RIP Pat Summerall

Um, no they don't. If they can't hack it, they shouldn't be on the air. It does a disservice to the listener/viewer, and to the legacy of the announcer. Vin Scully still largely has it, and Jack Buck had it to the end, as did Harwell. Summerall, sadly, did not.

 

Since you mentioned Brookshire...

 

Not sure which is worse, hearing Brookshier talking about exciting new rookies like Pittsburgh's Bradshaw or the Jets' Caster (yikes), or Brookshier talking about how players go at it hard in exhibition games "because the little lady might want a new refrigerator or coat."

RIP Pat Summerall. Absolutely beloved in Dallas.

 

Hey, I very much enjoyed "Greg The Bunny." No joke. It was a funny show.

As for Pat, I grew up as (and remain) a NY Giants fan. His and Madden's glory years in the '80s and early '90s coincided with my teens and early 20s. It just wasn't a big NFC East game if Pat and John weren't doing the broadcast. Great memories.

Also my dad loved to tell the story of seeing Summerall make an unlikely, last-second kick against Cleveland in the 1958 playoffs in the snow. My dad says it was the coldest he has ever been, and that almost nobody saw the ball go through the uprights; they only saw the fans behind the goalpoasts celebrating.

My old man also used to tell me a story that I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere, and wondered if anyone here could confirm. He always claimed that Summerall got his first name (his real name is George Allen Summerall, says Wikipedia) because his name so often was cited in boxcores for kicking extra points. As in: "Joe Schmoe 20 pass from Tommy Thrower (PAT Summerall)." So the "Pat" stuck.

Of course my dad also used to tell me that Cowboys QB Danny White was the son of former Supreme Court justice/Colorado halfback Byron "Whizzer" White, and that turned out to be not even close to true. He later "confessed" he was screwing with me, but I believe he genuinely thought it to be true and only later made up the cover story that he was pulling my leg. That mystery, alas, may never be solved.

 

Both Whites went to Arizona State, so there is a connection.

 

Dad, is that you?

Byron "Whizzer" White went to the University of Colorado in the late '30s. I'm not aware that he has any direct connection to Arizona State, where as you note Danny White did indeed play.

 

Summerall/Brookshier was my introduction to the sport. They were so much better than Gowdy/Olsen, who were NBC's No. 1 in the late 70s. CBS broadcasts of the NFL in general were far superior to NBC back then.

Looking back, they had a Dean Martin-ish boozy vibe (which was real of course) that was very much of its time. Wouldn't fly today, but it worked then.

Once indoctrinated into the NFL, Summerall/Madden were my companions for the next 30 years or so. Summerall was a great straight man. When Madden would go on some stream of consciousness rant about, say, Whoot! There It Is, Summerall would just go with it, whether he got it or not.

When I was younger, I didn't quite get Summerall, because he was so understated and let the games tell themselves. But I was appreciative later when some of his successors couldn't live up to his professionalism.

I also recall him as the voice of U.S. Open tennis. He did golf too, right?

RIP.

 

Great point. Summerall was very good on golf and tennis and even did a little basketball as his schedule permitted.

 

Summerall's alcoholism really took a toll in his later years. By the time FOX replaced him as the No. 1 NFL pbp man in 2002, it was time. He hung around for a few years doing lesser regional telecasts, but he did slip noticeably.

I read that he became a Christian several years ago while at the Betty Ford Center and hope that was true.

 

1984 Playoff intro ... Giants vs. Rams ... man, does that take me back.

 

Fucking great.

 

I grew up watching him and Madden, and feel I've lost another small part of my childhood. RIP.

My favorite Summerall moment of all time was, when he was promoing a musical halftime show at the 2-minute warning, with no change in his voice:

"... And coming up at halftime will be .... Bare .... Naked .... Ladies."