'The journey has been an absolute blast' | Dave Calabro announces end-of-year retirement (2024)

INDIANAPOLIS — On Tuesday, longtime 13 Sports directorDave Calabro announced to the WTHR team he plans to retire at the end of the year.

Dave made the following remarks about his amazing career:

“As a high school kid who fell in love with radio and TV, I started dreaming about making a career out of it.

Here I am, wrapping up nearly 40 years of getting paid to play Television!

The past 32 years here at WTHR have been simply amazing. The journey has been an absolute blast.

Who else can say they got paid to fly around in a helicopter for 28 years of Operation Football?

I traveled the globe covering eight Olympics.

Igot to carry the Olympic torch twice, interviewed a couple of U.S. presidents and the Russian president along the way.

From Peyton to Reggie to Bird, AJ, Mario and more…it’s been a wild ride.

There were six to seven Super Bowls, Pacers playoff runs and so much more.

I’ve had a front row seat to sports history. I always felt it was my responsibility to take you, the viewer, along with me.

I tried to never be the story but to bring you the story.

I’ve never cared about personal awards. There are Emmys somewhere in my attic, but my award was all the great relationships I’ve formed along the way!

Thank you all for always supporting me and welcoming me into your home! God has blessed me beyond measure!

I want to thank my college sweetheart, Lisa, who has supported me along this crazy road. She sacrificed a lot for my dreams, and now, it’s time to put on my favorite baseball cap and explore the world with her!

I also look forward to volunteering behind the scenes with some local organizations.

I’ll be on Channel 13 until the end of the year.

I plan to keep playing on the microphone at my backyard sandbox, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!...as long as the Captain Roger Penske lets me!

Thank you all.”

Dave is as synonymous with sports in central Indiana as any one person could ever be.

In May 1992, Dave joined the WTHR team. He has covered the Colts from the team’s lows to winning the Super Bowl. He was there covering the Pacers from the Reggie Miller days through the Eastern Conference Finals just this season. He was there when Tamika Catchings and the Fever won the national championship and when they drafted Caitlin Clark.

Beyond professional sports, Dave launched Operation Football, where he has shared his love of the game with fans and students on Friday nights through the decades. His love of the community is undeniable.

Dave has been to countless Olympic games through the years. He has helped tell the stories of Hoosiers going for gold, brought perspective when an athlete struggled and was the trusted reporter when an athlete needed their voice heard.

Before coming to WTHR, he worked for five years at WDTN-TV in Dayton, Ohio, where he covered Cincinnati Bengals football and Cincinnati Reds baseball as the sports anchor.

Dave graduated from Ben Davis High School and Butler University.

While Dave is ready to start his next chapter, he will not be retiring until the end of the year. Dave wants to make sure he is there to finish the Fever season, has one more Operation Football, covers the Colts going for another playoff run, the Pacers’ new season and the summer Olympics.

Please join us in thanking Dave for his decades covering central Indiana sports and the community he loves.