Phyllis George, pioneer sports broadcaster and former Miss America, dead at age 70
Phyllis George, a former Miss America winner and trailblazer in the field of women’s sports journalism and football broadcasting, has died at the age of 70.
George — who was the co-host of “The NFL Today” from 1975-84 and also served as the co-host of “CBS Morning News” for eight months in 1985 — died Thursday from complications from a blood disorder, her ex-husband, former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr., told the Louisville Courier Journal.
“Phyllis was a great asset to Kentucky,” Brown told the Courier-Journal. “We had a great partnership. I think we enjoyed every single day.”
Before marrying Brown, who also owned Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Boston Celtics, George was briefly married to Hollywood producer Robert Evans in the mid-1970s.
Her children, Lincoln Tyler George Brown and CNN White House correspondent Pamela Ashley Brown, released a joint statement expressing their condolences.
“For many, Mom was known by her incredible accomplishments as the pioneering female sportscaster, 50th Miss America and first lady,” the statement read. “But this was all before we were born and never how we viewed Mom. To us, she was the most incredible mother we could ever ask for, and it is all of the defining qualities the public never saw, especially against the winds of adversity, that symbolize how extraordinary she is more than anything else.”
George, who was born in Denton, Texas, on June 25, 1949, attended the University of North Texas for three years, then went to Texas Christian University after earning a scholarship as Miss Texas in 1970 then won the Miss America pageant in 1971.
George became the first female sportscaster to work at a major TV network when she was hired at CBS in 1974.
After becoming Miss America, George moved to New York City to pursue a career in broadcasting. She was first the co-host of “Candid Camera,” a popular TV show at the time. Soon thereafter, CBS Sports producers approached George about becoming a sportscaster in which she became one of the first women to have a national role in television sports coverage.
“In my gut, I thought Phyllis was pretty special,” the late Bob Wussler, who hired George at CBS, once told USA Today. “I thought there was a role for her, as somebody who could talk to guys who knew something about sports.”
A year later, she joined the popular CBS pregame show “The NFL Today,” working alongside Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and, later, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder.
George said being Miss America was a “help and a hindrance” to her career.
“It’s been a help in that it’s opened doors. It’s been a hindrance in that people immediately said ‘BQ’ — you know, beauty queen,” George once told The Los Angeles Times. “And you had to prove yourself more than the next person.”
George also said the Emmy’s “The NFL Today” garnered also were proof that she excelled as a sports interviewer and was a strong partner of an award-winning team.
“I kept showing up and they kept saying, ‘Hey, maybe she’s here to stay,’” George said. “Then we won a couple of Emmys for the ‘NFL Today’ show.”
George also wasn’t just a football-only broadcaster. She also worked regularly on horse racing events, including the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
She wrote a memoir, “Never say Never,” released in 2002.
Musburger tweeted condolences for his former broadcast partner.
“Phyllis George was special. Her smile lit up millions of homes for the NFL Today,” Musburger tweeted. “Phyllis didn’t receive nearly enough credit for opening the sports broadcasting door for the dozens of talented women who took her lead and soared.
“RIP Phyllis. Irv Cross and I will miss you dearly.”
George said being a trailblazer wasn’t easy and that she received a lot of hate mail.
“When you’re the first, you’re a pioneer,” George told USA Today in a 1999 interview. “I felt they didn’t know who Phyllis George was. They played me up as a former Miss America, a sex symbol. I can’t help how I look, but below the surface, I was a hard-working woman. If I hadn’t made that work, women eventually would have come into sportscasting, but it would have taken them longer.”
“The NFL Today” was the first show to make pregame shows cool, and George was a big part of building that foundation.
“The CBS Sports family is deeply saddened by the passing of Phyllis George, an icon in the sports broadcasting industry who contributed greatly to the rich history and tradition of CBS Sports,” Sean McManus, chairman of CBS Sports, said in a statement. “Phyllis was not only a key member of a show that remains the gold standard of NFL pregame shows, the NFL Today with Brent, Irv and ‘The Greek,’ but also a pioneer for all women in broadcasting.”
Prominent women sports journalists also paid their respects to George.
ESPN sportscaster Hannah Storm remembered George as “the ultimate trailblazer” who inspired other women by showing that careers in sportscasting could be within their grasp.
“A lot of times when you’re dreaming of something as a career option, you have to see it in order to believe it,” she said. “And someone has to be first, and that was Phyllis.”
Beth Mowins, of ESPN, who in 2017 became the first woman to call a regular-season NFL game since Gayle Sierens called one in 1987, said seeing George on “The NFL Today” showed her that women can make a career in the sports media.
“There was a woman talking about football,” Mowins told TheFootballGirl.com. “That’s what I was drawn to. I like sports and like to talk, so the two blended together perfectly.”
George married Brown, a millionaire, in 1979. They divorced in 1998 and have two children.
— with AP
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