John Madden and Pat Summerall set a standard for NFL broadcasting excellence that will never be duplicated. This unlikely duo were the voices of pro football for generations. But what made them so successful, and how did they reach the top of their profession? The answers to those questions are in a new book by Rich Podolsky. Madden & Summerall: How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting is an inside look at the pair.
Podolsky worked alongside them at CBS. The book promises never-before-told stories about their lives. We recently caught up with Podolsky to discuss his book.
Madden & Summerall: How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting will be released on Sept. 16. It is available for preorder now.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: Why should someone buy your book?
Rich Podolsky: “Madden and Summerall changed the way we watch the game. Madden and Summerall did something nobody else did. They revolutionized NFL broadcasting. There are tremendous backstories with inside stuff that nobody knows because I was there at CBS Sports working with them. I knew them both very well. I knew John Madden intimately. I knew him way before he came to CBS.”
What exactly was your job description at CBS?
“I was a writer for the weekend shows, The NFL Today and CBS Sports Spectacular. During the week, I helped out with the public relations staff, and I wound up getting Madden on shows like The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. I did a whole bunch of other promotional things with John because I knew his abilities.”
John Madden is famous to different generations for different things: as a coach, a broadcaster, and for his video game. How was he able to do that?
“A mix of those people knew him from his Miller Light commercials. John Madden had a unique ability to identify with the average Joe. When Miller Light hired him in 1979-80, they had a bunch of old retired players who were stars, but nobody was really clicking with the public. When Madden burst through the wall of that bar and sidled up to the bartender and said, ‘Tastes great, less filling,’ it just struck a chord with the public. He was immediately likable. John Madden had the ability to come in and take a product that already existed—be it beer, a video game, or a broadcast—and push it to new heights. He didn’t create light beer or the video game, but he legitimized them. He made them his own.”
“I wanna talk to John Madden and Pat Summerall!”
There was nothing like sharing Thanksgiving with these two ❤️ #MaddenThanksgiving pic.twitter.com/Oj9ZsesYOR
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) November 28, 2024
What would you regard as the most fascinating detail in your book?
“Chapter 8 is the story of how Madden and Summerall became a team. There is so much inside stuff there that nobody knew about. The president of CBS Sports, Van Sauter, was not really a sports fan. He had watched a few Miller Lite commercials and decided he wanted John Madden to be his No.1 analyst. At that point, Madden was in his second year with CBS. His first year was a near disaster, and he almost got fired. His second year was paired with Gary Bender, and there was some improvement, but he certainly wasn’t anywhere close to the John Madden we knew.”
Who came up with the idea to pair Madden with Summerall?
“Prior to 1980, Pat Summerall had been the No.1 play-by-play guy with Tom Brookshier. Sauter wanted to break up that team because of their drinking escapades, and he did. There was some question as to where Summerall would wind up. (CBS sports producer) Terry O’Neil wanted Summerall as Madden’s partner because Madden loved to tell his stories and talk a lot. Summerall was known for his brevity. (O’Neil) thought that would be a great combination. But the boss wanted Vin Scully.
“Now, Vin Scully was known for doing Dodgers games with no help. He would do all the analysis, the play-by-play. He loved to talk, and the combination of him talking all the time and Madden talking all the time, O’Neill told Sauter that the viewer would be wrung out by halftime.”
How did CBS finally decide on Summerall?
“The first four weeks of the 1981 season, Scully would work with Madden. The second four weeks, Summerall would work with Madden, and then on Monday, Oct. 26, all the CBS sports executives would get together and vote on who should be the No.1 play-by-play guy. Well, this didn’t sit well with Summerall. He got an agent for the first time in 20 years with the network, and he threatened to go to NBC if he didn’t get the job.
“Also, a news item hit the wires during October that Summerall was contemplating running for the Senate on the Republican ticket in the state of Florida. So there was some question about Pat staying with CBS if he wasn’t chosen. But all the executives voted for Summerall. The minute they started working together, it was like peanut butter and jelly meeting for the first time. Madden never sounded better. He never felt more comfortable.”
Pat Summerall and John Madden
Two iconic Super Bowl voices 🐐🐐
Pregame commentary from the first #SuperBowl televised on Fox — Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans pic.twitter.com/WXdVlPoJyc
— Kevin Gallagher (@KevG163) February 9, 2025
What’s the legacy of Madden with Summerall?
“They changed the way he game was presented. Prior to that, the play-by-play guy was always the dominant one. Summerall was a Renaissance man. He was a great athlete. He played five sports at a high level. He was the face of CBS Sports all through the 60s, doing basketball, football, golf, tennis, even boxing. He had worked every Super Bowl to that day, one way or another. Summerall could have said so much more on the air, but he totally gave himself up so Madden could have his space and become the John Madden we all knew and loved.”
How else did they change broadcasting?
“Before Madden and Summerall started working NFL games together, what would happen every weekend was the producer, the director, the analyst, and the play-by-play guy would meet the day before the game with the two PR guys from each team. They’d meet at a restaurant or a bar, and the PR guys would go over the three-deep roster. Who was hurt, and how to pronounce the tough names. And that was it.
“Madden and Terry O’Neill, the producer they brought in, and Summerall changed all that. They started going to games two days before. They got the okay from the NFL to interview the coaches and star players and find out all the inside stuff, the strategy, the quirks the players had. Before the game was on Saturday night, O’Neill would have the entire crew in his suite at the hotel of the visiting team. Madden would do a film (session) showing the crew, the camera guys, and the sound guys what plays to expect. And to make sure everybody was paying attention, Madden kept the room at 59 degrees. Nobody had ever done anything like that before, and today everybody does that.”
pre-order now available for “MADDEN & SUMMERALL/ How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting” pic.twitter.com/2Dmhc7HCtX
— Rich Podolsky (@richpodolsky) March 12, 2025
Could you describe the relationship between Madden and Summerall?
“They were really great friends, but they didn’t hang out together at all. They were completely different people in that way. Summerall liked to go out with the executives of the NFL and the other team and have a steak dinner and drinks. Madden liked to hang out with the kids from the crew. In 1981, Terry O’Neill hired a whole bunch of what CBS called broadcast associates. They were kids out of college who wanted to learn the business, and they were assigned to help with the broadcast. One of those kids was Mike Arnold, who is now CBS’s top director. He’s directed seven Super Bowls for them.
“Well, to give you an example, one weekend they arrived in Washington, D.C. for a game, and there’s a note waiting for Madden when they get to the hotel that’s from Ethel Kennedy, who was the widow of RFK, the brother of John Kennedy, the former president. The note says, ‘Hey John. We are big fans of yours. We’d love to have lunch or dinner with you this weekend while you’re in town. So, young Mike Arnold, starry-eyed, looks up at John, says, ‘Jeez, John, are you going to have dinner with Ethel Kennedy?’ John thinks for a second, and then he says, ‘No, I’m going to hang out and have Mexican food with you guys.’ That was the kind of guy John Madden was.”
Is there a current broadcast team that reminds you a little of Madden and Summerall?
“Yes. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. They’re really terrific together. I don’t think anybody will ever measure up to what those two guys had. Joe Buck is not nearly the master of brevity that Pat Summerall was. But that was something that Summerall learned on his own, and he liked presenting himself that way.”