Remembering Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter Keith Pompey remembering the tragic events of September 11, 2001

Ryan Conway
September 11, 2025
Sixers
0 Comments

Long time 76ers beat reporter Keith Pompey has left his mark on the team and the city of Philadelphia in a variety ways.

Nearly four years ago to date, Pompey provided anyone who followed him on social media or listened to the Locked On 76ers Podcast when he was a host with a memorable tribute to the tragic events that happened 20 years prior on September 11, 2001.

Keith Pompey had a perfect segue from reflecting on a national tragedy to an ad read for DIRECTV Stream:

pic.twitter.com/8dQyKKOc2j
— mustafa (@bulutt7613) September 10, 2024

If you can’t listen to the thoughtful words of Pompey because you’re chained to a cubicle at work, here’s a quick transcription of one of the most iconic ad reads in podcast history:

“Let’s to say it was a tough time in our history. And tomorrow is gonna be an emotional day for a lot of us. I mean, the fact that you see kids 20-something now, never even knew their family. You know? It’s tough. But let me tell you something that’s NOT tough, not tough at all. And I’m talking about DIRECTV Stream. Right? You know, does this sound familiar? You’ve got one device that lets you catch the game live, another that lets you stream your favorite shows…”

While that may not seem like much the rare miss on the segue from Keith Pompey caught the attention of 76ers fans across social media.

When you pair that with this iconic tweet, also about the tragic events of September 11, 2001 – you’ll finally get the full picture of how “off the rails” things had gotten with Pompey’s tribute to the worst tragedy on American soil outside of Ben Simmons not turning into the next LeBron James.

Now we’re talking. If you want to acknowledge an American tragedy, make sure to reach out to Keith Pompey before posting or talking about anything. From there, go pick up some pretzels from the Philly Pretzel Factory in Langhorne. Much like Pompey, they absolutely knock September 11th tributes out of the park.

A pretzel 9/11 tribute goes crazy pic.twitter.com/wjQEJmudY1
— Finkatron 3000 (@FINKADELPHIA) September 11, 2024

Whatever you do, make sure you keep all of this away from Carolina Panthers fans. They will immediately relate “franchise quarterback” Bryce Young and his embarrassing Week 1 one performance as something worse than 9/11 which we cannot have while trying to pay respects to those we lost.