Pat Summerall Passes Away At 82

When you grow up as an avid sports fans, there are certain men in the broadcasting industry that just stick with you for all eternity. Pat Summerall was one of those voices for the National Football League, and sadly he has passed away at the age of 82. A family friend confirmed to the Dallas Morning News that Summerall passed away in his hospital room at Zale Lipshy Hospital while recovering from hip surgery.

Before he ever picked up a microphone, Summerall was a fourth-round draft pick out of Arkansas in the 1952 NFL Draft, playing with three different teams over the span of his 10-year career. The final four years of his playing career were spent kicking for the New York Giants, including the 1958 NFL Championship against the Baltimore Colts, which would go on to become "The Greatest Game Ever Played."

Once his playing career came to a close, Summerall was hired by CBS Sports in 1962 and he would go on to become one of the most notable broadcasting voices in the history of the NFL. He is most fondly remembered for his partnership with former NFL coach John Madden, a tandem that would work together for 22 years and a friendship that would last a lifetime. Madden was quoted following news of Summerall's death, saying that over the years they spent together on the road, he and Summerall never once had an argument or disagreement.

Summerall holds the record for most Super Bowls worked as a broadcaster (16) and was named into the National Sportswriter Association Hall of Fame in 1997. The legendary voice also received the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994, which is given for "longtime exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football."