A Dubious Exit for Summerall

Pat Summerall enjoys working with John Madden, enjoys being Fox’s lead NFL play-by-play announcer, says his health is fine, and says he is not retiring.

So why is Summerall stepping down?

Summerall, 71, says it was his decision, and no one at Fox is saying otherwise.

David Hill and Ed Goren, who run Fox Sports, flew to Dallas to visit with Summerall at his home last week. Goren said Thursday they went to Dallas mainly just to talk.”I was watching ‘Monday Night Mayhem’ on TNT and there were two things that stuck out,” said Goren, the president of Fox Sports. “One was that Keith Jackson found out he was off ‘Monday Night Football’ [after the first season] by reading it in the newspaper. The other was that Howard Cosell, when he was deciding what his future would be, couldn’t even get Roone Arledge to return his call.”

And Goren noted that Cosell told a reporter he was quitting “Monday Night Football” before he told Arledge.

Goren and Hill are fond of Summerall. And they respect him. They wanted his exit, or whatever you want to call it, to be classy and amiable. And they wanted an open line of communication.

According to Goren, one thing they tried to convey to Summerall during their meeting in Dallas was that it might be in everyone’s best interest for him to make a decision about his future before Super Bowl week.

“It was his decision,” Goren said.

Summerall said the same, only he added, “However, I’m not saying they are not glad I decided to do this.”

Summerall didn’t say so, but maybe he was feeling unappreciated.

It all goes back to the 1999 season, a bad one for Summerall. He was making more mistakes than he should have, and he wasn’t seeing plays he should have been seeing. And he was getting criticized.

So after the season, Fox executives came up with a plan. They decided to have Summerall announce he was going to retire after the 2002 Super Bowl, which would give him 50 years of association with the NFL as a player and broadcaster. The 50 years would look good on a press release.

The plan was that Fox would later announce that Joe Buck was taking Summerall’s place alongside Madden.

Everything went according to plan until the summer of 2000, when a news conference was held in a Century City hotel, complete with a buffet. Summerall and his wife, Cheri, were there for the big announcement, which had been leaked to the press the night before.

But Summerall did an about-face. At the news conference, in front of local media and with the national media hooked up via a conference call, Summerall said he wasn’t retiring and that he hoped to continue working with Madden for years to come.

It was later learned Summerall had a good excuse for his bad performance during the 1999 season. He was taking pain medication for a bum knee, and the medication was affecting his play-by-play.

The knee was replaced in March 2000, and the 2000 football season was a better one for Summerall. But the question remained: Would Summerall still step down after the 2002 Super Bowl?

It was a question Summerall heard a lot during the past year-and-half. It was one he wanted to avoid hearing over and over in New Orleans during Super Bowl week.

Summerall talked things over with his two close friends, director Sandy Grossman and producer Bob Stenner. Summerall, Madden and those two worked together at CBS before coming over to Fox as a group in 1994, after Fox obtained CBS’ NFL package.

He told Madden what he was going to do last Friday in St. Louis, over breakfast.

On Monday, he had the agency that manages him, IMG, alert the media there would be a conference call Tuesday.

Usually, a network sets up such conference calls, but this whole thing has been different from the start.

Then came the announcement, along with some confusion. It all didn’t make much sense unless you were familiar with the history. Summerall wasn’t forced out, but he apparently believed he had to make the decision he did.

Reactions

Madden gave an impassioned speech about his longtime partner when he talked with reporters during a conference call Wednesday.

“When the announcement came out, it was like a kick in the stomach,” he said. “That’s when it hit me. You think about the 21 years you’ve been with someone and you’re not gonna be with them any more. It’s been 21 more-than-great years.

“I’m not the smoothest or the easiest guy to get along with. I kind of go up and down, but in 21 years we’ve never had a cross word, not one argument. That’s because of him. If you can’t get along with Pat Summerall, you can’t get along with anyone.”

Madden said Summerall always took care of the things he couldn’t or didn’t want to. “I’ve never said I was a television guy. I’ve never passed myself off as a broadcaster. I’m a football guy who does television. I went though school for 21 years being in recess, and Pat was the school.”

Greg Gumbel and Chris Simms, CBS’ lead NFL announcing team, also praised Summerall during a conference call Thursday.

“There is not a broadcaster that I have identified more with, a broadcaster I would like to be like more, than Pat,” Gumbel said. “I think he says and has said mountains with a minimum of words.”

Simms said, “I can hear it in my sleep, Pat Summerall going, ‘Simms. Bavaro. Touchdown.’ And you just go, ‘Wow! That just said it all.’ It takes me a hundred words to say what Pat Summerall can sum up in about five.”

Short Waves

Ahmad Rashad, who attended Wednesday night’s Laker-Clipper game, says he will go with his “NBA Inside Stuff” show to ABC next season. Whether ABC signs Rashad to use him in any other capacities remains to be seen.... On Saturday’s NBA pregame show on NBC at 11:30 a.m., Rashad will announce the starters for next month’s NBA All-Star game.... NBC has an NBA doubleheader Saturday and in the first game, New York at Milwaukee, former Clipper Tom Tolbert makes his network debut as commentator.... The Lakers’ game at Philadelphia on Sunday is on NBC at 9 a.m.

John Saunders has been named the host of ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters.” He replaces Dick Schaap, who died last month after complications from hip-replacement surgery.... A&E; features NFL greats in its “Biography” series this coming week.... “Sugar” Shane Mosley’s fight with Vernon Forrest will be on HBO Saturday night at 6:35.... Fred Couples is featured on next week’s edition of Fox Sports Net’s “Golf the West.” The show, with a number of airings beginning Sunday at 11:30 a.m., features the Sky Course at Lost Canyons in Simi Valley. .

Radio Daze

Gary Sheffield, a guest on KXTA (1150) Wednesday, said he would have remained a Dodger had they “done what the Atlanta Braves did.” Asked why the Dodgers don’t win, he said, “It’s about spending money wisely.” ... Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian announced their show on KSPN (1150) will be expanded one hour to 3-7 p.m. beginning Feb. 11.... Roger Lodge, the host of the hit TV show “Blind Date,” will fill in for Chris Myers on KMPC (1540) next week while Myers fulfills his duties for Fox Sports Net in New Orleans.

In Closing

Several listeners complained about Lee Hamilton’s show Wednesday on XTRA (690) and the way he handled a discussion of Mike Tyson’s behavior. Hamilton said that no black leaders came forward to condemn Tyson. The listeners said that when Hamilton was asked to name the leader of the white community, he said it was President Bush, who of course is the leader of all Americans. Hamilton claims he is being unfairly criticized.

Maybe Hamilton, with his track record, should just stay away from racial issues altogether.

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