Kyle Summerall: John Madden’s Eulogy of Pat Summerall

Source:Kyle Summerall– Pat Summerall’s longtime partner at CBS Sports John Madden, delivering his eulogy.

“John Madden Eulogy”

From Kyle Summerall

As John Madden said, Pat Summerall’s long time partner on the NFL on CBS and then later on FOX NFL Sunday when they were the lead announce team for CBS Sports and FOX Sports NFL coverage, Pat Summerall was the voice of the NFL. Because, one he did have a great voice for TV or radio, but he knew what we was talking about. He not only knew what he was seeing and could describe it so well, but he knew what it meant. You got an insiders look from Summerall because he played the game himself and knew what he was seeing and what it meant.

It’s almost as if you were hearing one man give the play by-play as well as the analyst in one voice. And then you add in John Madden perhaps the best sports analyst of all-time not just the NFL. And you are talking about a great team and watching a football game from two announcers who not only knew what they were looking at, but what it meant. And other than maybe with Frank Gifford and Don Meredith doing ABC’s Monday Night Football, its something that was never seen before except for Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier working together, again at CBS Sports. To have both an announcer and an analyst know so much about the game and sport they were calling.

Pat Summerall was an analyst calling NFL football because he played the game himself as a kicker and I believe a linebacker with the Chicago Cardinals and later of course the New York Giants. Where became somewhat famous and successful as a player. So listening to Summerall call NFL games, was a real pleasure because it wasn’t a fans point of view. Some broadcaster who just loves the sport and his job, but perhaps knows as much about the game as his audience.

But with Summerall you were listening to an expert not just doing the play, but someone who would analyze what he was seeing. Because he not only knew what he was seeing and what it meant. And I feel so lucky and it was such a pleasure to hear him call all of those NFL games. Because he and John Madden were the number one announce team for the NFL on CBS and later FOX NFL Sunday. So you got to see them practically every Sunday. But also as a Redskins fans whose team played in so many NFL games of the week on CBS.

Another thing I take away from Pat Summerall was his intros which were great and famous. Because they were so natural as if Pat Summerall wrote those intros himself and added his own humor to them. And then you throw in the great theme music from CBS Sports and you got to hear the voice of the NFL at his best. Laying out perfectly what to expect from the upcoming game and what to look for from both teams. And what made him so great and best NFL announcer of all-time.

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NFL Network: John Riggins: A Football Life

Source:NFL Network– the Washington Diesel.

Source:The Daily Press

“John ‘The Diesel’ Riggins was fearless on the field and a fun-loving showman off it. He knew the power of his talents and achieved the ultimate prize with a Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl MVP title.

‘John Riggins: A Football Life’ tells the untold story of a small-town Kansas farm kid’s rise from the unknown to being Super Bowl champion to Hall of Famer to actor following his retirement.

John Riggins was truly one of a kind. Known by Redskins fans simply as “Riggo” or “The Diesel,” the man was pure magic on the field.”

From BG8 TV

Former New York Jets running back Emerson Boozer had a great line about John Riggins which is in this video. He says imagine you are driving your car on the highway and going 65-70 miles an hour making good speed and a tractor truck comes up beside you and passes you and you can’t catch up. Great way to describe JR. How does someone that big and strong move that fast?

I guess I’m very lucky as a Redskins fan, because my first year as a Redskin fan and I’m not even seven years old, yet a couple months away from that, was in 1982 the year the Washington Redskins win their first Super Bowl.

I still remember John Riggins touchdown run like I saw it yesterday. Him breaking through that hole, that was designed on purpose to have one free Miami Dolphin defender, who was a safety a guy named Don MacNeil, who may have weighed 200 pounds back then. It was designed this way because Redskins OL coach Joe Bugel tolled JR: “Look, there’s going to be one free Dolphin defender who’ll have a clean shot at you, but there isn’t a DB in football that can tackle you by themselves.”

JR was called the Diesel for a reason, because thats the type of power he had. I think a better comparison would be a horse. Big, tall and strong, who could run like a horse. He would run through you or he could run by you. You try to tackle him, you have a better shot at hurting yourself.

When you think of John Riggins athletically, just don’t think of the Super Bowl champion or the Super Bowl MVP or the Hall of Famer or even all of the records he held at least one point. Think of the athlete, think of the 18 year old who at the time was already 6’2 220 pounds, who was the Kansas state track champion in high school. Think of a fullback with tailback speed, who could out run WR’s and DB’s. And also think of JR from the perspective of a defender: “Even if I do catch this guy, if he’s not at full speed, how am I supposed to bring him down. Maybe I should practice by trying to tackle a horse.”

A couple examples of JR’s greatness, a regular season game against the Dallas Cowboys in December 1979. The winner of the game wins the NFC East and goes to the playoffs. It was the third or fourth quarter, QB Joe Theisman calls a trap play or a run up the middle. The problem is that JR out ran his OL and turns the play into a sweep and bounces outside and takes the play for a sixty yard touchdown run. No Cowboy in sight trying to catch him until the end when a little Cowboy DB makes light stab at him.

Jim Brown is the best RB of all-time, the power back of all time as well, but JR is right behind JB as the best power back of all-time. And if you are number two to JB in anything when it comes to football, you are a Hall of Famer. The only thing was that JR was under utilized for probably half of his career. The New York Jets were awful in the early and mid 1970s and the Redskins tried to make JR a FB in his first two seasons in Washington. So my question would be had JR been a full-time TB for his entire career, how great would he have been.

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NFL Films: NFL 1967- NFL Championship- Dallas Cowboys @ Green Bay Packers: Ice Bowl

Source:Pro Football Hall of Fame– the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers for the 1967 NFL Championship.

Source:The Daily Press

“Pro football fans in Green Bay, Wisconsin have always been recognized as a loyal and hearty bunch. But one wouldn’t have faulted even the most loyal “Packer Backer” if he’d decided not to attend the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys. Played at Lambeau Field on December 31, the temperature at game time registered a frigid 13 degrees below zero. Nonetheless, more than 50,000 parka-clad fans braved the elements that New Year’s Eve and watched in awe as the Packers claimed their third consecutive NFL title, with a 21-17 victory.
From the start, Green Bay fans felt their team had a distinct advantage over the warm-weather Cowboys, After all, the Packers lived and practiced in the cold Wisconsin climate. Green Bay’s early 14-0 lead probably convinced fans that they were right. However, the severe weather affected the Packers too. Dallas scored a touchdown and a field goal after two Packer fumbles and added a second touchdown in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, with 4:50 left in the game the Packers were behind, 17-14.

The Packers literally and figuratively “kept their cool.” Behind the leadership of future Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr, they marched down field. With sixteen seconds remaining and the temperature down to eighteen below zero, the Packers found themselves about two feet away from victory. Starr called time out. The field was like a sheet of ice. The two previous running plays had gone nowhere. With no time outs left, a running play seemed totally out of the question. A completed pass surely would win it. Even an incomplete pass would at least stop the clock so the Packers could set up a field goal to tie the game and send it into overtime. After consulting with Packers coach Vince Lombardi, Starr returned to the huddle.”

From the Pro Football Hall of Fame

“I think this is as close as you can get to the full game.”

Source:Virgil Moody– the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers for the 1967 NFL Championship.

From Virgil Moody 

When I think of great football games, I don’t think of great shootouts, like the New York Jets beating the Miami Dolphins back in 1986, something like 52-49, the shootout of shootouts with quarterbacks Dan Marino and Ken O’Brien trading touchdown passes. Good game, entertaining game, of course, but not one of the best games of all-time.

No, a great game is generally not played by two teams that can’t stop each other, where the team that has the ball last, wins or can’t score against each other. And it’s generally a mistake rather than a great play that decides the game.

Great games are generally played between two great teams, where both teams have good or great offenses and defenses. And the team that wins, is the team that executes or prepares better and perhaps gets a few more breaks. Thats what the 1967 NFL Championship, better known as the Ice Bowl represents. Two very good teams on both sides of the ball, both playing a great game. I mean think about it, the 1967 NFL Championship played in Green Bay, Wisconsin, not Milwaukee, but Green Bay.

Take football and freezing weather away from Green Bay, nobody outside of the country has ever heard of Green Bay. Actually, take the Packers out of Green Bay, nobody outside of Green Bay has ever heard of Green Bay. But they have the Packers and they have Lambeau Field, the New York Yankees of the NFL and most famous and best stadium in the NFL. There’s nothing that better represents the NFL than the Packers and Lambeau Field, with all of its Hall of Famers and championships.

The Packers won the first two Super Bowls, so there was no better place to be, to play this game and weather was part of it. The ultimate of football weather, zero degrees at halftime, windchill probably -20, a skating rink for a football field. Playing a very good and up-incoming team, from the biggest city or 2nd biggest city in the South, the Dallas Cowboys.

What made the Ice Bowl great, we’re the great players who played in, the Hall of Famers and Pro Bowlers who played for both teams. QB Don Meredith, WR Bob Hayes, DT Bob Lilly for the Cowboys. QB Bart Starr, OT Forrest Gregg, OG Jerry Kramer, DE Willy Davis and others for the Packers. I mean these teams had to be this great, just to show up to play this game and represent why this is the best bad weather football game of all time.

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