ESPN.com is reporting that Pat Summerall and John Madden will no longer be partners in the booth next season. No word on whether Summerall is taking another partner or retiring.

At their peak, there was no better team. Unfortunately, age has finally caught up with Summerall. I also have fond memories of Summerall announcing the US Open tennis when he was still with CBS.

ESPN Story

Like I said in a previous post, I read in USA Today a few weeks back that Fox is "encouraging" Summerall to "retire" in order to get someone younger in the booth with Madden & to boost ratings.

It's about 15 years too late. Summerall could make the end of the world sound boring. Madden has his moments but still gets obsessed with trivialities.

There IS a God!!!!

Wow kinda harsh there fellas! He has lost it the last couple of years, but 15? Have to disagree with you on that assessment.

i'm not sure where all of the hating on pat summerall is coming from. i grew up listening
to madden and summerall on cbs then fox and i must say that i am sad to hear one the great voices of the nfl is going. you don't remember the great cowboys-9ers series of the early nineties? eating pot roast in front of the tv with your family while watching the packers fight the bucs? dudes, really. let's show some respect for history. plus, i don't really watch the games to dissect what announcers say anyway. but even now, summerall sounds a lot better than the stupid bullsh* spouted by announcers like mcguire, boomer, and that comedian person and the the guy who isn't al michaels on monday night. pat summerall gets two thumbs up in my book.

jay o

I think the strong feelings expressed here just go to show the generational differences one could expect from a website like this which caters to gay guys from all age groups. I too, was raised on Summerall and Madden, and wouldn't have them any other way. I can see alot of the young bucks here not liking them though. FWIW.

I'm 43 and was raised on Summerall-Brookshire, then Summerall-Madden. Pat hasn't had an original observation in 20 years, weakly parrots what Madden says and makes way too many mistakes each week. For me, it's a bit of a downer to watch a game where Summerall does play by play. I'm thrilled he is off the top team. This isn't a monarchy or the supreme court where he gets to serve until he dies.

I wouldn't say Summerall's been bad for 15 years, but the last couple? Absolutely. As an item I saw today mentioned, the other day he couldn't even tell whether or not a team made or missed a first down even when the player was a couple of yards from the line.

i'm not sure if i agree with the entire generational thing...i am only twenty-seven years old, maybe that makes me not one of the "young" guys, but i definitely don't feel like an elder quite yet. but regardless, i still think summerall is awesome and football won't be the same without him.

jay o