Don Criqui

Don Criqui (born May 5, 1940) 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.

Career

Criqui began with CBS in 1967 before moving to NBC Sports 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 [1] 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. His most famous college basketball call was most likely the last second upset by St. Joseph's over top seeded DePaul in the Mideast regional second round of the 1981 NCAA Tournament.

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 Patriots 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.

Memorable NFL calls from Criqui

One of his memorable NFL calls came on November 8, 1970: 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.

Personal

Don Criqui is a native of Buffalo, New York. He graduated from St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Kenmore, New York, before attending the University of Notre Dame.

See also

• List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings
• List of NFL on NBC commentator pairings

External links

• Don Criqui Profile
• Profile of Don from Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame
• 5 questions interview
• Rare Sports Films: 1971 ABA All Star Game

Preceded by Jack Buck

Monday Night Football national radio play-by-play announcer 1985-1986

Succeeded by Jack Buck