1981 NFC Championship Game question

[MatthewToy]

Why didn't Madden and Summerall call that game? They called the Super Bowl 2 weeks later. Plenty of time for the Madden Cruiser to get from San Francisco to Detroit.

[superbowlfanatic]

Super Bowl XVI was the first game that CBS paired the two together.

[Rupert Patrick]

Super Bowl XVI was the first game that CBS paired the two together.

That is not correct, Madden and Summerall first worked together in a two-man booth on 11/25/79 when Brookshier was unable to work that weekend and Madden filled in.

http://allfunkedup.sportsblog.com/posts ... -1979.html

I know when Madden went to work for CBS he was shuffled around and he quickly proved he was the best analyst they had, and there was some debate within the sports network whether to pair him with Vin Scully or Pat Summerall. I had thought they paired him with Scully a few times on games and with Summerall a few times in 1980-81 just to see which team had the better chemistry and it was a tossup who to pair Madden with and they chose Summerall, and the article seems to corroborate that.

[BD Sullivan]

Both Scully and Summerall got four games each with Madden to determine a winner. Pat being a "football guy" probably didn't hurt, although the chemistry was obvious.

[MatthewToy]

I wrongly assumed that because they did that year's Super Bowl, that they were already a pair by that point.

[74_75_78_79_]

Do you all know who had to interview Landry (the losing coach) after The Catch? Having just lost a big game to a now new champ on the block, I'm sure the LAST thing he needed was a (recent) PAST reminder.

[rhickok1109]

Both Scully and Summerall got four games each with Madden to determine a winner. Pat being a "football guy" probably didn't hurt, although the chemistry was obvious.

Of course, Scully is a great baseball announcer and he was pretty good doing golf, but I never thought he was very good on football .