Phyllis George, a former Miss America winner and trailblazer in the field of women’s sports journalism and football broadcasting, has died at the age of 70. …
Phyllis George, a former Miss America winner and trailblazer in the field of women’s sports journalism and football broadcasting, has died at the age of 70.
who was the co-host of “The NFL Today” from 1975-84 and also served as the co-host of “CBS Morning News” for eight months in 1985 — died Thursday from complications from a blood disorder, her ex-husband, former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr., told the Louisville Courier Journal.
“Phyllis was a great asset to Kentucky,” Brown told the Courier-Journal. “We had a great partnership. I think we enjoyed every single day.”
Before marrying Brown, who also owned Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Boston Celtics, George was briefly married to Hollywood producer Robert Evans in the mid-1970s.
Her children, Lincoln Tyler George Brown and CNN White House correspondent Pamela Ashley Brown, released a joint statement expressing their condolences.
“For many, Mom was known by her incredible accomplishments as the pioneering female sportscaster,50th Miss America and first lady,” the statement read. “But this was all before we were born and never how we viewed Mom. To us, she was the most incredible mother we could ever ask for, and it is all of the defining qualities the public never saw, especially against the winds of adversity, that symbolize how extraordinary she is more than anything else.”
George, who was born in Denton, Texas, on June 25, 1949, attended the University of North Texas for three years, then went to Texas Christian University after earning a scholarship as Miss Texas in 1970 then won the Miss America pageant in 1971.
George became the first female sportscaster to work at a major TV network when she was hired at CBS in 1974.
After becoming Miss America, George moved to New York City to pursue a career in broadcasting.
