Madden & Summerall: How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting

Madden & Summerall tells the inside story of how two unlikely partners became the greatest broadcast duo in NFL history.

This is the story of how John Madden and Pat Summerall got to CBS and, although very different, how they became the greatest broadcast team of all time. It is told by Rich Podolsky, who worked alongside them both at CBS.

Separately, they were great. Together, they were the greatest ever. Madden & Summerall is about two stalwarts of the game, but their story is not without controversy. Summerall was a five-sport star who became a broadcaster by accident. Uncharacteristically, he was a morning drive-time radio host before he found his path on TV. Madden was a bigger-than-life Super Bowl-winning coach, and he easily could have been a stand-up comedian.

We all remember the great story-telling John Madden, who won sixteen Emmy Awards, but we don't remember how much he struggled his first two years on the air to find his way. In fact, he was almost fired after his first season. It wasn't until he was paired with Summerall that it all clicked. They were so different, yet so perfect together--like peanut butter meeting jelly for the first time.

The book follows the intimate stories of their lives from childhood to death: before and during their great twenty-one-year partnership. Never-before-told insider stories (some fun, some scathing) from friends, family members, and dozens of ex-colleagues pepper these chapters.

Author: Rich Podolsky
Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Lyons Press
Published: 09/16/2025
Pages: 248
ISBN: 9781493091980


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 07/01/2025 pg. 60
Booklist 07/01/2025 pg. 18

About the Author
Rich Podolsky has been an established writer and reporter since the 1970s, covering the Miami Dolphins and writing for The NFL Today. He has been a staff writer for CBS Sports and has written for The Philadelphia Daily News, The Palm Beach Post, The Wilmington News-Journal, and ESPN. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Keystone Press Award for writing excellence from the Pennsylvania Publishers Association.

He has written about the business of sports on television many times including his recent book You Are Looking Live!: How The NFL Today Revolutionized Sports Broadcasting. He is also a guest columnist for Sports Broadcast Journal.com. The CBS documentary version based on his book was broadcast to more than 1.1 million viewers. His passion for music of the '60s and '70s fueled his desire to write about it. In Don Kirshner: The Man with the Golden Ear (foreword by Tony Orlando) and Neil Sedaka, Rock 'n' Roll Survivor (foreword by Elton John), he tells the inside story of their success.

Podolsky lives in New York City.