DAILY DIRT: Summerall-Madden formed Super Bowl’s premier TV tandem

Daily Dirt for Friday, Feb. 7, 2025

Neither Summerall or Madden will be with us for Sunday’s game. Summerall died in 2013 from cardiac arrest at age 82. Madden passed away in 2021 at age 85, his cause of death listed as “unexpected” … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,195 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Next to the commercials and halftime shows, which we have already discussed this week, the most important elements of a Super Bowl broadcast are the play-by-play man and his analyst.

Here are my medal-worthy play-by-play men and color commentators over the first 58 years of Super Bowls — and yes, I’ve seen them all:

Gold medal: Pat Summerall and John Madden. When it comes to Super Bowl broadcasts, there is no one who stacks up to Summerall, who called 16 Super Bowl broadcasts and became the standard for big-time NFL football with his stoic tone. Many may not remember that before Summerall became the top 1 play-by-play man, he was the color commentator with Ray Scott calling the games. Madden worked 12 Super Bowl broadcasts with his signature enthusiasm and revolutionized the use of the telestrator to map out blocking schemes and route patterns to give fans an in-depth look at the game. No one brought people into the game more than the excitable Madden.

Silver medal: Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Michaels has been a Super Bowl regular across four different decades. After establishing himself as a big-time announcer at the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980 and for Major League Baseball, Michaels made his way to the NFL, where he has called 11 Super Bowls. Arguably his finest color man has been Cris Collinsworth, although in earlier years he also worked well with Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf and Madden. Collinsworth’s biggest plus is his enthusiasm.

Bronze medal: Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen. Nothing defined Enberg more than his signature “Oh my!” His genuine excitement for big plays connected him with the audience and made him a broadcasting legend. He successfully worked with a number of color commentators, including the popular Merlin Olsen, the one-time member of the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line. 

Announcers for Sunday’s game: Fox’s announcers for Sunday’s game will be Kevin Burkhardt handling the play-by-play and rookie analyst Tom Brady breaking down the details for us. Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi will be the sideline reporters.

This is Burkhardt’s second call of a Super Bowl. He previously worked Super Bowl LVII. And while this is Brady’s first Super Bowl as a broadcaster,  the former quarterback appeared in 10 of the games with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning seven of them.

2. Did you know (Part 270)

• That shamrock shake season opens at McDonald’s, starting Monday.
• That one single teaspoon of honey represents the life’s work of one honey bee.
• That every panda in the world is owned by China.
• That the skin of a honey badger is so thick it can withstand blows from a machete.
• That there are more tigers held in captivity in the U.S. (5,000) than there are running wild in the rest of the world (3,200).

3.  Only the oldtimers may remember this, but the broadcast of Super Bowl I (when it was known as the NFL-AFL Championship Game) was handled by both NBC and CBS. 

Ray Scott (first half) and Jack Whitaker (second half) handled the play-by-play duties for CBS, with Frank Gifford serving as analyst for both. Pat Summerall was a sideline reporter and also presented the championship trophy to Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers.

Curt Gowdy called the game for NBC, with longtime sidekick and former University of Missouri football great Paul Christman his analyst. Charlie Jones was their sideline reporter.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Strangely, I probably remember as much — or more — about that first Super Bowl as I do any of the others, except maybe Super Bowl III when the New York Jets stunned the Baltimore Colts and officially put the upstart AFL on the pro football map.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Leaving Joe Buck off his announcer list isn’t nearly as egregious as yesterday’s Prince omission, for which he is still on double-secret probation.