Most Underrated Play By Play Announcer

[vikingsfan1963]

For me, it's gotta be Charlie Jones. He seemed to always be the #2 or #3 PBP guy at NBC but he was really good at his craft!

[Brian wolf]

Ray Scott and Charlie Jones were underrated. Summerall and Gowdy were the best. Gifford was good but got to talkative in later years. Enberg was top notch but didnt always have the best color people commenting ...

I do like Jack and Joe Buck but the junior wasnt as good as his dad and could sort of whine or get too critical during broadcasts, which made viewers think he was too uptight. He is better doing baseball.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Just working on something about this today because of Vin Scully.

Charlie Jones was great! A lot of good memories of him doing games. Same with Don Criqui, also underrated. Probably the Golden Age of TV announcers with them, Summerall, Enberg, Scully (at times) doing play-by-play. Tom Brookshier, Hank Stram, Bob Trumpy, John Brodie, Merlin Olsen, and later, John Madden in his prime. And I really loved Gifford and Meredith on MNF. Just a great time to watch football. Gary Bender was another.

[Citizen]

Gary Bender was a bit vanilla, but very capable.

Don Criqui had a great voice and a good feel for a game's ebb and flow; his call of Dempsey's 63-yarder is classic.

Of a more recent vintage, my picks would be Jim Nantz and Mike Patrick.

[Hail Casares]

Wayne Larrivee is one of my favorites ever.

Doesn't get enough national attention, IMO.

[Brian wolf]

Jim Simpson was smooth and easy to listen to ... Might have been even better on radio. He called some classic AFL games.

[Brian wolf]

Vin Scully was great but we cant forget about Marv Albert, who had a crazy sense of humor during broadcasts. Better at basketball sure but good at football too.

Though he was a color commentator, I hope people collect and listen to George Allen for CBS games in the NFC. George was as colorful as John Madden and really good at knowing what teams were doing. Very informed and humorous as well. When the Niners had that great 1981 season, Allen called a good number of their games and talked about how well the team improved with their young secondary and former Allen player, Jack Reynolds. Of course when the team won the division, more prominent announcers did their games but Allen was more fun to listen to.

[Ness]

Don Criqui for sure. He's actually my favorite broadcaster. It's a shame he never got top billing, but what can you do when ahead of you is Dick Enberg at the same network.

Fortunately, it seemed like the football gods rewarded Criqui giving him a ton of memorable games between otherwise unremarkable opponents at times.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Wayne Larrivee is one of my favorites ever.

Doesn't get enough national attention, IMO.

Yeah, I'm a big Larrivee fan as well. I like Larry McCarren a lot, too. They've done a great job for a long time -- and it's tough following up the iconic Jim Irwin and Max McGee pairing. As great as Larrivee is, I still miss Jim Irwin tremendously.

[Citizen]

McCarren can break down line play -- on the fly, with no graphic help -- like nobody else. It really adds a dimension that most football broadcasting lacks.