Obituary: Remembering Rick Wolff
Obituary Reports the death of an individual, providing an account of the person’s life including their achievements, any controversies in which they were involved, and reminiscences by people who knew them.
Famed local sportscaster and Armonk resident Rick Wolff died on April 10 following a brief battle with brain cancer. He was 71.
A nationally recognized sports parenting expert, Woff hosted the popular weekly radio show, The Sports Edge, on WFAN in New York City. As his friends, family, and fans can attest, hosting this show was the source of much joy in Rick’s life since it began in 1998.
Wolff had been a featured expert on Oprah, ESPN, CNN, ABC’s “Nightline”, ABC’s “20/20”, “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America,” “CBS This Morning,” “Fox & Friends,” Fox Business, CNBC, PBS, A&E, MSNBC, Court TV, Lifetime, SportsChannel, the Madison Square Garden Network, as well as dozens of other media outlets.
Additionally, Wolff enjoyed a storied career in book publishing as a highly sought-after New York Times #1 best-selling editor.
One of his best-known successes includes Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” which remained on the “New York Times” bestseller list for close to seven years. He also edited a number of other major bestsellers, including Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch, On the Brink by Hank Paulsen, Leading with the Heart by Coach K., How I Built This by Guy Raz, Call Me Ted by Ted Turner, Without Their Permission by Alexis Ohanian, How I Play Golf by Tiger Woods and countless other successful titles.
An author himself, Wolff wrote or co-wrote 18 books, including his most recent title, the highly-acclaimed Secrets of Sports Psychology Revealed, published in 2018 by Skyhorse.
Wolff graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in psychology and received his master’s degree in psychology with high honors from Long Island University.
A former professional baseball player in the Detroit Tigers organization, Wolff was hired by the Cleveland Indians as their very first roving sports psychology coach from 1989-94. He worked with numerous top professional and collegiate athletes, including players from the National Football League, the National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball. He also served as the head baseball coach at Mercy College (Dobbs Ferry, NY) from 1978-1985, when the Flyers were nationally ranked in Division II (NCAA). He was inducted into the Mercy College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.
While his professional achievements were many, Wolff was most proud of his family: his wife of over 40 years, Trish, his son John, his daughter-in-law Karin, his daughter Alyssa, his son-in-law Noah Savage, his daughter Samantha, and his son-in-law Sean O’Connor. He was also the world’s greatest “Pops” to his grandchildren Riley, Skylar, and Henry.
If you would like to leave a tribute to Wolff, you can use the contact form on his website. Donations in his memory can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Arrangements are still pending at this time.
Robert Schork is Examiner Media’s Digital Editorial Director.
