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Summerall Reflects on the Mesmerizing Lombardi and the Analytical Landry

Pat Summerall is best known as the former lead voice of N.F.L. games for CBS and Fox, not as a kicker and occasional tight end and defensive end for the Chicago Cardinals and the Giants. His new book, “Giants: What I Learned About Life From Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry,” recalls the influence exerted by Lombardi, who coached the Giants’ offense, and Landry, who coached their defense, on him and the team. Once Summerall became a Giant in 1958, he sat in on the offensive and defensive meetings. It was the season when the Giants lost to the Baltimore Colts, 23-17, in overtime, in the N.F.L. championship game.

Q. You write that one reason the Giants lost that game was that Lombardi and Landry didn’t adjust to what the Colts were doing.
A. I never thought either of them was very good at changing the game plan or making new plans. Landry dealt largely in percentages. I don’t think we ever adjusted to what Johnny Unitas and Raymond Berry were doing to us.
Q. What stands out about your first encounter with Lombardi?
A. He walked in with his horn-rimmed glasses and the odd shape that he had. He cleared his throat and the room got quiet. I was sitting next to Don Heinrich and said, “Who the hell is that?” and he said, “That’s Lombardi, and you’ll know soon enough.” Just listening to him present what he had in mind and how the hush fell over the room let you know this guy had command and confidence in what he was saying. I remember I was sorry when he got through talking, and that didn’t happen often in the meeting room.

Q. You say it was thrilling to listen to him speak.
A. He had such confidence in what he was saying, and I think really that’s what set him apart — the dynamic manner that he represented things. He knew how long your first step should be, how much the off guard had to pull to lead the sweep play and how long the first step should be so he wouldn’t step on the quarterback who was still trying to get away from the center.
Q. Landry became your kicking guru, didn’t he?
A. He said if you miss to the right, this is what you’re doing wrong. If you miss to left, this is what you’re doing wrong. And when you practice, make sure you have someone who knows what’s going on because it doesn’t do any good to practice bad habits.
Q. Who was the better coach, Lombardi or Landry?
A. I’m not sure. Immediately, Lombardi made a lasting impression. Landry took some time to get used to because you never knew where you stood with him. Lombardi was so confident in the way he spoke; Landry was, too, but he had less of a commanding personality. I think the only time I saw Landry smile was when I told him I’d been baptized.
Q. Why did you decide to kick?
A. They had a better kicker in high school. When I was in college, whoever was kicking off wasn’t doing a very good job, so the coaching staff said anybody who thinks they can kick, come out 15 minutes early, so I came out 15 minutes early.
Q. That you became a football player — or an athlete — is almost astonishing.
A. I was born with a club foot. The left foot was turned around backwards and the doctor had enough courage, when I was an infant, to break it and turn it around.
Q. After your retirement, you became a broadcaster. But Art Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers owner, made you an unusual offer in 1969, didn’t he?
A. It was Super Bowl III. I was staying at the Galt Ocean Mile and Art Rooney was in the checkout line right in front of me and I asked him if he had a coach yet. And he said, “No, do you want the job?” I thought he was kidding, but he said it again, “Do you want the job?” And I said, “I’ve just started in the broadcasting job and that’s where I want to go.” He said, “If you want the job, it’s yours.” Two weeks later, he hired Chuck Noll.
Q. Why would a man so steeped in football think you were a good candidate to coach his team?
A. I had no idea at the time and I have no idea now. I didn’t have a coaching record. I didn’t have a record as a player to speak of except I played against teams he ran. I never have known why.
Q. At CBS, you became the go-to guy to interview Lombardi or his players when he coached the Packers.
A. Everybody at CBS was deathly afraid of him. I’d ask him if I could interview players during the warm-ups, and he said, “No.” I’d say, “I’ve just started in this business, I need a favor,” and he said, “Yes.” But when the time came to interview them, he said, “Get the hell out of here, get away from my players, don’t bother the warm-ups.”
Q. Do you miss calling games?
A. I’d still like to be working. My health couldn’t be better. The liver transplant worked. I still take a lot of anti-rejection pills every day. I go back to the Mayo Clinic every year.
Q. What do you do on Sundays now?
A. I watch the Cowboys if they’re on. I watch the Giants if they’re no. I’m a fan.

 

Pat Summerall Discusses Wade Phillips And The State Of The Cowboys

"Under Phillips, and I like Wade, he's a very, very nice man and he's a good friend of mine, but they were starting to lose interest," Summerall said.
"Cowboys magic as you know has been world wide, not just city wide. They were starting to lose that, and I think Jerry Jones sensed that, sensed that he was losing the fans as well as the team and he made a change to Jason Garrett, who I like so far."

I had a chance Friday to speak with Summerall, who is now 80, as part of his promotional tour for his new book 'GIANTS: What I Learned About Life from Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.'
As an end and placekicker, Summerall turns out to have been the only Giants player directly coached by both legendary figures. Throw in Summerall's long broadcasting career, which began in 1962, and the fact that he lives in Dallas, and he is uniquely positioned to offer an opinion on the situation with the 1-7 Cowboys. As of now, Summerall has been impressed by Garrett.

"He sounds like he's all business, and Wade Phillips was not all business. Wade Phillips was an excuse for the players who performed poorly, he always had an excuse for them," Summerall said. "That's maybe a good approach for some teachers, but not for Jason Garrett and not for the people that I wrote the book about."

Lombardi, of course, was the fiery, no-nonsense tough guy who went on to build the Green Bay Packer dynasty and became the coach against whom all NFL coaches are inevitably judged. Landry was the quiet, dignified teacher who became a Hall of Fame coach while building Dallas into a perennial power.

"Both had one thing in common, that they were very prepared. Neither one of them ever went into a meeting without intense preparation. I tried to use that in the broadcasting world when I became a television announcer," Summerall said. "You never can over-prepare.
"Both were so confident of what they were teaching and so sure that their way was the best way, they were great teachers. Totally different methods, but they were both intensely prepared and very confident in what they were trying to teach you."

For 22 seasons, beginning in 1981, Summerall was paired in the broadcast booth with another coach, John Madden. They became a legendary combination in their own right.

"John had such great respect for the game and such knowledge of the game that he reminded me of sitting down in one of Lombardi's meetings or one of Landry's meetings," Summerall said. "John had such a great passion for the game.
"I think that's an important thing that made both of them effective, both Landry and Lombardi and John Madden, too. He (Madden) had such respect for what he was talking about and also such a passion for presenting it in a manner that most people could understand."

In a recent article for The Washington Post, I wrote that this is shaping up to be the worst season in the history of the Cowboy franchise. I asked Summerall if that was overly dramatic, and he said "No, I don't think it is at all."
He then proceeded to point a finger directly at Jones for the mess the Cowboys are in.

"Jerry thinks that his approach and his knowledge of the game is such that he doesn't need a go-between, that he could probably coach the team himself -- he thinks. That's not necessarily true," Summerall said. "I think he does need a go-between and I think he made a good choice in picking Jason Garrett to take over."