Not Just Blowing Smoke, Trumpy Says He’s Nervous

Bob Trumpy’s straightforward style can be irritating at times, but sit down with him for a while, and you become impressed by his honesty.

Ask Trumpy if he will be nervous Sunday when he works his first Super Bowl as a television commentator, and he admits it.

“I’ll smoke two packs of cigarettes before the game,” Trumpy said, adding that in deference to NBC partner Dick Enberg, he will not smoke during the game.

Trumpy has worked Super Bowls on radio but has never had to think about the fact that more than 100 million people would be watching and listening to him analyze the country’s biggest sporting event.

That may be a scary thought, but it’s nothing compared to what happened to him early in his broadcasting career.

In 1981, Trumpy, the host of a sports talk show on WLW in Cincinnati, got a call from a woman threatening suicide.

“I don’t know why she called a sports talk show,” Trumpy said. “It probably was just the first phone number she heard on the radio and decided to call it.”

Trumpy spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone with the woman, talking her out of taking the pills she was threatening to swallow, until police located her.

“I sure didn’t feel like a hero after that,” he said. “I hated that woman. She wasn’t the only one who had to go to a crisis center for therapy. So did I, since I couldn’t figure out why I hated her.

“They convinced me I hated her because of what she put me through.”

What sometimes is forgotten about Trumpy is that he was a pretty good player, particularly for a 12th-round draft choice out of Utah. He was a tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals for 10 seasons (1968-77) and was named All-Pro four times.

A little-known fact about Trumpy is that he spent one semester at Glendale College in 1965, although he didn’t play football. He transferred there from Illinois, then followed Don Bennett, Glendale’s coach, to Utah.

Bennett was hired as an assistant by Mike Giddings, former head man at Glendale who went from the USC staff to Utah in 1966. In fact, Giddings hired almost the entire Glendale staff, including Jim Hanifan, former coach of the St. Louis Cardinals and now offensive line coach of the Washington Redskins.

Had Giddings not gotten the Utah job and raided Glendale’s coaching ranks, Trumpy probably would have gone to USC.

Asked if he had reached his aspirations by getting the No. 1 football commentator’s job at NBC, Trumpy said: “I never contemplated being No. 1 or anything like that. When I was hired by NBC (in 1977), Merlin Olsen, a good friend, had that spot, and I thought he’d have it forever.

“I just enjoy being out at games. I don’t think about who is No. 1 or No. 2. I stay away from the dark side of this business.”

“Sure, I know there are guys at this network who would love to see me have a heart attack Sunday afternoon 20 minutes before the game,” he said, jokingly. “Not a fatal one, just one that would put me out of commission for about four hours.”

Todd Christensen was sitting at a nearby table during an interview at the Century Plaza. Trumpy was asked if one of those guys was sitting at the next table. Trumpy laughed. “No, no, no, I’m not talking about Todd,” he said.

On this occasion, Trumpy passed on stirring up a little controversy.

Why is NBC devoting 2 1/2 hours to the pregame show Sunday? Well, for one thing, to make money.

Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports, said the game costs about $40 million in rights and production and will net $39 million in sales.

“So we come close to breaking even on the game,” he said. “We make our profit on the pregame and postgame shows. How much profit, we don’t know, and if we did, we’re not saying.

“The Super Bowl is good for us--it lives up to expectations. The regular season is where we have problems.”

Terry O’Neil, executive producer of NBC Sports, said a highlight of the pregame show will be an interview Magic Johnson taped with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday in the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium.

O’Neil said another highlight will be a feature that provides an update on paralyzed Dennis Byrd of the New York Jets. At the end of the piece, Christine McVie, formerly of Fleetwood Mac, sings, “You Make Loving Fun.”

Michael Jackson, country singer Garth Brooks and Glenn Frey, formerly the co-lead singer for the Eagles, will also be part of the pregame show, which begins at 12:30 p.m.

This is the third Super Bowl for O’Neil. His last was the 1984 game in which the Raiders beat the Washington Redskins, 38-9. He was at CBS at the time.

“What I remember about that game was everyone was worn out by game day,” he said. “I knew we were in trouble when John Madden said he got 12 hours of sleep the night before the game and was still exhausted.

“We were like a bunch of Egyptian mummies and ended up with a flat telecast.”

O’Neil said this time, more preparation was done beforehand. In fact, on Saturday, O’Neil, O.J. Simpson, Trumpy and Mike Ditka will take time off to play golf at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Radio preparation is a little different. Jack Buck, who will call the game with Hank Stram for CBS Radio, said: “They just tap me on the shoulder, and I’m ready to go.”

TV-Radio Notes

Recommended viewing: Steve Sabol, president of NFL Films, invited a few reporters to a preview of “Road to the Super Bowl,” which will be on Channel 4 Saturday at noon. It’s a typical NFL Films production--outstanding. Microphones on coaches and players provide some entertaining moments, but the best part might be the music. The show opens with the theme from “Terminator II.” The music is subtle, but enhances the action. A few playoff teams, mainly the Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings, get short shrift, but then Sabol and his crew had just too much good footage to keep everybody happy.

Another show not to miss Saturday is TNT’s “Super Bowl Saturday Night” at 7 p.m. It features Garth Brooks and comedian Dennis Miller, and the TNT cast includes Bob Neal, Pat Haden, Kevin Kiley, Craig Sager and Ken Stabler, who knows something about Super Bowls at the Rose Bowl. Stabler led the Oakland Raiders to a 32-14 victory over the Vikings there in 1977. The climax of the TNT show will be the announcement of the NFL Lifetime Achievement Award plus the player-of-the-year, rookie-of-the-year and man-of-the-year awards--and the introduction of the 1993 Hall of Fame inductees.

A highlight of ESPN’s “GameDay” show Sunday, which begins at 9 a.m., will be a feature by Greg Garber on the emotional and personal problems suffered by NFL players after retirement. Among those profiled will be former Raider Mike Wise, who committed suicide last year, and former Green Bay Packer Chester Marcol, who survived a suicide attempt after years of drug abuse.

KMPC’s Joe McDonnell and Doug Krikorian hit the big time tonight. They will be featured in a piece on radio talk shows by Pat O’Brien on the CBS Evening News. . . . KMPC’s and XTRA’s extensive Super Bowl coverage will continue through game day. XTRA’s Jim Rome will broadcast from agent Leigh Steinberg’s private party in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon. . . . From CBS’ Terry Bradshaw, a guest on “The Tonight Show” Tuesday night: “Mike Ditka is probably going to NBC. They desperately need announcers.”

New camera angle: Something to look for in the Don Ohlmeyer-produced coverage of the Senior Skins Game on ABC this weekend is a camera angle from the front on tee shots. To get this, a camera the size of a pencil top will be placed in the front part of the tee box. What next, a camera mounted on a club head? . . . It’s not quite like NBC’s no-announcer football game of a decade ago, but for the taped figure skating on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” on Saturday, there will be no commentary while the competitors are on the ice.