Summer(tell)all

A sportscaster shares handshakes and his story

Comments (0) By Matt Pulle Thursday, Sep 7 2006

More About

Pat Summerall is a legendary broadcaster, the longtime ying to John Madden's yap. But underneath his cool, soft-spoken exterior lies a troubled, haunted man plagued by alcoholism. Until he disclosed his problems a few years ago, no one would have guessed that he was the one in the booth who drank too much. John Madden, on the other hand, well, that would have made sense. Here was a guy who lived large, a broadcasting version of Chris Farley with a bad case of athlete's foot. But Summerall always seemed so cool and crisp—able to calmly describe the ebb and flow of a dramatic NFL game with unrivaled authority—that the thought of him ever being out of control seemed unfathomable. This is a guy who can speak over 70,000 screaming fans and one screaming John Madden and calmly announce "Touchdown Giants," the words sounding as if they were uttered by God himself. Which, I suppose, is the point of Summerall's new book On and Off Air. The people you think you know because they're in your living room every Sunday really are complete strangers. On Wednesday, catch Pat Summerall at Barnes & Noble, 616 Preston Royal Shopping Center, at 7 p.m. Call 214-363-0924.
Wed., Sept. 13, 7 p.m.