Pat Summerall

[Freak Out]

RIP.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/04/16/pat-summerall-cbs-fox-nfl/2088571/

[George Cumby]

Bummer. Always enjoyed his play by play.

[Jimx29]

He was the reason for Menards getting Ray Szmanda as the "Menards Guy"
John Menard saw the gray haired, kind looking Summerall doing the voice over work for True Value, and he decided that they needed a similar spokesperson, so they got Szmanda to do their voice over work.

[Fritz]

He was the reason for Menards getting Ray Szmanda as the "Menards Guy"
John Menard saw the gray haired, kind looking Summerall doing the voice over work for True Value, and he decided that they needed a similar spokesperson, so they got Szmanda to do their voice over work.

He, along with Tom Brookshier, was the voice of football for me during the 1970's as I grew up. From him I learned that restraint was better than hysteria, that the game mattered more than the "narrative" that is now used to sell the game, and that announcers were professionals, aiding in your understanding, not sideshow clowns.

I am glad he stopped drinking, too, because it was sad that he seemed to be turning into just another red-nosed ex-jock. He seems like a guy you could and can look up to.

[Freak Out]

I think Summerall was probably the best I've ever had the pleasure to listen to while watching a game played. He had what I think was the perfect blend of class, tradition and knowledge. There are some radio announcers that were as good but on the tube he was my favorite. Teamed with Madden he ushered in the modern era of the NFL on the TV.

[woodbuck27]

Thanks Packer fan. I was going to post that and I'm glad you did.

Better days and Pat's loved one's:



Maybe the way we'll best remember Pat and his Ole Pal:



This man's lifetime here:



Rest In Peace...Pat Summerall.

[pbmax]

I was a fan of some of his later period work.

[MadtownPacker]

Summerall's voice was one I grew to associate with the game of football. RIP to a true gentleman.

[red]

He was the reason for Menards getting Ray Szmanda as the "Menards Guy"
John Menard saw the gray haired, kind looking Summerall doing the voice over work for True Value, and he decided that they needed a similar spokesperson, so they got Szmanda to do their voice over work.

i guess my grandfather was buddies with him way back in the day

[swede]

i guess my grandfather was buddies with him way back in the day

John Menard, Pat Summerall, or Ray Szmanda?

[red]

Ray Szmanda

[Jimx29]

Ray Szmanda

I used to know a girl who worked next to his office and she said he was nothing short of a complete asshole to everyone who he dealt with.

[Jimx29]

I was a fan of some of his later period work.

Rick Mirer......yikes

[woodbuck27]

Pat Summerall and the Vince Lombardi 'Connection'.

Pat Summerall was the Giants’ kicker from 1958-61. The final four seasons of a 10-year NFL career after coming over from the Chicago Cardinals in a trade.

In his four seasons with the New York GIANTS Pat Summerall kicked 59 field goals and scored 313 points.

On Dec. 14, 1958, Pat Summerall kicked a 49-yard field goal (the longest in the league that season) and with two minutes renaining in that game; inspite of bad winter conditions in Yankee Stadium. That Summerall kick gave the Giants a 13-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns.

That long kick by Pat Summerall had implications for NFL history.

The Giants hosted the Cleveland Browns and Jim Brown the following week in an Eastern Conference Playoff Game. The Giants won that one too advancing to the NFL Championship Game against the Baltimore Colts.

The Giants lost that Championship game in OT, 23-17. That game has been been immortalized as 'The Greatest Game Ever Played'.

From the LINK below:

“That’s one of the most famous games in football history and we would never have been in it if Pat hadn’t had that kick,” said Hall of Famer Frank Gifford, Summerall’s teammate with the Giants. “It was snowing so bad, no one really knew how far it was. I remember Charlie (Conerly), who was his holder, said, ‘You son-of-a-gun, you can’t kick it that far.’ It had rained and then it snowed and it was a terrible, terrible day. Charlie was right – it was almost impossible. He came out on the field to kick it and we all said, ‘What the hell are we doing?’ But he made it.”

Pat Summerall's Offensive Coach back then was one Vince Lombardi before he was hired to be the man for the Green Bay Packers and all that history.

" Gifford believes Summerall was a vastly underrated football player because head coach Jim Lee Howell and offensive coach Vince Lombardi were reluctant to put him on the field for anything but kicking.

“Lombardi didn’t want him to get hurt,” Gifford said. “But we didn’t need him as a football player, we needed him as a kicker. Lombardi didn’t play him when he was with us mainly because we didn’t want to lose our kicker – because the backup kicker was me. I was going both ways and doing the kicking, too. We picked him up from the Cardinals and that was the end of my kicking career.” "

http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Giants-share-memories-of-Pat-Summerall/667ef12c-65ff-480d-b22a-d3a65cb47299