HOUSTON — The legendary broadcast pairing of John Madden and Pat Summerall wasn’t born from a calculated executive plan, but rather from a need to clean up a messy, hard-partying broadcast booth, according to sportswriter and author Rich Podolsky.

In his new book about Madden and Summerall, Podolsky details how the unlikely pairing emerged after CBS Sports sought to curb the off-field behavior of one of its top broadcast teams.

“Pat Summerall had six great years with Tom Brookshier, and they would party together on and off the field,” Podolsky said in a recent interview. “That was part of the problem.”

The newly-released book, Madden & Summerall: How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting , offers a behind-the-scenes look at how one of the most beloved partnerships in sports broadcast

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