Harry Wismer Harry Wismer ( June 30 , 1913 – December 3 , 1967 ) was a sports broadcaster and charter owner of the New York Titans franchise in the American Football League . Biography . Early years . A native of Port Huron , Michigan , Wismer displayed great interest and prowess in sports at an early age , earning letters in football , basketball , and baseball at St . John ' s Military Academy in Delafield , Wisconsin . He later played college football at both the University of Florida and Michigan State University , his playing career ending at the latter school when he damaged a knee severely during a game against the University of Michigan . He then began broadcasting Michigan State sports on MSU ' s radio station WKAR in a position arranged for him by his coach , Charlie Bachman . In 1934 he was hired as the public - address announcer for the Detroit Lions , who were then owned by the same man , George A . " Dick " Richards , who owned Detroit radio station WJR . Wismer soon began doing a ten - minute daily radio show covering the Lions in addition to his PA duties , while continuing as a student at Michigan State . Broadcaster . After the 1936 season , Wismer was encouraged by Richards to abandon his studies and come to work for WJR on a full - time basis as the station ' s sports director . Among Wismer ' s WJR duties was serving as play - by - play announcer for the station ' s Lions broadcasts . He stayed until 1941 when he was hired by the NBC " Blue " network , the predecessor to ABC . However , a subsequent management change at ABC led to a new regime that was hostile to sports , and Wismer became a free - lancer , selling his service to the highest bidder . Wismer became known for an enormous ego and developed a reputation as a " namedropper " , preferring to announce the names of celebrities of his acquaintance who were in the audience to the actual game action , and was alleged at times to include them in the crowd of games which he announced when they were in fact elsewhere . In the late 1940s he provided the voice talent to numerous 16 mm college football films . Wismer often added the sound commentary long after the games were over , and added a radio style commentary with sound effects such as referee whistles to recreate an authentic sound . He was owner of HarFilms , a short - lived New Orleans based sportsfilm production company . Wismer achieved the height of his fame as the voice of the Washington Redskins . His first game for the Redskins was a most inauspicious one , their 73 - 0 loss to the Chicago Bears ' great " Monsters of the Midway " team in the 1940 NFL Championship Game . At one point Wismer was a 25 % owner of the club as well , with the majority of the stock being retained by founding owner George Preston Marshall . However , the relationship between the two had greatly degenerated by the mid - 1950s over several issues , not the least of which was Marshall ' s steadfast refusal to sign any black players . The relationship dissolved in claims , counterclaims , and litigation , and Marshall then set out to destroy Wismer ' s future as a broadcaster , with some success . Wismer was also involved for a time in the broadcasting of Notre Dame football . In 1953 , he was involved in an early attempt to expand football into prime time network television , when ABC , now with a renewed interest in sports , broadcast an edited replay on Sunday nights of the previous day ' s Notre Dame games , which were cut down to 75 minutes in length by removing the time between plays , halftime , and even some of the more uneventful plays . ( While this format was not successful in prime time , a similar presentation of Notre Dame football later became a staple of Sunday mornings for many years on CBS with Lindsey Nelson as the announcer . ) Also that season was the first attempt at prime time coverage of pro football , with Wismer at the microphone on the old DuMont Network . Unlike ABC ' s Notre Dame coverage , DuMont ' s NFL game was presented live on Saturday nights , but interest was not adequate to save the DuMont Network , which had by this point already entered what would be a terminal decline ( although it did mount a subsequent 1954 season of NFL telecasts , minus Wismer , which proved to be one of its last regular programs ) . AFL owner . Wismer was a charter owner in the AFL , which was announced in 1959 and began actual play in 1960 . He was one of two owners with experience in sports team ownership and in broadcasting . He had previously been a part owner of the Detroit Lions and the Washington Redskins ( Buffalo ' s Ralph Wilson was also a part owner of the Lions ) . His New York franchise was nickname d the " Titans " . Wismer devised a plan in which the proceeds from the broadcast rights to league games ( initially with ABC ) would be shared equally by all teams , very innovative at the time but setting the standard for all future professional football television broadcasting contracts . As Wismer owned what would seem to have been the most potentially lucrative franchise , especially with regard to broadcasting rights , in the nation ' s largest media market , the act seemed at first blush most generous for a self - described " hustler " . However , Wismer realized that the fledgling league needed for all of the eight franchises to be successful in order to survive long - term . Unfortunately for Wismer , his own team , despite being located in the nation ' s largest city , was probably the most problematic in the league in its initial years . For one thing , the team was relegated to playing its home games in the rotting remains of the old Polo Grounds , which had been abandoned three years before by the New York Giants baseball team for San Francisco and was never a particularly satisfactory football venue . In contrast , the NFL football Giants played in prestigious Yankee Stadium . Additionally , the New York media for the most part was derisive and dismissive of the Titans , when it deigned to mention them at all . For most New York sports reporters of the era professional football in New York City began and ended with the Giants . Wismer ' s volatile personality was of little help in this area ; he resented not only other media figures but also Dallas Texans owner Lamar Hunt , whom Wismer saw as a rich boy whose father had bought him a football team as a toy . Wismer also had an ongoing feud with the first AFL commissioner , Joe Foss , and had at times a far - less - than - warm relationship with the Titan ' s first coach , the legendary former Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh . ( In fact , Baugh had been the losing tailback in the 73 - 0 debacle back in 1940 that had marked Wismer ' s debut with the Redskins as noted above . ) Wismer also lacked the truly " deep pockets " of some of the other early AFL owners , particularly Hunt , possessed . For the most part their wealth had come from sources outside the field of sports , which , although already quite popular in the U . S . , was not the major industry it was shortly to become . Wismer ' s wealth , such as it was , had come entirely from his sports involvement . The Titans drew just 114 , 682 total paid admissions for the league ' s entire initial season in 1960 ; by 1962 this number had dwindled to a mere 36 , 161 and Wismer was broke . Supposedly it was loans from other AFL owners , including Wilson and Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams , which kept Wismer and the Titans ( as well as several other teams including the Oakland Raiders and Boston Patriots ) afloat . This was a necessity for the league to remain viable , as U . S . broadcasters have traditionally had a very limited level of interest in team sports leagues without a viable New York franchise , due to the size of that market area . Wismer , who had long tended to live " hard - and - fast " , began to drink even more heavily , and eventually ruined his relationships with all of the other AFL owners , even Adams . They arranged the 1963 sale of the team to the more financially - stable Sonny Werblin , who proceeded to change the name of the team to the " Jets " and move it the next year into the now - completed Shea Stadium , where it was to play for almost two decades . When Werblin signed University of Alabama star quarterback Joe Namath after the 1964 season for a then - unheard of annual salary of $ 430 , 000 , the Jets , and the AFL , were made ; the Namath signing , and his subsequent stardom , along with a new , more lucrative television contract with NBC , led more than any other single factor to the AFL - NFL merger . Wismer was left embittered and with debts totalling approximately $ 2 , 500 , 000 , which he eventually struggled to settle for 78 cents on the dollar . Final years . Wismer wrote a book , " The Public Calls It Sport " , which was something of a combination autobiography and explanation of his philosophy of life . Sales were not particularly brisk . He got involved in the Michigan Speedway project , which , to his great chagrin , was very slow to get under way . Wismer ' s health , far from brisk , broke completely from depression and alcoholism on top of his other problems after a trip overseas . In 1967 he sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic for cancer before returning to his hometown of Port Huron , where he underwent more treatments , including the replacement of his cancerous hip . Largely given up on , he rallied , and soon fulfilled his desire to return to New York City . Once there , he found that he was no longer a celebrity or even much noticed , and of those who did notice , more held him in contempt than liked him . His drinking problem returned with a vengeance , and on December 2 he suffered a fall at a restaurant while drunk , falling down a flight of stairs . Still weakened from his earlier health problems , he died the next day . An autopsy gave a skull fracture as being the immediate cause of death . Today Wismer is remembered , when he is remembered at all , primarily as something of an eccentric rather than as a crucial founder of the American Football League and one of the creators of professional football ' s modern era through shared broadcast revenues . Quote . " . . . no matter how good you think you are , how shrewd you are , there is always someone down the block , across the street , in the next town , who is a little better , shrewder , more ruthless . " From " The Public Calls It Sport " In popular culture . In a song on " Commentary ! The Musical " , a bonus feature on the DVD of " Dr . Horrible ' s Sing - Along Blog " , Simon Helberg mentions his character Moist ' s fear of stairs , commenting " That ' s how Harry Wismer died . " See also . Other AFL Personalities