided in Upper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania. On February 6, 2012, his wife Sharon died following a lengthy battle with cancer.[15] In 2013, he married Karen Rafferty.[16] A convert from Islam to Christianity,[17] Ilkin was the pastor of Men's Ministry for The Bible Chapel, a multi-site church in South Hills, Pittsburgh.[18]
During a November 2013 visit to Turkey, he took part in activities of the Istanbul Cavaliers, and was interviewed by the sports newspaper Fanatik. Ilkin said in that interview that he would have liked to coach an American football team in Turkey.[19]
On October 9, 2020, Ilkin announced that he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).[20] Ilkin made the announcement six months before one of his contemporaries, former Chicago Bears defensive lineman Steve McMichael, announced his own ALS diagnosis.[21] The Pittsburgh City Council declared December 21, 2020, as Tunch Ilkin Day in Pittsburgh.[13][5] On June 3, 2021, Ilkin announced his retirement from broadcasting so he could focus on his treatment.[22] Ilkin died of ALS complications on September 4, 2021, at the age of 63.[23] Following his death, the episode of Pittsburgh Dad did about the Steelers Week 1 matchup against the Buffalo Bills did a "In memory of..." tribute to Ilkin.[24]
^"The Rumble". The New York Post. March 3, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2021. He can fall back on a degree in finance, but he would rather follow in the mobile, agile footsteps of former Steelers offensive lineman Tunch Ilkin, the lone NFL player of Turkish descent.
