Don Criqui
Encyclopedia
Don Criqui is an American sportscaster
, currently employed as a play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports
. Criqui's duties include occasional television coverage of National Football League
games, women's and men's college basketball
, occasional college football
and radio play-by-play of ISP Sports
' coverage of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
. Since 1995, he has been the voice of the New England Patriots pre-season football.
in 1979. When CBS reacquired the NFL in 1998
, Criqui rejoined the network, and continues to serve as a play-by-play announcer as part of the NFL on CBS
. He has also announced a number of other sports for CBS, NBC, and ESPN including college football
, college basketball
, the ABA
, the NBA
, the NHL
, professional golf
and tennis
tournaments, Triple Crown
horse racing, the Canadian Football League
http://web.archive.org/web/20091027100149/http://www.geocities.com/cfl_historical/CFL-NBC.htm and several Summer Olympics events. During his tenure at NBC, Criqui called fourteen Orange Bowl games. Criqui's most memorable call was the 1984 Orange Bowl
between undefeated Nebraska
and Miami
. Nebraska was on a
22-game winning streak coming into the game, but lost to Miami 31–30 when the Cornhuskers failed on a two-point conversion attempt which would have won the game.
pre-season broadcasts on WBZ-TV
, Boston
.
For years, he also served as co-host of the weekend version of the newsmagazine Inside Edition
. He also served as a sportscaster on WOR
radio in New York on the Rambling with Gambling
show, as well as on WNBC
radio on Imus in the Morning
.
: Tom Dempsey
's 63-yard field goal that lifted the New Orleans Saints
to a 19–17 victory over the Detroit Lions
at New Orleans' Tulane Stadium
. Other memorable NFL games that Criqui took part in were the 1978
"Miracle at the Meadowlands" and the 1982 "Epic in Miami". Criqui also did play-by-play of the 1985
–86
seasons of Monday Night Football
and Super Bowls XX
and XXI
(alongside Bob Trumpy
) for NBC Radio
. He also called "Red Right 88" in 1980 when Brian Sipe
threw an interception in the end zone to end the Cleveland Browns season.
He was enshrined to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 2003 with the Pete Rozelle
Radio-Television Award.
. He graduated from St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
in Kenmore, New York
, before attending the University of Notre Dame
.
Sportscaster
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
, currently employed as a play-by-play announcer for CBS Sports
CBS Sports
CBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
. Criqui's duties include occasional television coverage of National Football League
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
games, women's and men's college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
, occasional college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
and radio play-by-play of ISP Sports
ISP Sports
IMG College, is a sports marketing company formed from the acquisition of Host Communications in 2007 and ISP Sports in 2010.ISP Sports was founded in 1992 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina providing sports marketing and broadcast services for collegiate athletics across the United States. In...
' coverage of Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is the football team of the University of Notre Dame. The team is currently coached by Brian Kelly.Notre Dame competes as an Independent at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level, and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series coalition. It is an...
. Since 1995, he has been the voice of the New England Patriots pre-season football.
Career
Criqui began with CBS in 1967 before moving to NBC SportsNBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
in 1979. When CBS reacquired the NFL in 1998
1998 NFL season
The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
, Criqui rejoined the network, and continues to serve as a play-by-play announcer as part of the NFL on CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
. He has also announced a number of other sports for CBS, NBC, and ESPN including college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
, college basketball
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
, the ABA
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
, the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
, the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
, professional golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
tournaments, Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
horse racing, the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
http://web.archive.org/web/20091027100149/http://www.geocities.com/cfl_historical/CFL-NBC.htm and several Summer Olympics events. During his tenure at NBC, Criqui called fourteen Orange Bowl games. Criqui's most memorable call was the 1984 Orange Bowl
1984 Orange Bowl
The 1984 Orange Bowl was the 50th annual Orange Bowl Classic, played on January 2, 1984, between the unbeaten Nebraska Cornhuskers and the once-beaten Miami Hurricanes, for the national championship. After leading 31-17 in the fourth quarter, Miami held on for a 31-30 victory...
between undefeated Nebraska
1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers Football Team
The 1983 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team represented the University of Nebraska–Lincoln] in the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by Tom Osborne and played their home games in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska...
and Miami
1983 Miami Hurricanes football team
The 1983 Miami Hurricanes were the national champions of the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. The national championship was the first of five won by the University of Miami.-Offense:-Defense:-Special teams:-Coaching staff:-Schedule:...
. Nebraska was on a
22-game winning streak coming into the game, but lost to Miami 31–30 when the Cornhuskers failed on a two-point conversion attempt which would have won the game.
Other projects
Though never the top announcer for a network, Criqui has always been a featured announcer in the American sports scene. His other projects include hosting radio talk shows about sports, and since 1995, he has been the TV play-by-play announcer for New England PatriotsNew England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
pre-season broadcasts on WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
For years, he also served as co-host of the weekend version of the newsmagazine Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
. He also served as a sportscaster on WOR
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
radio in New York on the Rambling with Gambling
Rambling with Gambling
Rambling with Gambling was a news and talk radio program aired on WOR 710 from 1925 until 2000. It was hosted by three generations of people named John Gambling throughout its entire 75-year run.-History:...
show, as well as on WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
radio on Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning
Imus in the Morning is an American radio show hosted by Don Imus on Cumulus Media Networks , and simulcast for television on Fox Business Network....
.
Memorable NFL calls from Criqui
One of his memorable NFL calls came on November 8, 19701970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...
: Tom Dempsey
Tom Dempsey
Thomas Dempsey is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints , Philadelphia Eagles , Los Angeles Rams , Houston Oilers and Buffalo Bills . He attended high school at San Dieguito High School and played college football at Palomar College...
's 63-yard field goal that lifted the New Orleans Saints
1970 New Orleans Saints season
The 1970 New Orleans Saints season was the team's fourth as a member of the National Football League. They failed to improve on their previous season's output of 5-9, winning only two games...
to a 19–17 victory over the Detroit Lions
1970 Detroit Lions season
-References:***...
at New Orleans' Tulane Stadium
Tulane Stadium
Tulane Stadium was an outdoor football stadium located in New Orleans, Louisiana from 1926 to 1980. Officially known as the Third Tulane Stadium, it replaced the "Second Tulane Stadium" where the Telephone Exchange Building is now located...
. Other memorable NFL games that Criqui took part in were the 1978
1978 NFL season
The 1978 NFL season was the 59th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded the regular season from a 14-game schedule to 16. Furthermore, the playoff format was expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams by adding another wild card from each conference...
"Miracle at the Meadowlands" and the 1982 "Epic in Miami". Criqui also did play-by-play of the 1985
1985 NFL season
The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
–86
1986 NFL season
The 1986 NFL season was the 67th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXI when the New York Giants defeated the Denver Broncos to win their first league title in 30 years.-Major rule changes:...
seasons of Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...
and Super Bowls XX
Super Bowl XX
Super Bowl XX was an American football championship game played on January 26, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1985 regular season...
and XXI
Super Bowl XXI
Super Bowl XXI was an American football game played on January 25, 1987 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1986 regular season. The National Football Conference champion New York Giants won their first Super Bowl by defeating...
(alongside Bob Trumpy
Bob Trumpy
Bob Trumpy is a former professional American Football tight end who played for the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals from 1968 to 1969, and for the NFL Bengals from 1970 through 1977...
) for NBC Radio
NFL on NBC Radio
From 1985-1986, the NBC Radio Network was the official, national radio provider for National Football League games. The program succeeded the CBS Radio Network's package.-Background:...
. He also called "Red Right 88" in 1980 when Brian Sipe
Brian Sipe
Brian Winfield Sipe is a former professional American football quarterback who played in the National Football League from 1974 to 1983 and the United States Football League from 1984 to 1985....
threw an interception in the end zone to end the Cleveland Browns season.
He was enshrined to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 2003 with the Pete Rozelle
Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world....
Radio-Television Award.
Personal
Don Criqui is a native of Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. He graduated from St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute
St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, founded in 1861, is an independent Roman Catholic college preparatory school for young men. Established by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, SJCI is chartered by the Board of Regents of New York State and accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges...
in Kenmore, New York
Kenmore, New York
Village of Kenmore is a village in Erie County, New York, in the United States. The population was 16,426 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area....
, before attending the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
.