Summerall had a unique career in the NFL TV booth, beginning as an analyst in 1962 on CBS where he eventually ascended to the lead analyst position alongside the likes of Ray Scott and Jack Buck. Midway through the 1974 season, he shifted to play-by-play and formed a memorable tandem with Tom Brookshier as they called 108 games together over 6.5 seasons. In 1981, he started a 22-year run with John Madden including a move to Fox in 1994. Altogether, Summerall worked 400 games with Madden as his lead analyst with 171 of these coming at Fox. In 2004, Summerall filled in for 4 weeks on ESPN Sunday Night Football as Mike Patrick was recovering from a heart attack.Here is a look at key first and last telecasts of Summerall's career in the NFL TV booth from the research listings at 506sports. (Note: I am not considering preseason telecasts.)
CBS analyst years
first NFL game: 9/16/1962 Giants @ Browns on CBS (with Chris Schenkel)
first postseason game: 12/26/1965 Colts @ Packers tie-breaker playoff (with Scott and Chuck Thompson)
first game with Scott: see 12/26/1965 game above
first primetime game: 9/10/1966 Colts-Packers (at Milwaukee) - (with Scott and Thompson)
first game with Buck: 11/24/1966 Browns @ Cowboys
first Super Bowl as booth analyst: 1/14/1968 SB2 Packers-Raiders (with Scott)
last game as booth analyst: 10/20/1974 Giants @ Redskins (with Buck)
CBS play-by-play years
first game in play-by-play role: 10/27/1974 Redskins @ Cardinals (with Brookshier)
first postseason game in play-by-play role: 12/22/1974 Redskins @ Rams divisional playoff (with Brookshier and Bart Starr)
first Super Bowl in play-by-play role: 1/18/1976 SB10 Steelers-Cowboys (with Brookshier)
first game with Madden: 10/14/1979 Falcons @ Raiders (3-man booth along with Brookshier)
first game as a duo with Madden: 11/25/1979 Vikings @ Buccaneers (link with video of opening to this telecast)
last Super Bowl with Brookshier: 1/12/1980 SB14 Steelers-Rams
last game with Brookshier: 1/11/1981 Cowboys @ Eagles (NFC Championship)
first game after the Brookshier split: 9/20/1981 Saints @ Giants (with Hank Stram)
first game with Madden after the Brookshier split: 10/4/1981 Cowboys @ Cardinals
first postseason game with Madden: 12/27/1981 Giants @ Eagles wild-card playoff
first Super Bowl with Madden: 1/24/1982 SB16 49ers-Bengals
last CBS game with Madden: 1/23/1993 49ers @ Cowboys (NFC Championship)
post-CBS years
first Fox game with Madden: 9/4/1994 Cowboys @ Steelers
last game with Madden: 2/3/2002 Super Bowl 36 Patriots-Rams
first Fox game without Madden: 9/8/2002 Cardinals @ Redskins (with Brian Baldinger)
first game on ESPN: 9/12/2004 Chiefs @ Broncos (with Joe Theismann and Paul Maguire)
last game on ESPN: 10/3/2004 Rams @ 49ers (with Theismann and Maguire)
last NFL game: 12/9/2007 Rams @ Bengals on Fox (with Baldinger)
Summerall was a versatile broadcaster who CBS also used on basketball in both the play-by-play and analyst roles. He worked as an analyst alongside Don Criqui on ABA telecasts in the early 1970s. For the 1973-74 season, CBS installed him as the play-by-play voice on the NBA where he called regular season games with Elgin Baylor and the Finals with Rick Barry (after the network fired Baylor during the playoffs). CBS also used Summerall on play-by-play during the first weekend of the 1985 NCAA Tournament where he called games with Larry Conley.
He was the longtime voice of tennis on CBS calling many US Opens with Tony Trabert. And he was the lead announcer on CBS golf telecasts for many years primarily alongside Ken Venturi. Summerall also called some college football as he worked several Sun Bowl games with Brookshier in the late 1970s and handled play-by-play for four Cotton Bowl games on Fox (his final network TV assignments).
