http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9179704/legendary-broadcaster-pat-summerall-dies-82 Nothing beat Summerall and Madden on CBS. RIP.
Indeed. His voice is one of the hits in the soundtrack to my youth. That baritone remains front and center when I think back to those epic Dallas-SF battles of the early 90's. Summerall and Madden on CBS was as good as it gets.
While I don't recall him as a player, the clips of him I enjoyed, as a football purist. But like most of us, his professionalism as an announcer was great too. Loved him paired with madden...rip brother..
He was a part of my childhood with the Madden games, and in the Replacements movie, I always been a fan of his announcing, and remember being sad when he stop doing madden RIP Pat
Bummer... may he rest in peace. His voice is legendary to me... nothing could beat him and Madden together. Classics.
RIP Pat, he was very good, but let's not get carried away in our praise. The best NFL broadcast team ever was Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis.
Just loved Pat Summerall. Summerall not only had a great voice but he had an incredible feel for the game and knew when to be quiet. He also didn't try to be overly analytical in the pbp role - even though he was an ex football player and thoroughly understood the game; he deferred to Madden. Really showed his class. And, he was a fighter - battling alcoholism throughout his life and not giving up in spite of setbacks. As others have noted, Summerall and Madden were the best combo team in NFL history. He and Brookshire were great as well. I can hear him in my ears as vividly as if he just called a game yesterday. I don't know who else I'd put in there but for 1-2 combos, I'd say 1) Summerall/Madden; 2) Curt Gowdy/DeRogatis (really Gowdy & anyone are #2 - he was also good with Meridith & Olsen. Summerall - the PBP Voice of the NFL. Gowdy was the voice of the AFL & AFC. Takes me back to the late 60's and 70's - still the greatest era in pro football history, imo. Getting too old - too many friends and too many icons of my childhood and young adult era going away.
The #1 voice of the NFL on CBS back in the late 60s IMO was Frank Gifford. He did the NFL Today pregame show, all by himself. It was a one man job back then, not like the big groups of analysts they all employ today. Curt was the best announcer of any sport ever though IMO. He was not only great with football, but also as good baseball announcer as there ever was too.
I agree with Gifford being the voice of the late 60's and maybe the 70's too. Sumerall was a class act. May he rest in peace. He had a legendary voice. Loved him at the Masters too.
Was never a big Summerall fan, because his pro-Cowboys commentary and hate of the Dolphins. Never passed up a chance to stick it to Shula if he could. He was waaaaay to over the top in his Cowboy love.