Pat Summerall, 82, passed away Tuesday at Dallas’ Zale Lipshy Hospital surrounded by his family and closest friends.
Summerall spent ten seasons in the NFL from 1952 to 1961 as a place kicker for the Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals, and New York Giants. However, it was his post football career that made him famous.
In 1962 he was hired by CBS Sports to work as a color commentator on NFL games. He would eventually transition into a play-by-play announcer, and would work for the network for 32 years. Summerall would quickly ascend the ranks and become part of CBS’ lead broadcast team and was in the booth for Joe Namath’s memorable win in Superbowl III. Summerall would also broadcast golf, tennis and NBA Games for the network. His last event for CBS was the 1994 Masters.
In 1981 CBS teamed Summerall with new color commentator and former Raiders’ coach John Madden and sports broadcasting magic was created. The pair would work together for 22 years at CBS, and another 9 at Fox Sports, as the Network’s lead announcing team. Together they would call multiple NFC Championship games and Superbowls. In a natural fit Summerall was also the play by play voice in many editions of the popular EA Sports Madden football series.
In all Summerall broadcast 16 Superbowls, a record number for any one play-by-play host. His final Superbowl was Super Bowl XXXVI in early 2002.
Since that time Summerall continued at Fox, even after Madden left for ABC Monday Night Football (and later NBC Football Night in America). After a brief hiatus, he was back in the booth doing NFL games, and even called the Cotton Bowl from 2007-2010. His 2011 appearance in the Cotton Bowl pre-game was his last sports broadcasting job.
Summerall was known for his straightforward, easy to understand approach to the game, and his silky smooth voice needed few words to convey the action on the field. He’s best remembered for calls such as “Montana, Rice, Touchdown” than for catchphrases or over the top calls. He left those to Madden.
Summerall is a legend of the sports media world and we here at LWOS offer our sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues. We are proud to say that we were fans of Summerall, and thank him for helping us to grow up loving sports. May he rest in peace.
