44 years ago today, Pat Summerall and John Madden called a Division-III college football game.
Wittenberg vs. Baldwin-Wallace
October 3, 1982
During the fall of '82, in the second week of the NFLPA's 57-day players' strike, CBS needed to get creative with its Sunday afternoon programming.
So on October 3, the network sent its top NFL broadcast team of Pat Summerall and John Madden to Springfield, Ohio to call Division-III Wittenberg's game against its rival Baldwin-Wallace — each school with an enrollment then of about 2,000 students.
Three other NFL on CBS broadcast teams were also assigned to call Division-III games that weekend.
Wittenberg, Baldwin-Wallace, and the Ohio Athletic Conference were each paid $10,000 for the game.
The video includes the CBS open and pregame introduction by Pat and John, the first several minutes of the game, and select highlights from this historic CBS broadcast.
A very rare and fascinating telecast — and quite a thrill for those players, coaches, students, and communities.