Hot air: On radio, Summerall goes beyond the facts


dallasnews.com
Friday, September 14, 2007



At 77, Pat Summerall, feeling chipper three years after a life-saving liver transplant, has a new calling.

He has a weekly radio show. More precisely, it's an Internet talk show that's being picked up by radio stations around the country. Locally, you can find Summerall's one-hour show on Sports Fan 990-AM radio on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. It's also available at http://www.modavox.com.

"Don't ask me specifics," Summerall was saying Friday morning when asked how such an effort is produced. "I don't know how these Internet things work."

What Summerall does know is sports. No matter what the topic, Summerall can say, "Been there, done that, here's a story."

No one can match Summerall's sports resume. He is a man for all seasons.

He was the television voice of the NFL, working a record 16 Super Bowls in a network career that began with CBS in 1962 and ended with Fox in 2002. He called NBA games for CBS and was the network's lead voice on golf and tennis broadcasts. He worked 27 Masters and 20 tennis U.S. Opens.


As a high school senior in Florida, he turned down a basketball scholarship offered by legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. Instead, he played college football at Arkansas. He also played professional baseball in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and, later in life, he was part of an investment group that briefly owned a piece of the NBA's Boston Celtics in the late 1970s.

And, of course, his most prominent role was straight man in the Summerall-John Madden broadcast team.

On his radio show, Summerall, who lives in Southlake, gets to play more of a Maddenesque role. He's no longer confined to down and distance.

"I really never had a chance to state my opinions and bring perspective before," Summerall said. "That's why this should be so much fun."

Take the Bill Belichick spy scandal that has replaced the Michael Vick saga as the leading sports story of the day.

Two Summerall stories: While playing for the NFL Chicago Cardinals in the mid-1950s, he recalls that his team and the cross-town rival Bears routinely stole each other's game film and broke it down. Sometimes the film would be returned before the victims knew it was missing. Sometimes public shouting matches ensued.

When he was playing for the New York Giants, he was once assigned to keep a keen eye on the coach across the field and try to steal some signals. Summerall was dogged in pursuit of purloined information. He requisitioned a pair of binoculars and never took his eyes off Tom Landry.

Did he learn much that day?

"Not really," Summerall said. "Tom's face never changed."

Bottom line, according to Summerall: "Coaches are always looking for an edge. Always have. Always will. When they step over the line and are caught, there should be a price to pay."

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