NFL television is now a behemoth; CBS was the pioneer network; Bob Wussler hired Jane Chastain
By Rich Podolsky 06/15/2025
Hey NFL, “Don’t Forget the Ladies”
On March 31st of 1776 Abigale Adams wrote to her husband John Adams, who was a member of the Continental Congress, and urged him to “remember the ladies” as they wrote the laws of their new nation. Unfortunately, it took Congress nearly 150 years for the 19th Amendment to be passed, giving women the right to vote.
In 1974 CBS president Bob Wussler hired Jane Chastain, who was a well-prepared, terrific sports reporter who understood pro football as well as any male sportswriter. Wussler assigned her to be the third in the booth on October 13, 1974 of an NFL game that Don Criqui was doing play-by-play.
Maybe Wussler didn’t explain to Criqui what he was trying to do by adding Chastain, because Criqui was having none of it. Practically ignoring her, Chastain was forced to insert her observations on her own. A week later she was assigned to a New York Giants game with Pat Summerall, doing play-by-play. He, too, was far from anxious to have her join the broadcast.
The reaction of viewers was not good. Hundreds of phone calls swamped the network and letters complaining did the same. TV Guide, which at the time in 1974, may have been the magazine with the highest circulation in the country. It hired me to interview Chastain about the negative reaction. TV Guide chose the title for the article from one of the many negative letters. They called it: “Get That Broad Out of the Booth.” As Chastain pointed out to documentarian Margaret Cardillo, after the initial onslaught of negative calls, many of the callers had positive comments.
“The problem was,” Wussler later said, “that she (Jane) was the first. I wanted to get more women into sports because I thought sports on television was starting to become a male ghetto.”
Chastain was reassigned to mainly feature pieces for CBS and later returned to WTVJ in Miami, where even Dolphin coach Don Shula complemented her football knowledge. In her place Wussler soon hired Phyllis George, a former Miss America, who liked sports but was far from a football expert.
“It’s not necessarily true that women will watch women,” Wussler said, “but it’s getting better chemistry, and better chemistry will attract more people.” And more people will attract higher ratings and more advertising dollars.
It’s been 50 years since Wussler’s experiment, and except for a one-game experiment by Amazon in 2018, there hasn’t been a woman in an NFL booth since. And why not? Maybe Abigail Adams had Mina Kimes in mind.
I’m not saying they have to do play-by-play, but there certainly are plenty of female broadcasters out there that are knowledgeable on the NFL. ESPN uses Beth Mowins and Doris Burke on broadcasts of other major sports. Mina Kimes comes across every bit as strong and informed as any of ESPN’s male so-called experts. In fact, Kimes could fit into an NFL booth now without anyone calling or writing dissatisfaction. The recent ESPN daily program, “Around the Horn,” showcased at least a dozen smart, informed, women sport reporters, extremely capable of holding their own against any male counterpart.
My guess is that broadcasting schools like Syracuse are cultivating young women sportscasters too. It’s about time we got to hear from them. After 50 years NFL fans are ready.
