Ed Bouchette, longtime Pittsburgh Steelers writer and Senior Writer for The Athletic Pittsburgh, confirmed he was retiring effective Tuesday.
Bouchette was asked during his weekly hit with Colin Dunlap and Chris Mack, hosts of The Fan Morning Show on 93.7 the Fan, if he was maybe thinking about calling it a career soon.
"There's no maybe about it, Colin, tomorrow's my last day," Bouchette said. The news caught Dunlap and Mack by surprise.
"I don't want to work anymore. I don't want to have to think anymore about what I'm gonna write," he said. "It hangs over you, Colin you know that. It just hangs over you constantly about what are you going to write."
Looking back on his career, which spans five decades, Ed Bouchette felt like he reached the pinnacle in the profession.
"I can go out saying that I worked for a company for The New York Times, right? So I started at the bottom and worked up to the top, although I'm not demeaning anyone else," he said. "The Post-Gazette to me was at the top, and The Athletic was a great move by me."
Bouchette was asked if there was one story he wrote that was most memorable. He said there were so many to choose from. He did remember working on a piece about former Steeler Carlton Haselrig. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article earned him a statewide award, and he said taking his daughter to Penn State to receive the award was a highlight.
Ed Bouchette also recalled getting on the bad side of the NFL, publishing the 75th anniversary team before the league officially announced it. He wrote a piece in the commemorative book on the evolution of football equipment. And since he was a contributor, he received an early copy of the book.
Bouchette saw that the official team had been published in the book, and the league had not gone public with that information at the time. The NFL had planned a big event in New York City at Radio City Music Hall for a later date where the team would be announced.
After going to Steelers ownership with the revelation, the story was printed in the Post-Gazette.
"It ticked the NFL off so much, Joe Brown and the PR guy called Dan Rooney and was livid! And Dan says, 'Eh, you know he's doing his job,'" Bouchette said. "And they canceled the thing at Radio City Music Hall and everything. That was fun."
Bouchette said he will always think fondly of the Rooney family.
"I love those people. They're good, good people. And so was Art," he said.
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