Greg Papa, the veteran Bay Area radio voice who spent 78 days in the ICU battling leukemia complications, says Cumulus Media terminated him from KNBR just as his doctor cleared him to return to the air.
Papa, 63, sat down at his home in Marin County, California, for his first interview since the layoff, speaking to NBC Bay Area with visible emotion about a year that nearly cost him his life, and then cost him his livelihood. He had co-hosted KNBR's midday "Papa & Silver" program since 2019 and worked at the San Francisco station for seven years. Earlier this month, Cumulus Media ended his contract and laid off his co-host, Greg Silver, along with it.
The timing is what makes the story cut. Papa was not easing into retirement. He was not declining work. He had been cleared by his hematologist to go back on the air. He believed the phone call from Cumulus was a return-to-work plan. It was a pink slip.
Papa's medical ordeal began last summer, when he fell ill during a vacation in France. Doctors diagnosed him with leukemia. His younger sister donated stem cells for a bone marrow transplant. About a month after the procedure, his lungs stopped responding. He developed pneumonia. The hospital put him on a ventilator, intubated him, and placed him in a medically induced coma for roughly five days.
He spent 78 days in intensive care.
In his interview with NBC Bay Area, Papa described those weeks in stark terms:
"I was put on a ventilator. I was intubated. I was in an induced coma for about five days. It went from a life-threatening situation for certain to a life-altering one... I've made a lot of progress since I've been home. I made a lot of progress since late July."
He did not sugarcoat how close he came.
"There were many nights there that I felt, you know, I may die."
But Papa fought. He told NBC Bay Area plainly what kept him going:
"I do not want to die. I'm going to fight as hard as I can, fight to stay alive. I have a lot to live for."
By late July, he was home and improving. His hematologist gave him medical clearance to resume his radio duties. Papa began preparing to return to the KNBR studio. Then came the call.
"I was fully preparing to return to work. There was never discussion that that would not be the case. And then one day you get a phone call and I thought it was a return-to-work plan... I was cleared, my hematologist cleared me [for the radio show] and they went the other way and they chose to terminate my contract."
Papa was not the only one let go. Lamont Hollywood, one half of the long-running "Lamont and Tonelli" morning show on 107.7 The Bone, a Cumulus-owned sister station to KNBR, was also recently laid off.
On August 7, KNBR's official account on X posted a statement from Cumulus Media. The company declined to address what happened directly: "We're not able to comment on the specifics of his departure." It added that "our respect and gratitude for everything Greg has given to KNBR, its listeners and its team runs deep" and said it was "exploring ways we can bring his voice back to the station."
Respect and gratitude are easy to type. They do not pay medical bills or explain why a company would fire a man weeks after his doctor said he was ready to work.
Cumulus Media is not in a position of strength. The company owns 394 radio stations and filed for bankruptcy protection in Texas in March, with a restructuring deal designed to wipe out $697 million in debt. It was the company's second bankruptcy, Cumulus also filed in 2017. The filings pointed to competition from digital audio and streaming platforms, shifts in the advertising market, and declining radio audiences as the forces squeezing the business.
None of that is Papa's fault. And none of it required Cumulus to handle the termination the way it did, by phone, during a cancer recovery, on what the broadcaster believed was a scheduling call.
Papa retains his role as the San Francisco 49ers' play-by-play radio announcer. He expressed hope during the interview that he could return to call games at some point this season. The David Benzer Strike Out Fear Foundation has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the financial costs of his long recovery.
Papa summed up the ordeal in five words that need no editorial gloss:
"Cancer is unfair. Cancer is sudden. Cancer is cruel."
So is getting fired by a bankrupt corporation on a call you thought was about coming back.
