To paraphase longtime pro football fan T.S. Eliot, the NFL era on CBS ended Sunday not with a bang but with a whimper. A one-minute montage of former CBS pro football announcers from Chris Schenkel to John Madden closed CBS’ telecast of the NFC title game.
“I’m not going to say I love you,” said Pat Summerall to partner Madden as the telecast wound down, “but I like you an awful lot.”
Even Terry Bradshaw, microphone shaking, got a little misty-eyed when he said to “NFL Today” partner Greg Gumbel as the telecast was concluding: “We’re dear friends; it’s a sad day.”
The day, sad or not, was one executive producer Rick Gentile wouldn’t forget.
“The mood was somber but focused,” he said after the telecast ended. “Everybody was trying their best to get out the idea that this was it, and they did a great job of it. The pregame show guys were incredible because that was a complicated pregame to do. Then for Pat and John to keep everyone’s attention through a blowout game will be one of the legendary performances in television. I’m extremely proud of how everyone performed under this kind of pressure.”
A postgame party was planned by producer Bob Stenner for a Dallas restaurant where everyone could say their own goodbyes, with or without tears.
From the Led Zeppelin song that opened the pregame “NFL Today” (created by Jim Rikhoff) to the Budweiser poolroom ad satire that opened the game telecast itself (by Mike Frank), there was a different look to the CBS telecast. Almost a-pardon the expression-Fox Network look.
Gentile denied that was the purpose. “During the regular season, we stayed away from doing teases at all,” he said. “We generally come on the air with our animation and go right into the game. We just don’t often do teases except for big events.”
Madden had said he didn’t want the tone of the telecast to turn melencholy, either. “You have to remember it’s not a show, it’s a game,” he said before the telecast. “Even though its our last game and you don’t know what the future’s going to bring, you also have champions. Fans want to see the team that’s going to the Super Bowl and not hear a lot of talk about our last game.”
If Madden takes up the latest Fox Network offer (reportedly $30 million for four years), it’ll be because Fox’s Rupert Murdoch wisely tendered bids also to Summerall, Stenner and director Sandy Grossman, giving Madden the same “comfort zone” he had at CBS. Of course, what does that say about Fox’s plans for “innovative” coverage? What it does say is that Murdoch is willing to do anything to bring instant credibility to his $1.58 billion investment in the NFL, including hiring the quietly intense Summerall.
“Pat’s Pat,” said Madden of his booth partner. “We were doing a game in Dallas earlier this year year and we were going from our hotel to a Mexican restaurant and Pat drove us in a pickup truck. We all got in the back, except for Pat, who was driving. I kind of thought at the time, `This is what the whole thing is all about-being in the back of Pat Summerall’s pickup truck going to a Mexican restaurant.’ It doesn’t get a whole lot better than that.”
In addition to taco runs, they also shared Friday night poker games. “Just being with Pat and Bob and Sandy,” said Madden. “Those are the memories.”
Madden said he hopes to announce his future “quickly and quietly” sometime after the Super Bowl. As of Friday, Fox officials still had no comment on his impending arrival, although an announcement concerning the futures of Summerall, Stenner and Grossman could come as early as this week.
Madden said he knows “it’ll never be the same. That’s the finality of it. We have a group of technicians who all come and have a `hang’ on the bus at each game. We just sit around and talk about the game. We have a pregame `hang’ and a postgame `hang.’ They were talking the other day that if they stayed at CBS and I go someplace else, if they could just come and do the pregame `hang’ and the postgame `hang.’ I said, `Men, you could always do a `hang.’
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“I know I’m going to be covering football. It’s going to be the people that you miss. All those things you’ve been doing for all these years is what will be missed.”
Gentile was “sad, proud and a little angry” on Sunday. “But frankly, I’m ready to get going on whatever it is that’s next for CBS Sports,” he added. “I’m ready to be a part of that. There are a lot of people here who are anxious to do whatever is next. Our attitude is what goes around, comes around. We’ll kick some butt before it’s all over. We’ll be heard from.”
But for 38 years, it was a great, great run.
Random thoughts: What could have NBC Sports executive producer Tommy Roy been thinking when he put Mike (“We’ve got a couple of idiots here in Buffalo”) Ditka outdoors at Rich Stadium?. . . . CBS’ Al McGuire-who should have known better-made a big deal out of De Paul’s Tom Kleinschmidt prepping at Weber. It was Gordon Tech. Shame on you, Al, for confusing your Catholic League schools.
Programming note: After several seasons on WMAQ-Ch. 5, “Chicago Bears Weekly,” produced and syndicated by the team, is moving to WBBM-Ch. 2, starting with a draft special at 10:35 p.m. April 23.