He played in the long-anointed “Greatest Game Ever Played,” kicking a field goal and two extra points for the New York Giants in their epic 23-17 overtime loss to the Baltimore Colts in the 1958 NFL Championship.

He also announced some of the greatest games ever played: 16 Super Bowls, the 1967 “Ice Bowl” between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and the Cowboys’ first big score with Jimmy Johnson as head coach when they upset the San Francisco 49ers in the Jan. 17, 1993 NFC Championship Game.

Pat Summerall, who also peddled True Value hardware with the best of ‘em, died on Tuesday, April 16 at age 82. Succinct, knowledgeable and glib when the occasion called for it, he was the smooth-as-silk play by play man in memorable partnerships with both Tom Brookshier and John Madden.

The voice: unsurpassed. The diction: letter-perfect. The run at the top: unparalleled.

Here’s Summerall doing the voiceover buildup for the aforementioned Cowboys-49ers championship game before he’s joined in the CBS booth by Madden. He seemed to always know just what to do:

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