"We needed to rethink the pre-game show. ABC had that three-man booth with Frank Gifford, who used to work for us...Don Meredith and that Howard Cosell. But I figured, they have one game...We have Sunday afternoon! We needed a host and I had a young play-by-play guy former newspaper guy from Chicago...Brent Musberger..He's a good play-by-play guy...But he'd be a better front man. Then I had to have a former player as smooth as a Gifford, but knew more than a Gifford. I had a color commentator, Irv Cross, former all-pro defensive back with the Eagles and Rams. Still looks like he could play ball. Smooth, smart, knows football and HE'S A BLACK GUY. In 1975, that was a big deal. The sitcoms and drama shows didn't have too much color back in '75..let alone news and sports.
After that we really took some risks. Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder giving us the Vegas perspective. Pete Rozelle was livid about it, until he saw the rating we got from it.
And then I figured, lets meet the challenge of Cosell, with the anti-Cosell and she's easier on the eyes. Phyllis George...Miss America.
Once we had the studio team in place...We need an announcing team that could match the smarts, fun and personality. Nothing against Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier. They are legends, but I took a leap of faith. I had just signed Hank Stram, just retired after that mess he was in down in New Orleans. He should have never left the Chiefs and then go to a team like the lousy Saints.
Stram had the stuff to be a color commentator. People talk about John Madden and Jon Gruden? Stram was their daddy! He had the personality I was looking for and he knew football better than both of them.
He needed a good experienced straight man with the personality I was looking for. Dutch Reagan was the just the man for the job." -- Bob Wussler quoted in Brett, Irv, Greek, Phyllis and Dutch: The Wild Ride of the Original NFL Today by Brent Musberger and John Feinstein (Simon & Schuster, 2010)