The Rowan University Center for Sports Communication and Social Impact welcomed alum Dave Zangaro on Monday to speak with students about his illustrious career at King Auditorium since graduating from Rowan University in 2010.

Before the conversation of his career began, Zangaro told students it had been 12 to 13 years since he was last on campus, noting the major differences, including the businesses of Rowan Boulevard. He said while driving onto campus, he reminisced on the days when he was a student, and even said he passed by the place he used to live during his senior year.

Following graduation, Zangaro began his career as a journalist, covering high school sports for the local newspapers, including Burlington County Times. He noted the difference between journalism when he first started, compared to journalism now.

“I wanted to cover sports, and the easiest way to do that was to cover high school sports for those newspapers,” Zangaro said. “Right now, that avenue isn’t really there because the newspapers aren’t paying people to do that. They may not even have that department, or they may be closed.” 

Zangaro continued by mentioning the different ways writing is published today, heavily focusing on online avenues such as blogs.

“It evolves over time, you just have to figure out whatever it is at that point in time is your best avenue,” Zangaro said.

As his career in journalism continued, Zangaro added multimedia aspects to his work with his time on television, radio, and publishing across websites. He noted that he never planned on doing these things, but working with a company that has a television network allowed him to do so. With the new adjustments to his work, Zangaro said there were new challenges with learning how to be in front of the camera.

“I didn’t realize how hard that was and the different skills involved with it, but it’s also what keeps it fun,” Zangaro said.

One of the biggest turning points of Zangaro’s career was his transition from covering local sports to covering the Eagles. He shared his unique story that kick-started his career as a beat writer for Philadelphia’s beloved football team. During the 2011 NFL lockout, players were not allowed to participate in any football-related activities; however, many players on the Eagles roster still wanted to prepare for the season ahead. Because of that, they made the executive decision to hold player practices at a field in Marlton, New Jersey, which also happened to be the hometown of Dave Zangaro.

When Zangaro caught word of these practices, he asked his former editor at Comcast Sports Network Philadelphia, now NBC Sports Philadelphia, Andy Schwartz, if he could go and cover it. After he was permitted to do so, he took this opportunity to ease into Eagles coverage and allow the players to get to know his name outside of the locker room.

Along with sharing the story with the students in attendance, he also wanted to offer them a piece of advice. That advice: always show up. When his career as a beat writer for the Eagles officially began, Zangaro acknowledged his commitment to the team. 

“I show up to everything that I cover,” Zangaro said. “I don’t miss games, I don’t miss practice. If there’s anything the team’s doing, I’m gonna be there.”

Now 10 years in his position covering the Eagles, Zangaro reflected on his favorite story to cover, featuring former Eagle Brandon Graham. When the team traveled to Detroit to face the Lions on Thanksgiving Day in 2015, Zangaro wanted to capitalize on that moment, since Graham would be facing his hometown team. At that point, Graham was finally starting to solidify himself as an every-game starter after five years with the Eagles. 

“I think I sat down with him for over an hour, I talked to everyone in his life,” Zangaro said.

Despite the Eagles taking a nasty loss to the Lions on the November holiday, Zangaro said it was a story he will always be proud of.

For comments/questions about this story, DM us on Instagram @thewhitatrowan or email [email protected]