Whether you watch games on TV, in the arena, or listen on the radio, you are almost certainly familiar with Tim Saunders, the Flyers play-by-play announcer on 97.5 The Fanatic. Saunders has been the voice of the Flyers since 1997, working alongside Steve Coates, Brian Propp, Chris Therien, and Todd Fedoruk on color commentary during his nearly 30 years in the booth.
During a broadcast Thursday at the 13 minute mark of the third period against the Buffalo Sabres, Saunders was caught on a hot mic. Take a listen here, it is NSFW.
This was very obviously an accident, as he had to be told they were still on the air. However, it should be clear that these are not words one should be happy to hear in the workplace. No matter what your work environment looks like -- an office or a locker room -- you should expect a certain level of professionalism and decorum from your colleagues.
In response, the Flyers released a statement and announced a two-game suspension for Saunders. As soon as the statement was released, people rushed to the internet to defend the longtime broadcaster. Philadelphia Flyers beat writer for PHLY, Charlie O'Connor, had this to say about the incident:
Obviously Tim Saunders made a mistake here (hot mics, they can get you), but I know the Flyers radio guys well enough to know they're constantly ragging on each other good naturedly. I imagine that's what happened here. Don't think anyone should think less of him. https://t.co/mldvhV2sLa
— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) December 19, 2025
Former Flyers employee Anthony San Filippo had this to say: "because of a fear that there are some folks out there who will get their undergarments in a snit over something like this, the Flyers worried about the optics of it and it resulted in this "hard-handed" suspension because, you know, it's unprofessional."
I believe both takes are dismissive and do not understand the crux of the issue, which is that everyone, no matter who they are or where they work, should be safe from advances in the workplace. This is something that many men do not take seriously because they have never been asked this type of question in earnest. It reeks of "boys will be boys" and "locker room culture", when the entire Flyers organization has made a concerted effort to clean up the extracurriculars from the team office.
To Saunders' credit, he has taken responsibility for the blunder and has pledged to do better moving forward.
— Flyers Broadcast Network (@FlyersBroadcast) December 19, 2025
At the end of the day, this was a joke between colleagues that was mistakenly picked up by a microphone that should have been turned off long before it was uttered. That doesn't negate the fact that there are people who are fans of this team who did not want to hear vulgarities with their hockey game. It was a no brainer, the Flyers had to take action.