New York Giants: 15 G-Men who changed the game forever

13 – Pat Summerall

Before he hit the broadcast booth, Pat Summerall, the well-spoken Dallas native was the New York Giants placekicker for the final four seasons of his nine-year NFL tenure. He wasn’t the most accurate kicker, converting only 47.2 percent of his career field goal attempts. With the Giants, however, he was at 52.7percent and let the league in accuracy at 69 percent during the 1959 season.

Anyone who watched sports on television in the past 50 years knows why Summerall is on this list. He literally broke the mold for the modern day athlete turned sportscaster. He retired from the game in 1961 and a year later he was a color commentator for CBS’ NFL coverage as well as a morning host for WCBS radio.

He learned the sportscasting profession from some of the best ever in the business. Summerall worked as an analyst with Chris Schenkel, Jack Buck, and Ray Scott. By 1974 he made the conversion from analysis to play-by-play. Summerall was first paired with Tom Brookshire and they become CBS’ number one team. After John Madden retired from coaching he went to the broadcast booth and teamed with Summerall for 22 seasons. A partnership that may go down as the best in NFL history.

Summerall transcended football. He was CBS’ lead golf broadcaster for years and did play-by-play for the network’s NBA coverage from time to time. He even covered the Stanley Cup Finals. Pat Summerall’s knowledge and passion for sports, as well as his no-nonsense presentation, busted the dumb jock stereotype. Without him paving the way, it’s unlikely someone such as Michael Strahan would have had the post-playing career path he has now.