Among sports and football enthusiasts, much has been made of Chris Berman winning the 2010 Pete Rozelle Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That got me to thinking: who are the previous winners?
* 1989 - Bill McPhail
* 1990 - Lindsey Nelson
* 1991 - Ed Sabol
* 1992 - Chris Schenkel
* 1993 - Curt Gowdy
* 1994 - Pat Summerall
* 1995 - Frank Gifford
* 1996 - Jack Buck
* 1997 - Charlie Jones
* 1998 - Val Pinchbeck
* 1999 - Dick Enberg
* 2000 - Ray Scott
* 2001 - Roone Arledge
* 2002 - John Madden
* 2003 - Don Criqui
* 2004 - Van Miller
* 2005 - Myron Cope
* 2006 - Lesley Visser
* 2007 - Don Meredith
* 2008 - Dan Dierdorf
* 2009 - Irv Cross
* 2010 - Chris Berman
The notable names missing are Al Michaels, Merlin Olsen, and Howard Cosell (off the top of my skull). Beyond that are likely local names and lesser thought of national folks. I can come up with Marty Glickman, who called the Giants and Jets for years around these parts, Jack Flemming, the longtime Steelers' voice, Gil Santos, who has called Pats games for years, and so on.
The point is, many were outraged that Berman won the award, and while it made me roll my eyes, I hadn't given it much further thought. Now, after having a chance to look at the list and further consider it, there's no doubt the Berman choice might be a tad misguided, and an effort at cronyism on the part of the NFL and the Hall of Fame.
That's nothing against Berman, who has been one of the signature NFL names for a long time, and who made "NFL Prime Time" required viewing during its halcyon days.
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"Every person working in sports journalism today owes a tremendous debt to Howard Cosell. His greatest contribution was elevating sports reporting out of daily play-by-play and placing it in the larger context of society." ---- Roone Arledge, former President of ABC Sports
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