Don West
Don West in October 2010
Ring name(s)	Don West
Billed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1]
Billed weight	281 lb (127 kg)[1]
Born	(1963-06-20) June 20, 1963 (age 49)[1] Chicago, United States [2]
Resides	Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Debut	June 19, 2002

Donald "Don" West (born June 20, 1963) is an American pitchman, television personality and wrestling broadcaster ^[3] currently working as an on-screen talent for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and also as a pitchman for WildWestDeals.com, an internet marketing website. West previously worked as a host for the Shop At Home Network as well as a pro wrestling color commentator for TNA Wrestling. In the late 1990s, West achieved a degree of fame for his loud, energetic, abrasive sales pitches on late night television, and his blunt obvious observations, with his persuasive style.

Career[link]

Don West is the pitchman for WildWestDeals.com, an internet marketing site. West was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Purdue University, where he majored in sports broadcasting.^[2]

Shop at Home Network[link]

West initially became involved with television shopping when he applied for a job with the Shop at Home Network as the host of a sports memorabilia show, Sports Collectibles. Despite his degree in sports broadcasting (and the fact that his brother Dale was the chief financial officer of the Shop at Home Network), West was rejected on the basis of his "scrabbly voice". In 1991, West began selling knives on television, and in March 1993, he was finally given the job with the Shop at Home Network that he had applied for. Between 1993 and 2001, sales rose from US$3 million to US$150 million. In addition to sports memorabilia, West also pitched products such as Beanie Babies and Pokémon collectibles.^[2]

Between November 1996 and March 1997, Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan parodied West and his co-host, Eddy Lewis, on three episodes of Saturday Night Live.^[2][4]

In 2001, West amicably left the Shop at Home Network and began hosting a sports talk show on WNSR.^[2]

In 2000, West was contacted by World Championship Wrestling booker Vince Russo, who invited him to join the company. West declined the offer in favor of "the sure thing" (WCW was purchased by its chief competitor, the World Wrestling Federation, in March 2001).^[2]

According to the December 9, 2007 episode of Shop At Home's The Sports Room show with hosts Kevin Hite and Shawn Leflar, Don West would be a guest host on the December 16, 2007 episode of The Sports Room and make a sculpture of the Empire State building out of butter.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling[link]

Don West in January 2006.

In 2002, West was hired by Jeff Jarrett, who had been introduced to West by Russo, to serve as the color commentator for his newly-formed professional wrestling promotion, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. West made his professional wrestling debut on June 19, 2002, commentating on the inaugural TNA pay-per-view alongside Ed Ferrara and Mike Tenay. Ferrera departed TNA in August 2002, reducing the commentary team to Tenay and West.^[2]

Aside from commentating, West accompanies Jeremy Borash on the YouTube-based show TNA Today, where he promotes new TNA merchandise and special packages, called "Don West's Insane Daily Deals." He is also an unlockable character along with providing commentary in the first ever TNA video game, TNA Impact!.

On the December 14, 2006 episode of Impact!, Kurt Angle put West in an ankle lock, making West pass out (kayfabe); he was replaced that night by Jim Cornette.^[5]

On the February 26, 2009 episode of Impact!, West turned heel when he verbally assaulted and walked out on his commentary partner Tenay, leaving him to call the remainder of the show alone.^[6] The following week, West once again verbally assaulted Tenay, took the sides of heel wrestlers, and then once again walked out on Tenay.^[7] The week after that West showed up late, in a drunken state and again walked out on Tenay, after Tenay suggested West to leave. Since then, West was back at the announcers table as a heel commentator. At the August 17, 2009, tapings of Impact! TNA removed West as a color commentator and replaced him with Taz. The company later announced that West had been promoted within the organization to oversee merchandise development and sales initiatives.^[8] On the October 15 edition of Impact! West returned as Amazing Red's new manager, turning face in the process.^[9] However, West's role of managing Red ended shortly thereafter. Since then, he has appeared mainly on TNA's internet programming and at house shows selling his merchandise. On May 28, 2012, it was reported that West had given his notice and would be leaving TNA shortly,^[10] having accepted an offer to become the new General Manager of Wenatchee, Washington based Wenatchee Wild ice hockey team.^[11]

In wrestling[link]

• Wrestlers managed
  • Amazing Red

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Worst Television Announcer (2007)

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• Don West at wildwestdeals.com
• TNA profile
• Don West at the Internet Movie Database
• Online World of Wrestling Profile

Don West may refer to:

• Don West (educator) (1906–1992), American writer, poet, educator and civil-rights activist
• Don West (sportscaster) (born 1963), American pitchman, television personality and wrestling broadcaster

See also[link]

• Donald West Harward, philosopher

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (July 2011)

Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts (July 21, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards. He also played landlord Ralph Furley on the 1970s television sitcom Three's Company.

In 1996, TV Guide ranked him number 27 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.^[1]

Early life[link]

Knotts was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, a son of William Jesse Knotts and his wife, the former Elsie L. Moore. Knotts's paternal ancestors had emigrated from England to America in the 17th century, originally settling in Queen Anne's County, Maryland.^[2] Knotts's father was a farmer, who due to the burden of a fourth child (Don) being born so late (his mother was 40) had a nervous breakdown, becoming a shell of his former self. Afflicted with both schizophrenia and alcoholism, he sometimes terrorized his young son with a knife, causing him to turn inward at an early age. His father would die of pneumonia when Knotts was 13 years old. Knotts and his three brothers were then raised by their mother, who ran a boarding house in Morgantown.^[3][4] Knott's mother Elsie L. Moore-Knotts died in 1969, at age 84. Son William Earl Knotts (1910–1941) preceded her in death in 1941, at age 31. They are buried in the family plot at Beverly Hills Memorial Park, in Morgantown, West Virginia. Knotts is a sixth cousin of Ron Howard, a co-star on the Andy Griffith Show. An urban legend claims that Knotts served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, serving as a drill instructor at Parris Island. In reality, Knotts enlisted in the United States Army after graduating from Morgantown High School and spent most of his service entertaining troops.^[5]

Career[link]

Early roles[link]

Knotts began his career performing in many venues, including a ventriloquist act with a dummy named Danny "Hooch" Matador. In a TV Guide interview in the 1970s, Knotts spoke about how, when he was in the Army, he was getting tired of playing straight man for a hunk of wood. According to Knotts while on a ship in the South Pacific he took the dummy topside and tossed him overboard swearing he could hear the dummy calling for help as the ship sailed on leaving him bobbing helplessly in the waves.

Knotts got his first major break on television in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He came to fame in 1956 on Steve Allen's variety show, as part of Allen's repertory company, most notably in Allen's mock "Man in the Street" interviews, always as an extremely nervous man. The laughs grew when Knotts stated his occupation—always one that wouldn’t be appropriate for such a shaky person, such as a surgeon or explosives expert.^{[citation needed]}

In 1958, Knotts appeared in the film No Time for Sergeants alongside Andy Griffith. The film, based on the play and book of the same name, began a professional and personal relationship between Knotts and Griffith that would last for decades.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The Andy Griffith Show

As Barney Fife, Knotts gets the help of Sheriff Taylor when his gun gets stuck on his finger.

In 1960 when Griffith was offered the opportunity to headline in his own sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968), Knotts took the role of Barney Fife, the deputy—and originally cousin—of Sheriff Andy Taylor (portrayed by Griffith). Knotts’s portrayal of the deputy on the popular show would earn him five Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy, winning each of the five seasons he played the character.^[6]

A summary of the show from the website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Deputy Barney Fife:

Self-important, romantic, and nearly always wrong, Barney dreamed of the day he could use the one bullet Andy had issued to him although he did fire his gun on a few occasions he always fired his pistol accidentally while still in his holster or in the ceiling of the court house, at which point he would sadly hand his pistol to Andy. This is why Barney kept his one very shiny bullet in his shirt pocket. In episode # 196 Andy did, in fact, give Barney more bullets so he would have a loaded gun to go after a bad guy that Barney helped to escape unintentionally. While Barney was forever frustrated that Mayberry was too small for the delusional ideas he had of himself, viewers got the sense that he couldn't have survived anywhere else. Don Knotts played the comic and pathetic sides of the character with equal aplomb and received three Emmy Awards during the show's first five seasons.^[7]

When the show first aired, Andy Griffith was intended to be the comedic lead with Don Knotts as his "foil," or straight man, almost similar to their roles in No Time for Sergeants. But, it was quickly found that the show was funnier the other way around. As Griffith maintained in several interviews, "By the second episode, I knew that Don should be funny, and I should play straight."^[8]

Believing earlier remarks made by Griffith, that The Andy Griffith Show would soon be ending after five seasons, Knotts began to look for other work, and signed a five film contract with Universal Studios. He was caught off guard when Griffith announced he would be continuing with the show after all, but Knotts’ hands were tied (in his autobiography, Knotts admitted that he had not yet signed a contract when Griffith made his decision, but had made up his mind believing that he would not get this chance again). Knotts left the series in 1965. Within the series, it was announced that Deputy Fife had finally made the "big time," and had joined the Raleigh, North Carolina police force.^[9]

Post-Mayberry films[link]

On a 1967 Andy Griffith special, Knotts plays the outraged wife of Tennessee Ernie Ford, as Griffith looks on.

Knotts went on to star in a series of film comedies which drew on his high-strung persona from the TV series: he had a cameo appearance in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and starred in The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964), The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), The Love God? (1969) and How to Frame a Figg (1971). Knotts would, however, return to the role of Barney Fife several times in the 1960s: he made five more guest appearances on The Andy Griffith Show (gaining him another two Emmys), and later appeared once more on the spin-off Mayberry RFD, where he was present as best man for the marriage of Andy Taylor and his longtime love, Helen Crump.

After making How to Frame a Figg, Knotts’s 5-film contract with Universal came to an end. He continued to work steadily, though he did not appear as a regular on any successful television series until his appearance on Three's Company in 1979. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Knotts served as the spokesman for Dodge trucks and was featured prominently in a series of print ads and dealer brochures. On television, he went on to host an odd-variety show/sitcom hybrid on NBC, The Don Knotts Show, which aired Tuesdays during the fall of 1970, but the series was low-rated and short-lived. He also made frequent guest appearances on other shows such as The Bill Cosby Show and Here's Lucy. In 1970, he would also make yet another appearance as Barney Fife, in the pilot of The New Andy Griffith Show. In 1972, Knotts would voice an animated version of himself in two memorable episodes of The New Scooby Doo Movies; one being "The Spooky Fog of Juneberry", in which he played a lawman who bore a remarkable resemblance to Barney Fife, and the other being "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner". He also appeared as Felix Unger in a stage version of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple with Art Carney as Oscar Madison.

Beginning in 1975, Knotts was teamed with Tim Conway in a series of slapstick films aimed at children, including the Disney film The Apple Dumpling Gang, and its 1979 sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. They also did two independent films, a boxing comedy called The Prize Fighter in 1979, and a mystery comedy film in 1981 called The Private Eyes. Knotts co-starred in several other Disney films, including 1976's Gus, 1976's No Deposit, No Return, 1977's Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo and 1978's Hot Lead and Cold Feet.

[edit] Three’s Company

In 1979, Knotts returned to series television in his second most identifiable role, the wacky, but lovable landlord Ralph Furley on Three's Company. The series, which was already an established hit, added Knotts to the cast when the original landlords, a married couple played by Audra Lindley and Norman Fell, left the show to star in a short-lived spin-off series (The Ropers). Though the role of the outlandish, overdressed, nerdy-geeky-buffoon landlord was originally intended to be a minor recurring character, Knotts was so funny and lovable as a character who fantasized that he was an incredibly attractive lothario, that the writers greatly expanded his role. On set, Knotts easily integrated himself to the already-established cast who were, as John Ritter put it, "so scared" of Knotts because of his star status when he joined the cast. When Suzanne Somers left the show after a contract dispute in 1981, the writers started giving the material meant for Somers's Crissy to Knotts's Furley. Knotts remained on the show until it ended in 1984. The Three's Company script supervisor, Carol Summers, went on to be Knotts’s agent—often accompanying him to personal appearances.

Later roles[link]

In 1986, Don Knotts reunited with Andy Griffith in the 1986 made-for-television film Return to Mayberry, where he reprised his role as Barney Fife yet again. In 1988, he joined Griffith in another show, playing a recurring role as pesky neighbor Les Calhoun on Matlock until 1992.

After his appearances on Matlock ended in 1992, Knotts’s roles became sporadic including a cameo in the 1996 film Big Bully as the principal of the high school. In 1998, Knotts had a small but pivotal role as a mysterious TV repairman in Pleasantville with Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon. That year, his home town of Morgantown, West Virginia, changed the name of the street formerly known as South University Avenue (U.S. Route 119) to Don Knotts Boulevard on "Don Knotts Day". Also that day, in a nod to Don's role as Barney Fife, he was also named an honorary deputy sheriff with the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department.

Later years[link]

Knotts was recognized in 2000 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Though he continued to act on stage, much of his film and television work after 2000 was as voice talent. In 2002, he would appear again with Scooby-Doo in the video game Scooby-Doo: Night of 100 Frights (Knotts also sent up his appearances on that show in various promotions for Cartoon Network and in a parody on Robot Chicken, where he was teamed with Phyllis Diller). In 2003, Knotts teamed up with Tim Conway again to provide voices for the direct-to-video children's series, Hermie and Friends which would continue until his death. In 2005, he was the voice of Mayor Turkey Lurkey in Chicken Little (2005), his first Disney movie since 1979.

On September 12, 2003, Knotts was in Kansas City in a stage version of On Golden Pond when he received a call from John Ritter's family telling him that his former Three's Company co-star had died of an aortic dissection that day.^{[citation needed]} Knotts and his co-stars attended the funeral four days later. Knotts had appeared with Ritter one final time in a cameo on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. It was an episode that paid homage to their earlier TV series. Knotts was the last Three's Company star to work with Ritter.

During this period of time, macular degeneration in both eyes caused the otherwise robust Don Knotts to become virtually blind. His live appearances on television were few. In 2005, Knotts parodied his Ralph Furley character while playing a Paul Young variation in a Desperate Housewives sketch on The 3rd Annual TV Land Awards. He would parody that part one final time, in his last live-action television appearance, an episode of That ’70s Show, ("Stone Cold Crazy"). In the show, Don played Fez and Jackie's new landlord. Knotts's final role was in Air Buddies, the 2006 direct-to-video sequel to Air Bud, voicing the sheriff's deputy dog, Sniffer.

Personal life[link]

Knotts was married three times:^[10] Kathryn Metz from 1947–1964; Loralee Czuchna from 1974–1983; and Frances Yarborough from 2002 until his death. He had a son, Thomas Knotts and daughter, actress Karen Knotts, from his first marriage.

Death[link]

Don Knotts' grave

Don Knotts died on February 24, 2006, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California from pulmonary and respiratory complications to Pneumonia related to lung cancer. He had been undergoing treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the months before his death, but had gone home after he reportedly had been feeling better.^[11] His long-time friend, Andy Griffith, visited Knotts’s bedside just hours before his death. Knotts's wife and daughter stayed with him until he died. He was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.^[12]

Knotts’s obituaries cited him as a major influence on other entertainers. Musician and fan J. D. Wilkes said of him: "Only a genius like Knotts could make an anxiety-ridden, passive-aggressive Napoleon character like Fife a familiar, welcome friend each week.

His statue stands in Morgantown, West Virginia, in a memorial park on Don Knotts Boulevard.^[13][14]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Andy Griffith Show from the Museum of Broadcast Communications
• "Emmy-winning comic actor Don Knotts dies at 81". Reuters. 25 February 2006. http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2006-02-26T014349Z_01_N25352847_RTRUKOC_0_US-KNOTTS.xml. 
• Estrada, Louie (25 February 2006). "Don Knotts, TV's Barney Fife, Dies". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/25/AR2006022501535.html. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
• "Don Knotts, Actor Known As Shaky Deputy, Dies at 81". The New York Times. February 26, 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/arts/television/26knotts.html?ex=1298610000&en=d30d65e9aa9aabda&ei=5090. 
• Heffernan, Virginia (February 27, 2006). "Don Knotts, Ever Proud to Be a Bumbler". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/arts/television/27knot.html?ex=1298696400&en=4ae313c41e4a0922&ei=5090. Retrieved May 1, 2010. 
• Klin, Richard. "Fife and Drum." Flagpole, 2006.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Don Knotts

Biography portal

• Don Knotts at the Internet Movie Database
• Don Knotts at the Internet Broadway Database
• Don Knotts at the TCM Movie Database
• "Don Knotts". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13434987. Retrieved August 30, 2010. 
• The Shrine to Don Knotts
• Full (3-hour) Archive of American Television Interview with Don Knotts in July, 1999
• Urban legend about Knotts serving as a Drill Instructor

Jenna Wolfe (born Jennifer Wolfe; February 26, 1974) is a national correspondent for NBC's Today, and the co-anchor of their Sunday edition , and had once substituted on the NBC Nightly News.

Broadcasting career[link]

From 2004 to 2007, she was the weekend morning sports anchor for WABC's Eyewitness News in New York City where she had a special segment called "Jenna's Beef," in which she editorialized an event from the world of sports that week. Prior to that, she worked for the Madison Square Garden Network, WPHL-TV in Philadelphia as the first female sportscaster, WICZ-TV in Binghamton, New York, WUHF-TV in Rochester, New York, and the Today Show as an intern. Aside from her journalistic duties, Wolfe has appeared as a judge on Food Network's Iron Chef America.

Personal life[link]

Wolfe was born in to Bennett and Sheila Wolfeld in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Pétionville, Haiti, before moving to the United States with her family in 1989. She had a Jewish upbringing.^[1] Wolfe graduated from Binghamton University with Bachelor of Arts degrees in French and English in 1996. She also attended SUNY Geneseo from 1992 to 1994.^[2] She currently lives in Manhattan.

References[link]

• Jenna Wolfe's All Day Debut
• "Ch. 2 lifts anchors for new shifts". New York Daily news. June 22, 2007. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2007/06/22/2007-06-22_ch_2_lifts_anchors_for_new_shifts-1.html. Retrieved 2009-08-09. 
• "Former Intern Returns To "Today", On-Air". Mediabistro.com. August 13, 2007. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/nbc/former_intern_returns_to_today_onair_65001.asp. Retrieved 2009-08-09. ^{[dead link]}
• Jenna Wolfe Assisting Home Renovators

Pat Summerall

Summerall in 2008
No. 88
Placekicker
Personal information
Date of birth: (1930-05-10) May 10, 1930 (age 82)
Place of birth: Lake City, Florida
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Weight: 228 lb (103 kg)
Career information
College: Arkansas
NFL Draft: 1952 / Round: 4 / Pick: 45
Debuted in 1952 for the Detroit Lions
Last played in 1961 for the New York Giants
Career history
Detroit Lions (1952) Chicago Cardinals (1953–1957) New York Giants (1958–1961)
Career highlights and awards
FHSAA's All-Century Team
Career NFL statistics
FGA 212 FGM 100 PAT 257 Stats at NFL.com

George Allen "Pat" Summerall (born May 10, 1930) is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN.

Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox.

Football career[link]

High school[link]

At Columbia High School in Lake City, Florida, Summerall played football, tennis, baseball, and basketball.^{[1][2][dead link]} Although basketball was his favorite sport, he was recognized as an All-State selection in basketball and football.^[3] He was inducted into the FHSAA hall of fame and was later named to the FHSAA's All-Century Team.

College[link]

Summerall played college football from 1949 to 1951 at the University of Arkansas, where he played defensive end, tight end, and placekicker positions. He graduated from UA in 1953.

Professional[link]

Summerall spent ten years as a professional football player in the National Football League, primarily as a placekicker. The Detroit Lions drafted Summerall as a fourth-round draft choice in the 1952 NFL Draft.^[4] Summerall played the pre-season with the Lions before breaking his arm, which ended the year for him.^[5] After that season, he was traded and went on to play for the Chicago Cardinals from 1953 to 1957 and the New York Giants from 1958 to 1961, during which he was a part of The Greatest Game Ever Played. His best professional year statistically was 1959, when Summerall scored 90 points on 30-for-30 (100%) extra-point kicking and 20-for-29 (69%) field goal kicking.

Summerall's most memorable professional moment may well have been at the very end of the Sunday, December 14, 1958 regular season finale between his Giants and the Cleveland Browns at Yankee Stadium. Going into the game, the Browns were in first place in the Eastern Conference, holding a one-game lead over the second-place Giants. In that era, there was no overtime during regular season games, standings ties were broken by a playoff, and there were no wild-card teams. This meant that only the Eastern Conference champion would qualify for the NFL Championship Game to be held two weeks later, and it meant that the Giants had to win just to force a tiebreaker playoff game. The Browns, on the other hand, needed only a tie to clinch the Eastern championship. As time was running out, the Giants and Browns were tied, 10-10, a situation that, as indicated, favored the Browns. The Giants got barely into Cleveland territory, and then sent out Summerall to try for a tiebreaking 49-yard field goal. To add to the drama, there were swirling winds and snow. Summerall, a straight-ahead kicker, made the field goal with just two minutes to play, keeping the Giants alive for another week (they defeated Cleveland a week later, 10-0, in the Eastern Conference tiebreaker playoff before losing the sudden-death playoff to Baltimore the week after that). Giants' offensive coach Vince Lombardi was against sending Summerall in^[6] (Summerall had missed 31 yard attempt a few minutes earlier), and then gleefully greeted Summerall as he came off the field 'You son of a bitch, you can't kick it that far!^[7][8] Sports Illustrated ran the story as one of its primary articles the next week, with a leading photograph showing the football heading between the uprights through the snow.^[9]

Summerall's last professional game was the December 31, 1961 NFL Championship Game held at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers defeated Summerall's Giants, 37-0, holding New York to just six first downs. Summerall was not a factor in that game.

Broadcasting career[link]

CBS Sports[link]

After retiring from football, Summerall was hired by CBS Sports in 1962 to work as a color commentator on the network's NFL coverage. CBS initially paired Summerall with Chris Schenkel on Giants games; three years later he shifted to working with Jim Gibbons on Washington Redskins games. In 1968, after CBS abandoned the practice of assigning dedicated announcing crews to particular NFL teams, Summerall ascended to the network's lead national crew, pairing with Jack Buck and then Ray Scott.

Summerall also covered other events such as ABA basketball for CBS during this period, and through 1966 hosted a morning drive-time music/talk program for WCBS-AM radio in New York. In 1969, Summerall took part in NBC's coverage of Super Bowl III. He also co-hosted the syndicated NFL Films series This Week in Pro Football in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Midway through the 1974 NFL season, CBS shifted Summerall from color to play-by-play. The network's #1 NFL crew now consisted of Summerall and analyst Tom Brookshier (with whom he had previously worked on This Week in Pro Football), and the colorful Summerall-Brookshier duo worked three Super Bowls (X, XII, and XIV) together. Summerall, Brookshier, NFL on CBS producer Bob Wussler, and Miami Dolphins owner Joe Robbie appeared as themselves during the 1977 film Black Sunday, which was filmed on location at the Orange Bowl in Miami during Super Bowl X.

In 1981, Summerall was teamed with former Oakland Raiders coach John Madden, a pairing that would last for 22 seasons on two networks and become one of the most well-known partnerships in TV sportscasting history. Summerall and Madden were first teamed on a 1979 broadcast of a Minnesota Vikings–Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. While the two were paired on CBS, they called Super Bowls XVI, XVIII, XXI, XXIV, and XXVI together.

It is often mistakenly assumed that Summerall and Madden handled the call on CBS-TV for the 1981 NFC Championship Game, when San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark made "The Catch" to lift the 49ers to a 28–27 victory over the Dallas Cowboys and a berth in Super Bowl XVI. Instead, CBS' #2 broadcast team of Vin Scully and Hank Stram handled the broadcast while Madden was given the weekend off to travel to Pontiac, Michigan for the game and to prepare for the broadcast. Since Stram was Jack Buck's color commentator on CBS Radio, Summerall substituted for Stram as Buck's partner; this was the first time Buck and Summerall had called a game together since 1974, when then-lead color commentator Summerall was moved off of Buck's team to become CBS television's lead play-by-play voice for the NFL.

Summerall also broadcast PGA Tour games on CBS, including The Masters Tournament, as well as the US Open of tennis, during his tenure at CBS, and he was the play-by-play announcer for the 1974 NBA Finals, CBS' first season broadcasting the NBA on CBS.

Summerall's last on-air assignment for CBS Sports was the 1994 Masters Tournament. His last game alongside Madden for CBS was the 1993 NFC Championship Game in Irving, Texas.

[edit] The NFL on Fox

In 1994, the Fox network surprised NFL fans by outbidding CBS for the NFC broadcast package. One of the network's first moves was to hire Summerall and Madden as its lead announcing team. While at Fox the pair called Super Bowls XXXI, XXXIII, and XXXVI together. The long-time partnership ended after Super Bowl XXXVI in early 2002, as Summerall had announced he would be retiring from announcing and Madden's contract had expired.

Post-Madden[link]

Fox Sports[link]

Summerall was lured out of retirement and re-signed with Fox for the 2002 season. However, since Madden had left to take over the color commentator position on Monday Night Football for ABC and Fox had promoted Joe Buck to be its number one football play-by-play voice, Summerall was paired with Brian Baldinger on regional telecasts. Most of the games Summerall covered featured the Dallas Cowboys, due in part to his residency in the city. One of the games Summerall called was the Cowboys' game against the Seattle Seahawks at Texas Stadium, in which Emmitt Smith broke Walter Payton's career rushing yardage record. Summerall and Baldinger were joined by Daryl Johnston, who at the time was working as Fox's #2 color man with Dick Stockton and who was a longtime teammate of Smith's with the Cowboys, for this game.

Summerall retired again following the 2002 season but in 2006, he served as a substitute for Kenny Albert alongside Baldinger for the Week 8 (October 29) game between the eventual NFC champion Chicago Bears and the San Francisco 49ers. Summerall returned for one game the following year to take Stockton's place alongside Baldinger and provide the play-by-play for the December 9, 2007 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and St. Louis Rams in Cincinnati.

From 2007 until 2010, Summerall appeared as the play-by-play voice of the network's coverage of the Cotton Bowl Classic game^{[10][dead link]} between Auburn and Nebraska. Summerall teamed with Brian Baldinger on the 2007-09 Cotton Bowl Classic telecasts, and worked with Daryl Johnston on the 2010 game between Ole Miss and Oklahoma State. In 2011, Summerall appeared on the pre-game coverage of the Cotton Bowl.

[edit] NFL on ESPN

Summerall called several preseason and early regular-season NFL games for the ESPN network in 2004, substituting for regular announcer Mike Patrick while the latter recovered from heart surgery.

Super Bowl legacy[link]

Summerall has broadcast 16 Super Bowls on network television with CBS and FOX, more than any other announcer. He also contributed to 10 Super Bowl broadcasts on CBS Radio as a pregame host or analyst.

Awards and honors[link]

The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named Summerall National Sportscaster of the Year in 1977, and inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1994.

Summerall was the 1994 recipient of the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award, bestowed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame "for longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football".

In 1999 he was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame.^[11]

Since 2006 the "Pat Summerall Award" has been presented at the annual Legends for Charity Luncheon given on Super Bowl weekend at the NFL's headquarters hotel in the host city. The award is given "to a deserving recipient who through their career has demonstrated the character, integrity and leadership both on and off the job that the name Pat Summerall represents." Recipients have included James Brown (2006), Greg Gumbel (2007), Jim Nantz (2008), Chris Berman (2009), Cris Collinsworth (2010), and the entire NFL on Fox crew (2011).^[12]

Health issues[link]

During the 1990 season, Summerall was hospitalized after vomiting on a plane during a flight after a Bears–Redskins game, and was out for a considerable amount of time. While Verne Lundquist replaced Summerall on games with Madden, Jack Buck (who was at CBS during the time as the network's lead Major League Baseball announcer) was added as a regular NFL broadcaster to fill-in.

In the spring of 2004, Summerall, a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for many years, underwent a liver transplant.

In 2006, Pat Summerall underwent cataract surgery, and had an intraocular lens implanted.^[13]

In January 2008, Summerall had a hip replacement surgery. On June 19, he was hospitalized for internal bleeding caused by a new medicine he was taking.^[14]

Outside of sports broadcasting[link]

Summerall provided voiceover sponsorship credits for CBS' Masters telecasts, and currently provides voiceovers for game coverage on NFL Network. He has also provided game commentary for the Golden Tee Golf video game series.

For many years Summerall has been a commercial spokesperson for True Value. Ironically, his long-time broadcast partner Madden was the spokesperson for Ace Hardware, True Value's main competitor in the independent hardware store market. Summerall has served as the longtime radio spokesman for Dux Beds, a Swedish mattress maker, and their Duxiana stores.

Summerall was also associated with a production company in Dallas, Texas, from about the year 1998 to 2005. It was called Pat Summerall Productions. He was featured and hosted different production shows such as, Summerall Success Stories and Champions of Industry. These qualified production segments would air on the Fox News Channel and later, CNN Headline News. During the mid-1990s, Summerall hosted the "Summerall-Aikman" Cowboys report with quarterback Troy Aikman. Currently, Summerall serves as the host of Sports Stars of Tomorrow and Future Phenoms, two nationally syndicated high school sports shows based out of Fort Worth, Texas.

Summerall was name-checked on The Simpsons in the 2007 episode "Springfield Up", where his caricature and name appear on the cover of a book held by Homer entitled "Smut Yuks." Summerall and then-partner Madden also appeared in (and lent their voices to) the 1999 Simpsons episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday", which premiered following the duo's broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIII on FOX.

Summerall also provided commentary, alongside Madden, on Cartoon Network's annual Super Bowl parodies, The Big Game, from 1998 through 2001.

Summerall appeared in the music video for Forever the Sickest Kids' 2010 single "She Likes (Bittersweet Love)".

Summerall also recently preached a sermon at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, Texas. He also has been a featured speaker at the Men's Gridiron Conference in Tuscaloosa, AL, where he related his giving his life to Christ during his stay at the Betty Ford clinic during his recovery from alcoholism.

Summerall makes his home in Southlake, Texas, where he has lived for 14 years.

See also[link]

• History of the New York Giants (1925–1978)
• List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• When Pride Still Mattered, A Life of Vince Lombardi, by David Maraniss, 1999, (ISBN 0-684-84418-4)
• Summerall, Pat and Levin, Michael (2010), Giants:What I learned about life from Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry, Hoboken, NJ:John Wiley and Sons, Inc., (eISBN 978-0-470-90908-9)

External links[link]

• More of Pat Summerall's NFL Statistics
• Pat Summerall Calls 49ers / Bears Game: 10-29-2006
• Rare Sports Films: 1971 ABA All Star Game