Entertainment

Summerall Signs Off

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 4, 2002 / 7:45 AM EST / CBS

The NFL's most famous voice is going off the air. But at least Pat Summerall's last game was a classic to watch.

On the first big play of the Super Bowl, it was undeniably clear why Summerall became the quintessential play-by-play man.

"Picked off," Summerall intoned midway through the second quarter of his last game alongside boothmate John Madden. "Ty Law down the sideline. ... Touchdown. ... What the Patriots were waiting for."

Sparse, exciting, perfect: just 14 words to tell viewers everything they needed to know.

This season was the last on Summerall's contract with Fox, which paid tribute to him during the postgame show. He announced Jan. 22 that this Super Bowl would be his final telecast with Madden, ending a 21-year partnership that started at CBS, moved to Fox in 1994, and evolved into the signature sound for pro football on TV. Summerall left open the possibility he will work with another partner at Fox or for another network.

Fox's broadcast of the New England Patriots' 20-17 upset of the St. Louis Rams was the announcing pair's eighth Super Bowl together. Their first was the 1982 NFL championship, which remains the highest-rated sports telecast ever.

And once again, Summerall and Madden reprised the roles millions of viewers have heard on Sunday after Sunday: Summerall providing the short, steady stream to Madden's babbling brook.

Right to the end, Madden filled the air with his insights and opinions, including insisting the Patriots should run out the clock and head to overtime instead of trying to get into position for what turned out to be Adam Vinatieri's winning 48-yard field goal.

A typical exchange, and the one real in-game acknowledgment of the 71-year-old Summerall's swan song:

Madden: "Well, as we start our fourth quarter, Pat, it's our last fourth quarter together, and I just want to say thanks for all the memories of a lot of great quarters."

Summerall: "They have really been terrific."

Madden: "Twenty-one years. Then you multiply all those years by all those games. Then you multiply that by all those quarters. It's been very, very special, and you've made it very special."

Summerall: "So have you, and I appreciate it."

At the end of the first half, Fox went to a shot of U.S. troops watching the game in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Fox's reporter said, "They want to see the winning team right here in Afghanistan. And, at the very least, bring the cheerleaders, right?"

After a seemingly awkward pause and chuckle, Summerall flashed textbook comedic timing, saying, "What a wholesome thought."

After the game, Madden and Fox saluted Summerall's NFL career, which spans half a century: The former New York Giants star kicked 100 field goals in 10 seasons, then broadcast more than 1,000 games in the next 40.

"You're a treasure and you're to be treasured by all of us forever, because you are the spirit of the National Football League," Madden said. "You are what the NFL is all about, whapro football is all about, and more important, what a man is all about and what a gentleman is all about."