I meant to write at least a little something about this on the day that it happened. But it happened in the evening, and having had a busy day, I just felt wiped out.
Then, yesterday, that discussion that I wrote about in the entry was really burning me, and I guess I had to vent my frustrations on it.
But now, I would like to write a little something, because Pat Summerall was truly a class act. He was, along with his longtime partner John Madden, the voice of pro football to me. You begin to take for granted the constant presence while it lasts, and then, suddenly, something happens. The two of them looked pretty much the same, it seems. You do not notice any difference, until you see the way they looked years ago, and they look so much damn younger!
John Madden said that Summerall was "the voice of football, and always will be", and I do not disagree. John Madden had a certain style that bordered on hyperactive (and his voice is pretty distinct as well, to say the least). But Pat Summerall, by contrast, was always so calm and collected. He sounded almost bored by it all at times, but I do not mean that in an insulting manner at all.
I personally remember when he was covering Super Bowl XXIV, and the 49ers were expected to easily dispatch the Broncos. They scored a touchdown early, within the first few minutes, and Summerall's commentary sounded almost routine. The fate of both teams was being decided on the field, and the fans of one team were hysterical, watching their team be elevated to immortal status, as far as sports are concerned, while the other was on the verge of losing their third Super Bowl in a span of four seasons. The contest was far from decided, but there was a general excitement early on, as always during such a big game.
Yet, Summerall sounded like the calmest guy in the stadium.
"Touchdown, 49ers.", he said, barely betraying any inflection. "That didn't take long."
Summeral was himself a football player, and played pro for ten seasons, from 1952 until 1961. He played with the Detroit Lions, the Chicago Cardinals and the New York Giants, but he is better known as a football analyst and commentator for CBS, and then FOX, alongside John Madden.
I got into football in 1981, which was apparently a season of a few firsts. The Giants, my favorite team, made the playoffs for the first time in eighteen years, and Pat Summerall and John Madden became a broadcast booth team for the first time. They would stay together for the next two decades and change, and would be the leading faces and voices in the broadcast booth.
So, for me, I grew up on football with Madden and Summerall, and I guess I took it for granted that they would always be there. I was a young child in 1981, and by the time they did their last broadcast together (Super Bowl XXXVI), I was a grown man in my late twenties. Most of my life (to that point), those two guys had been the distinct voices of NFL football.
Pat Summerall had been the commentator for a total of sixteen Super Bowls, more than anyone else. In addition, he was also a pregame host or analyst for ten others for CBS Radio. It's hard to imagine anyone else bringing that degree of credibility.
Summerall wrote his autobiography, "Pat Summerall: On and Off the Air", in 2006, where he revealed his struggles with alcoholism, which were very extensive. He had a range of health issues in his older years, and was brought to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, for a broken hip, when he suffered cardiac arrest, the cause of his death.
Pat Summerall will be missed.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/04/17/177585725/pat-summerall-was-the-voice-of-football-says-john-madden
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Summerall
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