Some broadcasters have it, and some don't. Not just the voice, but a calming manner that puts their audience at ease. Chris Schenkel could claim both. During a broadcasting career that spanned five decades, his smooth delivery and friendly baritone were familiar to millions of sports fans, especially those who tuned into ABC. Regardless of the game—football, golf, bowling or the Olympics—Schenkel was a master at setting the stage for an event and providing intelligent context as it unfolded.

Born August 21, 1923 in Bippus, Indiana, Schenkel got his first announcing job covering Harvard football in 1947, after graduating from Purdue University. His broadcast of the Crimson versus the Cadets of Army that year was the first football game ever televised to an American audience. Schenkel worked his way to New York in the early 1950s, and landed a job with CBS. Handed a phone book, he was told to pick out a new last name. He held firm, and in 1952, Chris Schenkel joined the radio team of the New York football Giants. Thirteen years later, he was hired by ABC, and a great career developed into a legendary one.

When Schenkel died on September 11, 2005 after a long battle with emphysema, the sports world lost one of its true treasures. To be sure, his peers recognized his talent and respected him immensely. A four-time Sportscaster of the Year, he recieved a lifetime achievement Emmy in 1992, the same year the Pro Football Hall of Fame presented him with its Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award. Fortunately, JockBio.com contributing editor Mike May had an opportunity to sit down with Schenkel before he passed away.

Chris Schenkel

New York won the NFL title in 1956, and made it to the 1958 and 1959 championship games. The 1960s brought new faces to the club, including a pair of Texans, quarterback Y.A. Tittle and split end Del Shofner. These two men were part of your most famous football call. What were the circumstances of the 1962 game between the Giants and Washington Redskins?

It was a sunny fall afternoon in Yankee Stadium. It was the day Y.A. threw seven touchdown passes. Del caught four of them. His fourth catch was remarkable. He was covered by a rookie defensive halfback out of Colorado named Claude Crabb. Y.A. dropped back, Del ran a beautiful pass pattern, cut to the sidelines, and faked Crabb right into the turf. In my excitement, I said—during a coast-to-coast broadcast—“Ladies and gentlemen, Del Shofner has just faked Claude Crabb out of his jock!”

That phrase is now part of the sports lexicon, but back then it was pretty racy. What was the response?

The CBS switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree. Afterwards, I got a great letter from the then Chairman Emeritus of the Wilson Sporting Goods Company. It’s a keeper letter. It was addressed to me at CBS. It said, “Dear Chris, You must remember the correct nomenclature is athletic supporter.” So, I wrote back to him and said, “Dear Mr. Bowman, How in the hell should I know? I never wore one.”

Were those Giants teams the best you covered in sports?

I covered the Celtics, the Yankees, and the Lakers—all the teams. But I think the greatest team I’ve watched is the motorsports team of Roger Penske, which recorded seven Indianapolis 500 victories. Roger was a master planner, manager, and strategist. But he also had this great ability to select the right personnel for the company. Each one excelled, whether it was to change wheels or drive, whatever. They were the very best.

What was your favorite sporting event to cover?

The Masters at Augusta National. I was there during Arnold Palmer’s four Masters titles. His presence was very, very important to the game. It made people aware of how much fun golf is and what a good guy like Arnie can do with a club in his hand.

You began covering the Olympics in 1960, when they were first televised internationally. CBS sent you to Squaw Valley to report on ski jumping and slalom events, and since you had little knowledge of these sports, the network paired you with an expert who could carry the technical part of the broadcast. At least, that was the plan. Talk about your partner, Giancarlo Rossini.

Giancarlo was a former Italian bobsled team member. He was my color commentator for the ladies slalom. This was the first Olympic Games ever on TV, so, graphically, we had to make up a lot of charts by hand. I suggested to Giancarlo that we make up a chart of the slalom course, which would help us as we came on the air. He agreed to do it.

Walter Cronkite, believe it or not, was our anchorman. In my ear, I could hear Walter say, “…and now we go to Chris at the base of JT22.”

I said, “My expert today is Giancarlo Rossini, famed Italian bobsledder—a marvelous expert at the ladies slalom here to tell you what it’s all about.”

He held up this chart and said, “Well, Chris, the slalom starts at the top and ends at the bottom.”

That’s all he said! I responded, “Isn’t there something in between?” He said, “Well, yeah, it’s about 28 gates or whatever.”

What were some of your other unforgettable moments covering the Olympics?

How could you forget someone as beautiful as Peggy Fleming winning her gold medal at Grenoble, France? And, then Bob Beamon, in that same year in Mexico City, had that incredible jump.

You can go through every year, of course, including Munich in ’72, which was a despicable interruption of the Games. In 1976, when Dorothy Hamill won another gold medal, it took two and half hours before Dick Button and I could interview her because it took that long to void a drug test. As you may remember, she fell twice in practice prior to skating.

You covered gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Games. What was it like to be there when Nadia Comaneci burst on the world scene?

Kathy Rigby and I were doing the event along with Gordon Maddox. In comes this little 14-year-old, 94-pound girl named Nadia Comaneci. I had the pleasure of talking about her seven perfect 10s. There had never been a 10 in Olympic competition before. So, you couldn’t help but fall in love with the little lady.

Eight years later, you were there at the end of Comaneci’s career. Along with famed gymnast Kurt Thomas, you went to Romania for ABC to cover her“farewell performance,” held before a standing-room-only audience in a Bucharest stadium. That was a live telecast from behind the Iron Curtain. What kind of obstacles did you encounter trying to pull it off?

She could not meet us at the hotel because of the secret police. They would not let her even come to the lobby. We had to meet her two blocks away in her broken-down vintage government car.

She was idolized by her fellow Romanians, and the Communist officials from the top on down were cheering her, but it was hard for Kurt and me to get too excited. Nadia did her final farewell and fell off the beam. She was an instructor at the time, but she wasn’t in the greatest shape.

Kurt and I both ended the telecast unashamedly crying because we had seen this little wonderful 14-year-old and what eight years under Communist domination would do to someone. So, I guess that was the greatest example of what freedom really means, when I saw that.

You worked for more than 30 years under Roone Arledge at ABC. Many broadcasters came and went during that time, but you were always the network’s go-to guy. Sports people used to joke that you “had something” on Arledge. It turns out you did.

Yes, I kept my job because of golf. Byron Nelson and I were doing one of the British Opens in Scotland and Roone had gone to the event with us. We came back to Prestwich, where there was a beautiful course. We had just enough time to play 18 holes before we caught the plane back to New York. Byron played 12 holes with us, but had to leave early. He was about three under par, I was about ten over, and Roone was about eight over.

We came to the 13th hole, a little par three. Roone said, "Since you're such an expert on golf, what club should I use?"

It was about a 180-yard hole, elevated tee, with the green set down by the Firth of Forth. I said, “Simple, use a five-wood, choke up a little, and just hit the ball.”

The caddies said they would walk on beyond the hills to the green. Roone’s ball took two bounces and went into the cup for a hole-in-one and I’m the ONLY one who saw it. That’s how I kept my job!

As a skilled master of ceremonies, you have introduced countless athletes and other people. What’s the best intro you’ve ever received from an athlete?

Lee Trevino once introduced me at a banquet by saying, “If Chris Schenkel didn’t have that Adam’s apple, there’d be no shape to his body at all.”