Remembering The Superb Broadcaster, Jack Whitaker

There are so few great broadcasters from the days of yore or quite frankly, period. That number decreased with the passing of Jack Whitaker, an eloquent great, at the age of 95, days back.

Jack was perhaps best known for his latter day work as an Eric Sevareid type essayist (quite the well deserved praise for Whitaker, being likened to Mr. Sevareid) on the CBS network NFL scoreboard show.

I recall Jack as an excellent, low key, not overly talkative, game/ lead announcer, most specifically working on New York Giants’ road games in the 1960’s.

Mr. Whitaker was a Philadelphia native and along with Blaine Walsh, was on the national radio broadcast of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 1960 NFL Title game win, vs the Green Bay Packers.

That game played the day after Christmas, on a Monday in 1960,  was the only post-season game the Packers lost, under legendary head coach, Vince Lombardi.

Jack was subsequently part of the CBS broadcast of the first Super Bowl, also telecast by NBC, in which Lombardi’s Packers won the fourth of five NFL crowns within 7 seasons (1961-1967).

When the Dallas Cowboys finally won their first NFL title in 1971, after years of frustration under coach Tom Landry, Jack was the lead broadcaster, as the Cowboys passed their toughest post-season test en route, a win at Minnesota, vs the Vikings. That game and the famous 2 overtime Dolphins/Chiefs, later in the day, were the last NFL playoff games played on Christmas Day.

His work on the telecast was excellent, citing the Dallas history, however, not jamming it down the collective audience’s throats.

I was fortunate to be a researcher on the ABC College Football Scoreboard show when Jack was there in 1983. What a nice classy man! I have included my tribute to a good friend Beano Cook, in which I cited and praised Jack Whitaker. Click below to read it.

• Recollections of Beano Cook on October 14, 2012

Jack Whitaker, pictured above.