Philadelphia sports legends Mike Quick and Rubén Amaro Jr. serve as professionals in residence for popular Sports CaM program

Philadelphia sports icons Mike Quick and Rubén Amaro Jr. are joining Rowan University’s popular and growing Sports Communication and Media (Sports CaM) program as professionals in residence this year.

Legendary for careers with the Eagles and the Phillies, as well as for broadcasting careers that followed their playing days, the pair will deliver a series of guest lectures at Rowan for students aspiring to professional sports communication industry careers of their own.

Amaro, who gave several guest lectures at the request of Center for Sports Communication and Social Impact Senior Director Neil Hartman in 2022-23, returns to the program’s lineup, while Quick leads his first Rowan classes this year.

Both will speak to sections of the classes Inside the Front Office and History of Sport in Philadelphia.

“For me, it’s a great way to be able to talk about what it is to be in the sports industry,” said Amaro, a native Philadelphian who enjoyed a storied Major League Baseball career.

A lifelong fan of the game, Amaro was a batboy for the Phillies when his father, Rubén Amaro Sr., was the team’s first-base coach. The younger Amaro played in the MLB from 1991 to 1998, including two stints with the Phillies (1992-93 and 1996-98), as well as with the California Angels and the then-Cleveland Indians (now Guardians). He also served as assistant general manager for Philadelphia from 1998 through 2008, when the team won its second World Series, and from 2009 to 2015 he was the Phillies’ general manager.

Now a color commentator for the Phillies television broadcast, he’s also a contributor on the 94 WIP Morning Show in Philadelphia.

“I’ve had a unique background as I’ve been on all sides, other than representing the players,” Amaro said. “From scouting to coaching to playing to working in the front office, my perspective gives the students a variety of layers of what it is to be involved in this industry.”

Quick played his entire NFL career from 1982 to 1990 with the Eagles. During that time, the wide receiver was twice named a first-team All-Pro, went to the Pro Bowl five times, was the NFL receiving yards leader in 1983, tied an NFL record for the longest receiving touchdown (99 yards) and has been inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame.

For the past 26 years, he’s enjoyed a second NFL career as a color commentator for Eagles radio broadcasts on 94 WIP alongside legendary play-by-play analyst Merrill Reese.

A communications major at North Carolina State University, Quick said he went into business for himself after his playing days and segued into broadcasting when an opportunity arose with Comcast SportsNet.

“I’d go in the studio for a segment called Mondays with Mike,” a show in which he’d analyze the previous day’s game, he said.

This led to his on-air partnership with Reese.

“I could not have imagined I’d go into a second profession that I’ve now been in for 26 years,” Quick said. “It’s truly been special to share the seat next to Merrill.”

A great program that’s still growing

Located in the Ric Edelman College of Communication & Creative Arts, Sports CaM prepares students for a wide range of media careers in collegiate and professional athletics.

Hartman, an Emmy Award-winning former Philadelphia sportscaster, has known Amaro and Quick for decades, and knew they’d be natural professionals in residence.

“The program is highly professionalized with the faculty, the guest speakers and lecturers, and these guys fit the mold perfectly,” Hartman said.

He said the Sports CaM program, which began five years ago, has been extraordinarily successful in helping students launch industry careers, with graduates now working for a wide variety of clubs and organizations including the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Flyers and NFL Films.

The program emphasizes internships, and, to help facilitate enough, has forged partnerships with several professional organizations, including the Delaware Blue Coats, an affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, an affiliate of the Washington Nationals, and Cage Fury Fighting Championships, a feeder organization for Ultimate Fighting Championship. Together, those partnerships provide dozens of internships per semester.

With 335 students enrolled as majors and another 40 as minors, the program continues to grow.

“I want our program to be as competitive as any other institution,” Hartman said. “We want to make it bigger and better, and it all begins with getting really good students. Then it’s about giving them the opportunity to excel. Mike and Rubén help them to do so.”