Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University department of athletics announced Monday that former RMU student-athlete Brian Cleary ('98, M'00) has joined the RMU Radio Network as color analyst for football broadcasts.
Cleary will join The Voice of the Colonials, Chris Shovlin, for home and select road football broadcasts in 2011.
A native of Glassport, Pa., and a graduate of South Allegheny High School, Cleary was a two-sport athlete at Robert Morris from 1994 to 1998, earning four varsity letters in both football and track & field.
Cleary started 38 games on the offensive line for the Colonials from 1994 to 1997, playing at either guard or tackle. He helped lead RMU to back-to-back victories in the ECAC Bowl in 1996 and 1997, and during his senior year in 1997 he was named to the All-Northeast Conference Team, tabbed a NCAA I-AA Mid-Major All-American according to Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette and earned All-ECAC honors.
In track & field, Cleary competed in the javelin, earning All-NEC Second Team honors in 1997 in the event as a junior at the NEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships by finishing second with a toss of 53.16 meters. He finished in the top five in the javelin at the NEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in each of his four seasons, including a third-place tally with a toss of 50.12 meters as a freshman in 1995.
Cleary, a 2008 inductee into the Robert Morris Athletic Hall of Fame, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Robert Morris in 1998 and a Master of Science degree in communications & information systems (CIS) in 2000.
While earning his Master of Science degree, Cleary served as a graduate assistant coach with the football program, tutoring the special teams unit in 1999 and 2000. Both of those seasons Robert Morris claimed the NCAA I-AA mid-major national championship according to the Football Gazette, including a perfect 10-0 campaign in 2000. Cleary also spent the 2002 season on the RMU coaching staff, tutoring the offensive line.
Cleary and his wife, Nikki, have one daughter, Abigail, and reside in Robinson Township, Pa.
Shovlin will be behind the microphone for his 25th season in 2011-12, calling the action for both football and men's basketball. Shovlin originally came aboard at Robert Morris as the radio play-by-play announcer for men's basketball in 1987 and has called each of RMU's last six trips to the postseason. In addition, he has been the play-play voice of RMU football since the sport's inception in 1994 and called the program's inaugural appearance in the NCAA Football Championship Subdvision (FCS) Playoffs in 2010.
Robert Morris football games can be heard live on WPIT-AM 730, the flagship radio station of Robert Morris athletics since 1996. Games are also streamed live on the official website of Robert Morris University athletics, www.rmucolonials.com.
Cleary will make his debut with Shovlin when the Colonials open their 2011 season Saturday, Sept. 3, with a Noon kickoff against Dayton at Joe Walton Stadium.
