Jimmy Cefalo

Jimmy Cefalo

Date of birth:	October 6, 1956 (1956-10-06)
Place of birth:	Pittston, Pennsylvania
Career information
Position(s):	Wide Receiver
College:	Penn State
NFL Draft:	1978 / Round: 3/ Pick 81
Organizations
As player:
1978-1984	Miami Dolphins
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

James Carmen Cefalo, (born October 6, 1956 in Pittston, Pennsylvania, U.S.), is an American sportscaster, game show host and former professional American football wide receiver.

Biography

High school

Cefalo attended Pittston Area High School in Pittston, Pennsylvania. It was his performance there that led to his inclusion on The Pennsylvania Football News All-Century Team.

Penn State

Cefalo was a standout at Penn State University from 1974 to 1977. He led the Nittany Lions in all-purpose yards his senior season. He was instrumental in Penn State's 41-20 victory over Baylor in the 1975 Cotton Bowl Classic. He was named most valuable player of the 1976 Gator Bowl.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1978.

National Football League

Cefalo was a third round draft choice (#81 overall) of the Miami Dolphins in the 1978 NFL Draft. He would play six seasons for the Dolphins, including Super Bowls (XVII and XIX), earning a reputation as a sure-handed, dependable receiver. In Super Bowl XVII, Cefalo showed up ill for the game—he had the flu with a 100°+ fever, but with receiver Nat Moore out as the result of an ankle injury, he persevered, proving to be one of Miami's few bright spots in a 27-17 loss to the Washington Redskins. He caught the team's only offensive touchdown and averaged 21 yards per catch. Cefalo's 76-yard touchdown reception from quarterback David Woodley still ranks as the fifth-longest in Super Bowl history.

In 1984, Cefalo caught the Dan Marino pass that broke the record for most touchdown passes in a season.

He played in one of the most famous games in NFL history: the AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins on January 2, 1982 at the Orange Bowl. The Pro Football Hall of Fame named it the "NFL's Game of the '80s."

NBC

Cefalo was a color commentator for NFL on NBC, partnering with Charlie Jones from 1985-1987, and Fred Roggin in 1988.

He has also been a correspondent for NBC News on The Today Show, sports anchor for NBC News at Sunrise and co-host of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.

Cefalo hosted NBC's pregame coverage for Game 5 of the 1987 National League Championship Series, as Marv Albert was away on a boxing assignment for NBC. Cefalo also hosted NBC's pregame show for Game 4 of the 1989 American League Championship Series as Marv Albert was away on an NFL assignment for NBC.

Radio and television

In 1988, Cefalo won an Emmy for his writing on the 24th Olympic Games. The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association named him Florida Sportscaster of the Year five times (1998, 2001–2004).

Cefalo co-hosted PM Magazine, AM South Florida, and hosted the syndicated game shows Trump Card, and Sports Snapshot (according to The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows Volume 2). He is the only alumnus of Penn State to ever host a game show.

Cefalo became the play-by-play man on the Miami Dolphins radio broadcast team on Dolphins flagship station WQAM in 2005. He was partnered with former Dolphins Joe Rose and the late Jim "Mad Dog" Mandich. He now works with Rose and Bob Griese

Beginning in 1993, he was the Sports Director at WPLG television in Miami, hosting the station's Sport Jam Live program. His on-air time at the station decreased when he assumed his radio play-by-play duties, and in April 2007 he announced he would leave WPLG at the end of his contract to concentrate on his wine business.

He now hosts a morning news program on WIOD radio in Miami.

Personal

He currently resides in Miami Beach, Florida with his wife Janice and three daughters: Mia, and twins Ava and Katie.

Cefalo is a well-known oenophile, with over 1,200 bottles in his personal wine cellar. His family has been in the wine business for several generations.

Cefalo resigned from the ABC Television affiliate WPLG in Miami to devote his time to his wine ventures: Cefalo's Wine Cellar and Cefalo's Wine Corner. He also founded Cefalo's Cave Club, a $300-a-month private club with personal wine lockers, tastings, classes and meals. Cefalo's Wine Cellar went into bankruptcy in 2008, and as of December 2011, Cefalo no longer operates any retail wine ventures,

References

No longer open.

External links

• Jimmy Cefalo at the Internet Movie Database
• The Cefalo Blog
• WPLG bio
• The Scranton Times-Tribune Picks the Top 100 Athletes of All Time from the Scranton Area., December 2004
• Article from The Citizens Voice, December 2005