Pat Summerall
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerallwas an American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he also announced major golf and tennis events. In total, he announced 16 Super Bowls on network television, 26 Masters Tournaments, and 21 US Opens. He also contributed to 10 Super Bowl broadcasts on CBS Radio as a pregame host or analyst...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionSportscaster
Date of Birth10 May 1930
CityLake City, FL
CountryUnited States of America
Well, I know how the system works. I know that there's something called the MELD system, which is nationwide. There are zones as far as evaluation of need for liver transplants.
somehow found out I'd got the liver. But they said they didn't care, didn't want to meet me.
So, I didn't get moved up because of celebrity status or anything like that. I got in line, and I passed the test. And they realized that I was sick enough, and as soon as the liver became available, I got one.
When someone saves your life and gives you life, there's gratitude, humility; there's a time you've been so blessed you realize you've been given another chance at life that maybe you did or didn't deserve.
I didn't have any idea what I was gonna say...couldn't come up with the correct words... enough gratitude... enough to tell the Shelbys how I felt.
I've been on the air and broadcasting, but I had no idea what to say. How to respond to this meeting-there's gratitude, there's sorrow, every emotion you could think of.
I had no idea what to say, and talking is my business. It was a meeting of love, warmth. It was tearful, like we'd known each other for a long time.
If only faces could talk...
When someone saves your life and gives you life, there is gratitude and humility; there is a time you've been so blessed you realize you've been given another chance in life that maybe, you did or did not deserve.
I know I had been successful in football. I had been successful in broadcasting. I didn't think that anything could touch me. I thought, I can beat anything.
Well, to take me from where I was, and the life I was leading, to the life I lead now with the church and with the Lord and with Jesus Christ, it's a total, total turn-around.
My MELD score was pretty high. And the worse you get on that scale, the sooner you get a transplant. It's based on how sick you are. And believe me, I was pretty sick.
It's entirely different waking up in the morning and praying. I read aloud six or seven different devotional books, one of which is the Bible and ask the Lord to be with me that day.
Seemed like everything I tried to do in broadcasting and as a player before that turned out successfully. I was succeeding. I got to the top of the heap in every facet of broadcasting.