Professional football player and sports broadcaster. After an accomplished career as a player (primarily as a placekicker) in the National Football League, he went on to have a lengthy broadcasting career, calling nationally televised football games and other events on the CBS and Fox Networks. He will perhaps be best remembered for being paired with Tom Brookshier followed by John Madden. Born George Allen Summerall, he attended Columbia High School in Florida and played college football at the University of Arkansas. During his high school years, he was a well-versed athlete who excelled in football, basketball, and tennis. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War. For ten seasons in the NFL (1952 to 1961), he played at the defensive-end, offensive-end, and placekicker positions with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals, and New York Giants. Selected by Detroit during the 4th round of the 1952 NFL Draft, he totaled 109 regular season games. He contributed to three Giants' teams that reached the NFL Championship Game (1958, 1959, and 1961), which included the title game referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played" between the Giants and Colts in 1958. Individually, he led the NFL with 20 field goals in 1959. Summerall's pronounced voice was a perfect fit for broadcasting. During his career, which lasted from 1962 until 2002, he covered major golf tournaments including The Masters, NBA games, and tennis matches, in addition to football, which included 16 Super Bowl games. During the early 1990s, it was known that he was suffering from alcoholism, and with the aid of intervention from his inner circle of friends including Brookshier, he sought help and overcame his addiction. However, the damage was already inflicted and in 2004 he received a needed liver transplant. He briefly returned to the broadcast booth as a fill-in for Mike Patrick (while Patrick recovered from heart surgery) on ESPN's coverage of football games in 2004 and additionally called college football contests, notably the Cotton Bowl. Pat Summerall died of cardiac arrest at age 82 in 2013.
Professional football player and sports broadcaster. After an accomplished career as a player (primarily as a placekicker) in the National Football League, he went on to have a lengthy broadcasting career, calling nationally televised football games and other events on the CBS and Fox Networks. He will perhaps be best remembered for being paired with Tom Brookshier followed by John Madden. Born George Allen Summerall, he attended Columbia High School in Florida and played college football at the University of Arkansas. During his high school years, he was a well-versed athlete who excelled in football, basketball, and tennis. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War. For ten seasons in the NFL (1952 to 1961), he played at the defensive-end, offensive-end, and placekicker positions with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals, and New York Giants. Selected by Detroit during the 4th round of the 1952 NFL Draft, he totaled 109 regular season games. He contributed to three Giants' teams that reached the NFL Championship Game (1958, 1959, and 1961), which included the title game referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played" between the Giants and Colts in 1958. Individually, he led the NFL with 20 field goals in 1959. Summerall's pronounced voice was a perfect fit for broadcasting. During his career, which lasted from 1962 until 2002, he covered major golf tournaments including The Masters, NBA games, and tennis matches, in addition to football, which included 16 Super Bowl games. During the early 1990s, it was known that he was suffering from alcoholism, and with the aid of intervention from his inner circle of friends including Brookshier, he sought help and overcame his addiction. However, the damage was already inflicted and in 2004 he received a needed liver transplant. He briefly returned to the broadcast booth as a fill-in for Mike Patrick (while Patrick recovered from heart surgery) on ESPN's coverage of football games in 2004 and additionally called college football contests, notably the Cotton Bowl. Pat Summerall died of cardiac arrest at age 82 in 2013.
Bio by: C.S.
Inscription
PVT USA
Korea
Loved husband
Dad & Big Pat
Family Members
Advertisement