If you tune in to 97.5 The Fanatic on most afternoons, you may not know the voice you hear on your radio – and by “the voice,” we mean Bill Colarulo’s sharp takes on the Eagles – once delivered closing arguments. In courtrooms. As an actual attorney.
Years into a thriving career as a trial attorney, Colarulo walked away to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a sports talk radio host. It was a gamble that has made him one of the leading voices in the Delaware Valley.
“The most surprising thing is that I think I work harder now than I did as an attorney,” Colarulo says. “As busy as I was as a lawyer, the law doesn’t change every day. Sports does. We’re on less than a 24-hour news cycle. Things are changing constantly – games, trades, injuries, breaking news – and you have to be plugged in 24 hours a day.”
His show “Unfiltered,” which he co-hosts with Ricky Bottalico, starts at 2 pm, but Colarulo is usually at the studio by 11.
“I’ll spend hours before the show researching, reading, studying statistics, watching film – diving into everything,” he says. “I approach it the same way I approached my trials as an attorney. Everything I say on air, I want to be able to back up with evidence. If I give an opinion, I’m going to support it with stats and facts.”
He views his listeners the same way he once viewed a jury.
“Even if they don’t agree with me, at least they’ll understand how I arrived at my opinion,” he says. “I want people to tune into our shows and walk away saying, ‘I learned something today’ or ‘That made me think about things in a way I hadn’t before.’ There are easier ways to fill four hours – you can throw out a crazy hot take and let callers carry the show – but that’s not the kind of sports talk I want to do.”
Colarulo’s passion for the team runs deep – and he’s never shied away from defending head coach Nick Sirianni.
“This past season, pretty much everyone universally wanted Nick Sirianni fired before the season even started,” Colarulo says. “I defended him so much that it became a running joke on The Fanatic that we must be related. I was willing to die on that hill – I believed Sirianni deserved to come back. And now it’s nice to be vindicated with a Super Bowl championship.”
Part of that commitment comes from that fact that the Eagles and Colarulo have a history – Colarulo once worked for the team.
“I actually worked for the Eagles during law school,” Colarulo says. “I was part of the personal player security team. I worked with Big Dom on game days. I’d be on the sidelines with the players and in the locker room before, during and after games, making sure no one from the media or anyone else was bothering them.”
That behind-the-scenes access only deepened his love for sports. But at the time, Colarulo thought his path was set. For 15 years, he thrived as a trial attorney.
“But I always wanted to do sports talk – that was a dream of mine,” he says. “Back in 2021, at my old law firm, I was constantly talking about it. My marketing manager at the time had an idea: ‘Why don’t we do an Eagles podcast as a marketing tool, a way for you to connect with clients differently?’”
The result was Legal Hands to the Face, a weekly Eagles podcast that lasted for about 20 episodes.
“If I went back now, I’d probably think they were terrible,” Colarulo says, “but it got me started.”
His law practice left little time for passion projects. After about a year and a half, Colarulo had a difficult conversation with his wife.
“I told her, ‘I still want to do this, but if I’m going to do it, I have to go all in,’” he says. “Thankfully, I have a very supportive wife. I made the decision to sell my firm and commit to sports talk full-time. It was a leap of faith because I didn’t have a job lined up.”
What followed was a grind.
“At first, I was volunteering,” says Colarulo. “When I was doing jobs for JAKIB Sports, I wasn’t getting paid. I just wanted the opportunity.”
For over a year, Colarulo produced content daily, shared his podcast everywhere and sent reels to outlets hoping for a shot.
That relentless work ethic paid off. In the 2023 NFL season, JAKIB Sports gave Colarulo his first big break hosting a game day show at the Ocean Casino alongside legends like Seth Joyner, Mike Missanelli, Derrick Gunn and Marc Farzetta. More opportunities followed, including a daily YouTube show. Simultaneously, Colarulo kept sending his work to 97.5 The Fanatic.
“In January 2023, they brought me in for an audition, liked what they heard and gave me a weekend show,” Colarulo says. “From there, I became their top fill-in host, then co-hosted the midday show with Mike Missanelli. And on June 9, we launched Unfiltered.”
The transition from trial attorney to sports talk host might look meteoric, but for Colarulo, it felt painstaking.
“It never felt quick,” he says. “It felt like a massive leap of faith, a ton of sacrifice and a whole lot of work. I knew if I could get a shot, I could prove myself. But those early days were tough.”
Looking ahead, Colarulo is realistic about the Eagles’ challenges.
“They’re trying to repeat, and that’s obviously not easy,” he says. “There’s been significant turnover on defense. The offense is pretty much intact, but I think the formula has to involve evolving the passing attack. And I believe they’re capable of doing that. I have a lot of faith in Jalen Hurts and the passing offense.”
Despite the grueling schedule, Colarulo never loses sight of how fortunate he is to do what he loves.
“It’s incredible, and I don’t take it for granted,” he says. “I told my wife, ‘I want to die with memories, not dreams.’ Now I get to talk sports with the best fans in the world. That’s a dream come true.”
