Jack Whitaker, legendary CBS Sports announcer, has died at the age of 95 – the cause of death is a natural cause

Jack Whitaker, a legendary sportsman and veteran of the Second World War, died Sunday morning while he was sleeping in Devon, Pennsylvania, of natural causes. He was 95 years old.

Whitaker was a CBS sports announcer for 22 years from the end of the 1950s. He covered everything from football to horse racing to golf. Whitaker called the Super Bowl I for CBS Sports as well as the 1973 Triple Crown Race with the emergence of the Secretariat. After working at CBS Sports, Whitaker worked at ABC Sports.

Whitaker was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, where he attended St. Joseph's University, before serving during the Second World War from April 1943 to November 1945. Whitaker began his career at the radio at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.

In addition to his famous broadcast career, Whitaker was a United States Army veteran who had landed at Omaha Beach three days after the June 6, 1944, invasion by D-Day. According to a 2014 article in The Desert Sun, Whitaker was injured by an explosion. from an artillery or mortar shell, which sent shrapnel shells tearing his arm. After his convalescence, Whitaker was wounded again and was liberated from the army in an honorable way in 1945.

"Some angels were watching me," Whitaker told Desert Sun in 2014.

CBS Sports broadcaster Jim Nantz on Sunday issued a statement praising the television legend.

"When I first met Jack Whitaker for the first time in 1986 at Pebble Beach, I felt like I had just met Ernest Hemingway," Nantz said. "I grew up watching him do a contemplative and contextual prose with his famous essays, bringing class and dignity to his area.He was extremely proud to have called Super Bowl I for CBS and was the last commentator yet alive in this network. " met with him this week after the hospice's arrival at his home and his mind was still alive until the end. "

CBS Sports President Sean McManus issued a statement in which he expressed his condolences to the Whitaker family: "There will never be another Jack Whitaker in sports programming".

"His incredible writing ability, on-air presence and humanity are unmatched, and his unique perspective on sports from horse racing to golf to NFL football was extraordinary," he said. McManus. "My father and Jack shared an incredible respect for each other and had very warm friendships that had lasted for decades, and our thoughts and prayers are with Jack's family."

Whitaker was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2012. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

Whitaker is survived by his wife Patricia, daughters Marybeth Helgevold (Chuck) and Ann Hanan (Bob); his sons Gerry Whitaker, Jack Whitaker III and Kevin Whitaker (Rachelle). His son, Geoffrey Whitaker preceded him in the grave. He had 11 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.