NEW ORLEANS — They’re an odd couple really, this Pat Summerall and John Madden, who today make their final joint Sunday television visit into America’s...
This story was originally published on February 3, 2002. Following the sudden passing of legendary NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden, we're bringing it back.
Mr. Summerall’s persona is locked on cruise control; Mr. Madden’s bounces along a rocky road. Their off-camera relationship is friendly but businesslike. There is mutual respect, but rare are offseason calls to check on family, health or golf scores. As for Sunday’s grand finale, Mr. Summerall expects some uncharacteristic Madden-like bumpy moments to creep into his game.
”It had been a permissive operation that relied on old production techniques that had become the laughingstock of the industry,” said Terry O’Neil, the executive producer hired to change the face of CBS Sports. On the Monday after the eighth week, Mr. O’Neil, Mr. Sauter and three other executives convened in the CBS dining room to pick a winner.The lone dissenter was Mr. Sauter, who had the authority to make the ultimate decision. Unable to dissuade the others, Mr. Sauter banged his fist on the table and shouted, “OK, you guys want Summerall, you can have him.”To say Mr. Summerall and Mr. Madden were comfortable with each other from the start would not be accurate. Mr. Summerall pined for Mr.
After the game, Pat told me he understood what we had in mind,” Mr. O’Neil said. Mr. Summerall’s summary: “I wouldn’t say I liked John from day one, but how could I? I didn’t know him.”The Summerall-Madden team worked its first Super Bowl at the end of the 1981 season. Had Dwight Clark not made “The Catch” over Everson Walls in the waning moments of the NFC championship game, Mr. Summerall and Mr. Madden might have finished the season as they started it — with the Cowboys.Jan.
All because “Pat never fought John for the mic,” said producer Bob Stenner, who has been with the pair since 1981. “He always allowed john to fly off in whatever direction John wanted because Pat has always known how to bring him in and the broadcast back to earth.Said Mr. Madden, “All the things that I didn’t know how to do on broadcast or wasn’t interested in, Pat would do ... I never said I was a TV guy or a broadcaster. I’m a football guy on TV.
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