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George Allen "Pat" Summerall (born May 10, 1930 in Lake City, Florida) is a former American football player and well-known television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, FOX, and ESPN.
Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on CBS and Fox, and in 1999 he was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame.http://www.americansportscasters.com/sumerall.html
Football career
Summerall played college football from 1949 to 1951 at the University of Arkansas, where he played the defensive end, tight end, and placekicker positions. He graduated from UA in 1953.
Summerall spent 10 years as a professional football player in the National Football League, primarily as a placekicker. The Detroit Lions drafted Summerall as a fourth-round draft choice in 1952. Summerall played the pre-season with the Lions before breaking his arm, which ended the year for him. After that season, he was traded and went on to play for the Chicago Cardinals from 1953 to 1957 and the New York Giants from 1958 to 1961. His best professional year statistically was 1959, when Summerall scored 90 points on 30-for-30 (100%) extra-point kicking and 20-for-29 (69%) field goal kicking.
Broadcasting career
CBS Sports
After retiring from football, Summerall became a broadcaster for the CBS network. He started in 1962 working part-time on New York Giants' broadcasts. In 1964, CBS hired Summerall full-time to work its NFL telecasts, initially as a color commentator and then (beginning in 1975) as a play-by-play announcer. Summerall also did sportscasts for the network's flagship radio station, WCBS-AM.
During the 1970s, Summerall usually worked with Tom Brookshier as his broadcasting partner for NFL (mostly NFC) games, and the colorful Summerall-Brookshier duo worked three Super Bowls (X, XII, and XIV) together. In 1981, Summerall was teamed with former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden, a pairing that would last for 22 seasons on two networks and become one of the most popular and acclaimed partnerships in TV sportscasting history. Summerall also broadcast professional golf and tennis (including the Masters and U.S. Open) during his tenure at CBS, and was the play-by-play announcer for the 1974 NBA Finals, CBS' first season broadcasting the NBA. He continues to provide commentary for the Golden Tee golf video game.
The NFL on FOX
In 1994, the Fox network surprised NFL fans by outbidding CBS for the NFC broadcast package. One of the network's first moves was to hire Summerall and Madden as its lead announcing team. The two men thus continued their on-air partnership through the 2001 season.
Summerall and Madden's last game together was Super Bowl XXXVI. After that game, Summerall announced his retirement and Madden was signed by ABC for that network's Monday Night Football telecasts. Summerall was lured out of retirement and re-signed with Fox for the 2002 NFL season, working with Brian Baldinger on regional telecasts before retiring again after one year. In 2006 he returned to the broadcast booth, paired once again with Baldinger. In Week 8 (October 29, 2006), he called a game between the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers.
In January, Summerall will return to Fox as one of the play-by-play voices of the network's college bowl games coverage. He will call the Cotton Bowl [1].
ESPN
Summerall called several 2004 preseason and early regular-season NFL games for the ESPN network, substituting for regular announcer Mike Patrick while the latter recovered from heart surgery.
Super Bowl legacy
Summerall has broadcast all or part of 26 Super Bowls, more than any other announcer. 16 of these were on network television with either CBS or Fox, with an additional 10 on CBS Radio.
Health issues
During the 1991 season, Summerall was hospitalised after vomiting on a plane during a flight after a game, and was out for a considerable amount of time. While Verne Lundquist replaced Summerall on games with Madden, Jack Buck (who was at CBS during the time as the network's lead Major League Baseball announcer) was added as a regular NFL broadcaster to fill-in.
In the spring of 2004, Summerall, a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for many years, underwent a liver transplant.
Trivia
- According to Frank Caliendo, when John Madden and Pat were together he referred to them as the "Bert and Ernie of Football".
- Summerall, broadcast partner Tom Brookshier, NFL on CBS producer Bob Wussler and Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie appeared as themselves during the 1977 film Black Sunday, which was filmed on location at the Orange Bowl in Miami during Super Bowl X.
- It is often mistakenly assumed that Summerall and Madden handled the call on CBS-TV for the 1981 NFC Championship Game, when San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark made "The Catch" to lift the 49ers to a 28-27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys and a berth in Super Bowl XVI. Summerall and Madden were in their first season together as a broadcast team, and since Madden was slated to call his first Super Bowl as a broadcaster later in January, the network wanted to give Madden an opportunity to travel to Detroit and prepare for the broadcast. Summerall instead handled the call of the game on CBS Radio with Jack Buck, while Vin Scully and Hank Stram called the game on television. Stram returned to his normal position as the color analyst on CBS Radio alongside Buck for the Super Bowl, while Summerall and Madden teamed for the first of eight Super Bowls together.
- Summerall has been the spokesperson for True Value. Ironically, his long-time broadcast partner Madden was the spokesperson for Ace Hardware, True Value's main competitor in the independent hardware store market.
References
External links
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