"The first time Pat Summerall met Tom Brookshier, at Franklin Field, it was a violent greeting.

"He just about split my face mask away from my helmet," Summerall said yesterday, eulogizing his friend and longtime broadcast partner at a memorial service at the Ardmore Presbyterian Church.

Brookshier, 78, died Jan. 29 after a battle with cancer. At a memorial service filled with local and national sports luminaries, eulogies were given for the former Eagles star defensive back by his friends Summerall, Dick Vermeil, Jack Whitaker, and Billy Cunningham, as well as Brookshier's daughter Betsy.

"He was the best man at our wedding, and the best man I ever knew," Summerall said.

No less an authority than Whitaker called the Summerall-Brookshier pairing for CBS national telecasts "the best [commentating] team the NFL has ever seen."

Brookshier also worked for years as a local sportscaster, and many local media figures and representatives from all four of Philadelphia's sports teams were in the church. The Eagles' delegation including owner Jeffrey Lurie and head coach Andy Reid.

On the receiving line, former Phillies broadcaster Andy Musser chatted with local basketball impresario Sonny Hill. Reid hugged Brookshier's teammate Tommy McDonald along the center aisle. Bill Giles represented the Phillies. Former Eagles teammate Chuck Bednarik, wearing his Pro Football Hall of Fame blazer, was one of the first at the church to pay his respects.

"I'll remember him as an outstanding football player, and a nice kid," Bednarik said. Then the player widely considered the toughest Eagle of all-time paid his former teammate his highest compliment, putting Brookshier at "90 to 100" on the toughness scale.

"We played football in those days," Bednarik said. "He played football."

Brookshier was a 10th-round draft choice in 1953 who later had his Eagles No. 40 retired. He retired in 1961 after breaking his leg against the Chicago Bears. He transferred his passion to the broadcast booth but did it in his own breezy, humorous style. His friends talked of a broadcaster who did a lot of preparation but didn't like to rehearse. Brookshier wanted everything to sound natural.

Betsy Brookshier said her father was her best friend and an authentic hero, "a happy warrior" - a tough guy but also cerebral, sensitive and generous, always bringing out the best in others, she said."