Summerall Will Be Missing Familiar Presence In Booth
Pat Summerall is in Dublin with the Bears. But Fox Sports’ play-by-play man for Sunday’s Bears-Pittsburgh Steelers game arrived without two of his usual companions, his luggage and John Madden.
As he prepares to launch his 36th year in the booth doing National Football League games after 10 seasons as an NFL player, Summerall’s luggage caught up with him Thursday.
He knows Madden won’t.
“John doesn’t fly. There was some talk he wanted to bring his van over on a ship,” Summerall said, insisting he wasn’t joking. “But the streets of Dublin aren’t wide enough for that bus of his.”
As a result, Summerall will make a rare appearance Sunday doing play-by-play without Madden, his sidekick for the last 16 years at CBS and Fox.
Matt Millen will assume Madden’s role. And, Summerall noted, “Matt … is as close to John as anyone’s going to be as far as style.
“But it’s going to be strange for the first couple of minutes … not looking at that big, broad back and not ducking those waving arms.”
Although Summerall’s bags made it only from Dallas to New York while he caught the connecting flight to Ireland, the experienced traveler kept his notes and files as carry-on luggage.
His research and observations at Dublin practices convince him that the Bears and Steelers are “unknown quantities,” seeking to fill critical roster spots.
Of the Bears’ plan to start Rick Mirer at quarterback and Raymont Harris and Rashaan Salaam together in the backfield, he said “it looks like they will operate behind a pretty solid offensive line. That’s Chicago’s most solid unit, particularly if they can keep a tight end healthy.”
From his perspective, having seen decades of evolution in the NFL and its coverage on TV, Summerall cited as the most dramatic changes:
Athletes are much bigger and quicker.
Most equipment is lighter and, unlike in his playing days, doesn’t get heavier with perspiration.
The exception is helmets, which have gotten heavier and become “more of a weapon.”
Technologically, improvement of instant replay means “we don’t have to re-cue and we don’t miss the exact shot we wanted, like we used to.”
Graphically, electronics permit analysts such as Madden to illustrate and diagram plays by marking directly over the replay footage.
Some things don’t change. By studying tapes of teams upcoming for telecast, Summerall said, experienced broadcasters find instances where coaches “are lying to us” by hyping players whose play doesn’t live up to it on film.
Why?
“Sometimes, they’re hoping an opponent won’t go after that player,” he said.
Of his role amid TV’s expanding technology, Summerall said, “I’m not sure it gets easier with experience.” But the joy remains.
“This may sound goofy. But I enjoyed my years as a player so much, and this is as close as you can get to that without playing.
“I feel a tremendous letdown when the game is over, just like when I was playing, except I’m not as sore. … And every year, we make the playoffs.”
His fondest Super Bowl memories include the first that he and Madden did together - Super Bowl XVI between San Francisco and Cincinnati in 1982:
“We rehearsed our opening over and over. … After I ask him my second question, he’s the only one on camera and I turn, off camera, to put on my headset.”
Game time. Summerall asked his second question, turned and … couldn’t find his headset.
“The rule of thumb is if you can’t find the headset, follow the cord,” he said. “I did that, and the cord ended at John. He was sitting on my headset.”
While the crew cut to a wide shot of the field, Summerall got the headset from Madden and put it on, although it was bent out of shape.
“John later told me, ‘For you to wear that headset smashed like that, and knowing where it had been, that’s true friendship,”’ Summerall recalled with a chuckle.