- Tom Brookshier
NFL player
DateOfBirth=birth date and age|1931|12|16
Birthplace=Roswell, New Mexico
DateOfDeath=
DraftedYear=1953
DraftedRound=10 / Pick 117
Position=Defensive back
College=Colorado
DatabaseFootball=BROOKTOM01
PFR=BrooTo00
ProBowls=2
Retired #s=Philadelphia Eagles #40
years=1953–1961
teams=Philadelphia Eagles Thomas Jefferson Brookshier (born
December 16 ,1931 ) is a former professionalAmerican football player, coach andsportscaster .Brookshier played high-school football in
Roswell, New Mexico . After graduating from the University of Colorado, Brookshier was a 10th-round NFL draft pick. He played defensive back for thePhiladelphia Eagles of theNational Football League from 1953 to 1961, during which time the Eagles won the NFL Championship (in 1960), and he was selected for thePro Bowl twice. Brookshier's career ended because of a compound leg fracture, sustained while making a tackle. He is a member of the Eagles' Honor Roll and is one of only seven players to have their number (40) retired by the team.As a lieutenant, he was a backfield coach at the
United States Air Force Academy for 9 years.He began sportscasting for
WCAU -AM-FM-TV inPhiladelphia in 1962, eventually becoming the station's sports director. He went on to be a football analyst withCBS Sports . In addition to many regular-season games, he broadcast threeSuper Bowl s (X, XII, XIV) withPat Summerall , and did pre- and post-game shows for four other Super Bowls.Brookshier was removed from his pro football
color commentator position, at CBS, because of a remark he made [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDE1738F937A25751C1A965948260&sec=&spon= Brookshier Penalized, New York Times, December 14, 1983 ] ] during a Philadelphia Eagles vs. New Orleans Saints game broadcast on December 11, 1983. After a program note for an upcoming telecast of an NCAA men's basketball game involving theUniversity of Louisville , Brookshier said that the players on the Louisville team had "a collective I.Q. of about 40". This resulted inNeal Pilson , then president of CBS Sports, apologizing to Louisville school officials and later suspending Brookshier for the last weekend of the NFL's regular season. Louisville's athletic director, Bill Olsen, felt that the remark was racist, since Louisville's starting five were allAfrican American . Brookshier later apologized, calling his remark "stupid" and "dumb", but was angered over CBS's reaction, stating "I'm not about to be judged on one comment", "I've done a lot of things for charity. Now my own network is bailing out on me and taking me off the air. After 20 years at CBS, I deserve better than this." Apparently the apology was accepted by the university, as the president, Donald Swain, invited Brookshier to be the featured speaker at school's annual football kickoff luncheon in August 1984. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEEDE1738F937A25751C1A965948260&sec=&spon= Louisville Gesture, New York Times, July 12, 1984 ] ] Brookshier appeared in the 1977 motion picture "Black Sunday" as himself. In 1989 he hosted the morning show of the then nascent 610WIP (AM) sports format; the program was called "Breakfast with Brookshire" before he was joined byAngelo Cataldi . He has since left broadcasting and was last known to be working as a consultant for CB Richard Ellis, an international commercial real-estate firm. [ [http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=6526 Where Are They Now: DB Tom Brookshier, philadelphiaeagles.com, November 19, 2005 ] ]References
ee also
*
List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings External links
* [http://www.broadcastpioneers.com/tombrookshier.html Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia page on Brookshier]
*imdb name|id=0112322|name=Tom Brookshier
* [http://www.footballcardgallery.com/player/Tom+Brookshier Tom Brookshier football cards]
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