Criqui and Trumpy worked together for 5-6 years, and they were a classic team. Both midwesterners (Criqui is a native of Buffalo, and I count that as the midwest; Trumpy was born in Illinois and played for the Bengals.
Let's start with Criqui: it's just amazing how many big moments Criqui announced in his career. His NFL TV broadcasting career spanned 47 seasons....47!!!!! 1967-2013. That's a record that I hope never gets broken, especially not by Nantz.
Some of the big moments that were covered by Don's voice:
1970: Tom Dempsey's 63 yard field goal for the Saints (for you young un's, this was a record that stood unmatched for 40+ years):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD9giDCLXFE
1981: Another NCAA tournament clip! Criqui has been around so long, he has clips from the NCAA tournament when he was with NBC! This is the end of one of the biggest upsets in history, St. Joe's over DePaul---- and where was this played? Only in the greatest NCAA tournament venue ever created.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKquUz-3Jq0
(Go to the 1:32:00 mark for the end)
(and how about the crazy SportsWorld promo at around 1:32:30....have to watch this....All-Ireland Hurling championships!)And he was the voice of the 1984 Orange Bowl - a classic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoNs0mdKAO8
(I have to say that Criqui's signature lines in those last two game... "Look at this! LOOK AT THIS!" needed a little work).
Trumpy was a 10 year tight end for the Bengals for most of the 1970s; he quickly moved into broadcasting, hosting a local sports show on 700 WLW in Cincinnati ("heard in 38 states and most of Canada!") before going to NBC full time. He worked NFL, obviously, but also did Olympic coverage and commentary for the PGA tour!
I can't find any clips of Trumpy doing PGA work; he was a tower announcer for 6 years for NBC. Amazing. This means his last work with NBC in 1996 would be calling one of the most forgettable Opens in history - the Steve Jones win. That was NBC's first US Open, I think. Here's the recap- sorry, no Trumpy sightings:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYoRV8NQKk
As Browns fans, we were convinced Trumpy hated us. We looked for any sign of bias available with his color commentating. How dare you critique Bernie's delivery! You can't second-guess Lindy Infante!!! You are a moron! Those are words I yelled frequently in the late 80s, and I think my Dad did too. But looking back, he was as unbiased as could be.
Trumpy did move into the #1 color position for NBC with Enberg in the mid 90s, doing a couple of Super Bowls for NBC. He's like fine wine - gets better as the time goes by.
Now, some classic Browns clips with these two:
1: 1986 - Key Browns/Bengals matchup in Week 14. Bring back this theme music, NBC!
(And as Layup mentioned when he saw this clip - how did we allow live tigers in cages on football fields?)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmj-WE1Abss&t=1s
2. In my mind, the greatest NFL playoff game ever. Period. Browns-Jets, Jan 1987. Thank you Mark Gastineau.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO_vBN2oMak&t=78s3. You thought today's refs are bad? How about the end of the Browns-Oilers wild card game in Jan, 1989? How many onside kicks is a team allowed? We pick it up with the Browns kicking off, down 24-23, with :31 left....I think this game changed the rules for on-side kicks in the NFL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQwJFQ3iyPg&t=462s
Speaking of onside kicks - the last NFL game Criqui ever did was the robbery in New England - New England 27, Cleveland 26, in late 2013. We were up 12 with 1:15 left and lost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH347DQ0_r0
On to the games:
Det 27, GB 24. Hundley can't let his career end with that dud at home vs. Minnesota .He's playing for reputation, and how motivated are the Lions?
Ind 27, Hou 10. Who is the QB for the Texans? And I think Brissett is decent enough to score in the home finale for the Colts.
Min 26, Chi 13. The VIkes will call off the dogs at halftime against the overmatched Bears.
NE 30, NYJ 13. Was thinking that the Jets will keep this close, but I don't think Belicheck will let the Jets get any confidence going into next year with a close game here.
Was 20, NYG 13. How motivated are either of these teams? Cousins still looks like he has something to play for, and the Giants D has checked out.
Dal 23, Phi 20. What a mess both of these teams are. Foles looked awful on Monday - and the Cowboys looked even worse.
Atl 28, Car 20. I'm not convince Carolina has it all figured out just yet, and the Falcons will find some magic at home to make the playoffs.
Bal 24, Cin 13. The key to handicapping Ravens games: how many TDs will the defense score? If the answer is zero, then the Ravens won't cover.
Mia 24, Buf 20. Not at a point where I can trust the Bills on the road just yet. But am I really confident in Cutler?
NO 20, TB 14. Still not sold with the Saints on the road. And I continue to believe TB already played their best game 2 weeks ago vs. Atlanta.
Ten 24, Jax 16. I just can't see the Jags being motivated here; they will see running, running and more running from the Titans - and in the cold, how long will the Jags fight?
Den 19, KC 16. Mahomes! Lynch! Ugh. Could not care less.
SF 27, LAR 24. Just don't see McVay as the type of coach to willing lay down vs. a division opponent. I know Jimmy G is a popular pick here....
LAC 30, Oak 20. Lots of points expected here, especially with the Raiders' awful defense.
Sea 31, Az 17. Arizona is awful - having been involved in their last 5 games (I think). Seattle is desperate and this game should be full of trick plays on both sides.
Best bets: 15 of them. Last week: 8-7; overall: 123-94-6
GB +6.5
GB/Det over 44
Ind -3.5
Was -3
Was/NYG under 40
Dal/Phi over 40
Atl -3.5
Mia +2.5
NO/TB under 49
Ten -3
SF/LAR over 44
LAC -7
Oak/LAC over 42.5
Sea -8.5
Az/Sea over 38.5
Supercontest: Last week: 3-2; overall: 50-27-3
GB +6.5
Ind -3.5
Cle +11 (stale line; had to do it)
Atl -3.5
Ten -3
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