> PHYLLIS GEORGE S Phyllis George was special. Her smile lit up millions of homes for the NFL Today. Folks — men and women — were comfortable with her talking about their favorite sport. And in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, they loved Phyllis despite her Dallas Cowboys bias! – Brent Musburger, Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer Phyllis was a true pioneer for women in Sports. She was admired and loved by all of us who worked with her, not just for her talent, but for her warmth, kindness and a smile that lit up the TV screen. A true hall-offamer, who left us far too soon.” – Bob Fishman, CBS and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer
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he was Miss America. She was a co-host on Candid Camera. But it wasn’t until Phyllis George made the move to The NFL Today in 1975 that her popularity became apparent: her presence on the show made it appointment viewing, “In the East and Midwest,” says Rich Podolsky in his book You Are Looking Live!: The Story of The NFL Today, “churchgoers rushed home in time to see it, and more attention meant more eyeballs watching and higher ratings.” The road to The NFL Today began in Denton, TX, a small town 42 miles north of Dallas. George’s parents were hardworking Methodist people, and, as a young girl, she watched the Miss America pageant with her mom every year. “Back in the day, it was the biggest thing on television,” George told the University of Texas in 2018. She rose to fame as Miss America, winning the crown in 1970. But, the year before, she placed second in the Miss Texas pageant and almost swore off competing the following year. “I came in second to a drummer from Longview,” she told Texas Monthly. “The local papers had to retrieve their original headline of ‘Miss Denton Becomes Miss Texas.’” The Miss Dallas organization kept asking her to run for their title. She kept saying no but relented with the possibility of scholarship money as the carrot. Little did she know she would be named not only Miss Texas but also Miss America and be destined for a career in sports TV that ultimately would give her a chance to change the industry forever. Being Miss America gave her a chance to be on arguably TV’s biggest stage: The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. When she told Carson, “You’ll remember me. I’m the klutzy Miss America” (she dropped her crown while walking down the runway), viewers and the press were smitten, even though the concept of Miss America had its critics. “The ‘women’s libbers’ — we didn’t call them ‘feminists’ — would follow me around,” she said. “I was in DeKalb, IL. I kept saying, ‘They’re not picketing me; they’re picketing what they think
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this program stands for.’ So I went outside and said, ‘It’s really cold out here. Why don’t you guys come in, and let’s have some coffee and talk about this?’ “They all came in,” she continued. “And I said, ‘Look, I don’t feel like I’m exploited. I’m from a small town in Texas. This is great for me. I won scholarship money. I’ve done something with my life, and I can show my talent. I want to be in broadcasting. This is going to help me, so I want you to look at it that way.’ Did I like being in a swimsuit? Absolutely not. I hated it.” When she arrived in New York after her year as Miss America, she hoped to land a job in broadcasting. Making the rounds, she ran into two young producers from CBS Sports, Tommy O’Neill and Bob Stenner, and that meeting would soon prove important. When the Miss America pageant invited her back to cohost with Bert Parks, it gave her a chance to be seen on TV, and, in 1974, Allen Funt hired her as a cohost for his Candid Camera show in New York. But working as the second banana to Funt wasn’t exactly what George had in mind when she sought a job in broadcasting. Changes at CBS Sports at the end of the year offered an opportunity. President Bill MacPhail was quietly retired, and 38-year-old Bob Wussler was brought in. “Casually, Bob Stenner and I went to Wussler,” O’Neill said, “and we told him about Phyllis. Wussler liked her right away.” A 13-week contract was drawn up with the promise that, if things worked out, it would
