Philadelphian legendary high school sports reporter Ted Silary passes away

Tagged under: District 12, News

Anthony Franklin | May 19, 2023

Yesterday shocking news spread online about the untimely death of a beloved Philadelphia sports reporter Ted Silary. Ted was more than just a news reporter he was the godfather of reporting for the Philadelphia Public, Catholic & Inter-Ac leagues. Ted was a graduate of Inter-Ac member William Penn Charter and upon entering the work force quickly picked a path not really many people would choose. He loved high school athletics & became a fixture at games all over the city. When others would shy away from the schools in not so nice neighborhoods Ted was always front and center taking pictures, waiting outside of locker rooms to speak to coaches/players. While working for the Philadelphia Daily News he was approached numerous times about possibly covering the professional teams (Eagles, Sixers, Phillies) but each time he turned the opportunity down because he felt his calling was helping the children of Philadelphia where many athletes get overlooked gain exposure and recognition.

Ted’s claim to fame rose fast in 2000 when he launched his own website and hired some interns and fellow journalist to help with compiling stats, provide post-game recaps, award weekly honors to the top players in each league for offense, defense & special teams and also track records that were broken. Ted during the summer months would always pick a project and each day make an entry on his website. My favorite was compiling all decade teams for each of the 3 major sports (football, basketball, baseball) and then seeing how many great athletes had come through the city leagues in that time span. Players would flock to tedsilary.com every Saturday and Sunday mornings looking to see if they earned ink in a game recap. Then Monday’s when updated stats were posted the same flock would return to see how many yards/scores they needed to get onto the city leaderboard.

I personally met Ted for the first time in September 2001 as I was home from college and checking out my brothers and uncle play as my brother Ben was a sophomore DB for Northeast HS along with my uncle James the starting QB squaring off against another brother of mine Bernard a sophomore DB for Lincoln HS. We chatted, exchanged info and that forged a friendship/mentorship for 20+ years. Ted truly loved seeing young men in Philadelphia win. Many of his articles launched recruiting interest for many players especially prior to the rivals/247 ratings and websites. Fellow pafootballnews.com writer Willie McGonigle a former Cardinal O’Hara football manager reflected on Ted by stating “Besides my parents and Coach Dan Algeo nobody had a bigger impact on my life then Ted”.

Former George Washington HS football player Dominique Curry who stared at Cheyney University and California University of PA leading to a 3-year NFL career and currently coaching WR’s at SJ Prep stated “I truly appreciated Ted Silary for all that he’s done for sports in the city of Philadelphia. He gave young guys an opportunity to be sports writers while giving HS players a platform to get their names covered. Thank you for all that you’ve done you’ll truly be missed Ted”.

Former Central HS star QB Marcel Quarterman would earn a scholarship to Lafayette College where he would be an All-Patriot League DB and is currently the OC/QB Coach at Kutztown University shared these sentiments “I am grateful that I grew up during a time where Ted Silary poured his heart into High school sports in Philly. What he did for so many kids was nothing short of legendary. Rest in Peace Ted.”

Current Father Judge HC and former Ryan player Frank McCardle tweeted “RIP Ted Silary, A true legend! Every High School, Every Player, & Every Coach owe you a debt of gratitude. I will miss our conversations & laughs we shared”.

Current Indianapolis Colts LB a LaSalle graduate and former LB who went on to star at Syracuse University Zaire Franklin tweeted “Rest in Peace to the legend Ted Silary. I used to spend many nights on his website just hoping my name would be mentioned one day. Was always respectful and kind in any interaction I had with him. Thank you for all you did for Philly High School Sports.”

Current Radnor Head Coach Kyle Yeiter who stared at Central HS as a DB and RB shared these remarks “RIP to the legend Ted Silary. Playing high school sports in Philly meant checking out his website a hundred times a week. I cannot imagine the amount of hours Ted put in to shine light on the thousands and thousands of Philly athletes he covered. Never forget the clipboard.”

Former Haverford star guard and Temple all conference basketball player Shiz Alston Jr shared on twitter “RIP to a legend, remember the first time he put me in the Daily News, couldn’t wait to grab the paper the next day. Condolences to the family.”

Former Mastbaum all league RB Marcus Godfrey wrote “RIP Ted Silary. A true storyteller of Philly high school sports. If you were lucky enough to “earn’ some ink in the Philly Daily News as a student athlete, you became a star in your community and school. I’m fortunate to have been inked by the GOAT of HS sports journalism.”

Former Bartram all state guard and La Salle University all-timer Ty Garland (Mr. Southwest Floater) shared these remarks “RIP to the GOAT Ted Silary. You touched & influenced many over the years. Just don’t know what seeing you walk through the doors did for me. I truly appreciate you helping my career and holding me with the greats you will forever be missed & appreciated – Braidheart.”

Former Villanova legendary Head Coach offered the following words “Sad news about Ted Silary, a selfless promoter of high school sports in Philly like no other. He was ahead of his time! RIP Ted.

Mark Hueber a former SJ Prep basketball player who went on to play collegiately at Immaculata University before graduating and currently is an assistant coach under Coach Fran Dunphy at LaSalle University shared these words “Growing up I didn’t want to be an NBA player. I just wanted to play in the Philadelphia Catholic League all because of Ted Silary. Great guy who gave so much of himself to help kids. RIP”.

Upon retiring from the Daily News Ted would still be on the trail in lighter capacity before officially hanging up the clip board to spend time with his beloved family. On the trail with Ted was full of adventures especially when we covered Public League games where some of the oddest things would happen, and all Ted could say was “Only In The Pub”. He truly loved covering HS athletes in the city and would do anything to help any kid get exposure and an opportunity to further their football careers at the collegiate level. Ted, you gave people like me an opportunity to do something few are able to do which is write freely and cover those kids who need it the most and I’m forever grateful and in debt to you. Rest well my friend until we meet on the other side. I’m sure you have a clip board with you upstairs and will utter your famous “Only in the Pub” line quite a few times this upcoming season.

”Big Willie” Reflects on Ted

I first met in the fall of 2005. It was my sophomore year at Cardinal O’Hara and I was serving has a manager for Coach Dan Algeo’s team when I expressed to him very early in the season that I had an interest in possibly going into the journalism field upon my high school days. With that Coach Algeo introduced me to Ted Silary. Ted brought me on to his site and allowed me to start reporting on O’Hara games. I still remember every week after I submitted my article Ted would give me call and we would go over my article. Because of Ted my writing became so much better.
It was Ted, that spent numerous hours teaching me how to do stats a passion I still have today. I’m forever in debt to Ted. My biggest regret is not telling Ted thank you and telling him how much of an impact he had on my life.

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