Phyllis George

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Original video: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-100/0ap3000001069436/NFL-100-Greatest-Game-Changers-Phyllis-George

Phyllis George, a former Miss America in 1971, joined the CBS Network as a sportscaster in 1974 (Schwartz, 1999). "Phyllis George broke all of the rules by appearing on NFL Today in 1975.The public had never before associated women with any type of football coverage. Although she shattered many stereotypes, she was still not considered a sportscaster because most of her features were thought of as fluff pieces, which they were. Although she was never given the opportunity to cover the hard news stories, George paved the way for other women to cover men’s sport" (Rubarth, 1992). George became one of the first women to have a prominent role in TV sports coverage when she joined Brent Musberger, Irv Cross and Jimmy “The Greek” Synder on the show. She flourished in her role before becoming a permanent anchor on CBS Morning News (Mead, 2010). Although she was underestimated in her role, only seen as a sex symbol, George is considered a groundbreaker for women in sports broadcasting due to her hard work.