Beano Cook, the 2011 winner of the Bert McGrane Award, which is presented by the Football Writers Association of America with the winners’ names hanging in the College Football Hall of Fame, has passed away. He was 81.

Cook’s award-winning commentary and folksy coverage of college football was a staple of the cable word for the past quarter of a century. A college football commentator for ESPN since 1986, he worked as a sports information director at Pittsburgh from 1956 to 1966 and publicized college football for ABC from 1966 to 1974. He did the same for CBS from 1977 to 1982, before returning to ABC to work in front of the camera as a college football commentator before joining ESPN.

“He was one of a kind,” said George Bodenheimer, ESPN executive chairman. “There never was and never will be another Beano. His combination of humor, passion, love of college football and his engaging personality left an indelible mark on the sport and touched anyone who knew him.”

One of the highlights of Cook’s career as a publicist occurred in 1969 when he convinced boss Roone Arledge of ABC Television that Arkansas-Texas could be a blockbuster ending to the 100th year of college football. Arledge, in turn, persuaded the two schools to move the game from October to the end of the season in early December. As an added bonus, President Richard M. Nixon would attend.

It turned out both Texas and Arkansas were undefeated, ranked 1-2 respectively, going into the game, turning “The Shootout” into a ratings bonanza for ABC. When Texas won a thriller in a comeback, 15-14, Cook had established himself as a college football guru for ABC.

Cook will always be remembered for his sense of humor. Over his ESPN years, he gave many memorable quips, such as:

I’d like to do the last scoreboard show and then go. I don’t want to die in the middle of the football season. I have to know who’s No. 1 in the last polls. (1988)

The three things that mean the most to me in life are my parents, Casablanca and college football – not necessarily in that order. (1987)

You only have to bat a thousand in two things – flying and heart transplants. Everything else you can go four for five. (1988)

You’ll never have a 16-team playoff in college football. The most that could happen would be four teams in the next century. But after that, I’m dead, so who cares? (1992)

Colleges spend more money on the promotion of the Heisman than the Pentagon spends on toilets. (1990)

Argentina invaded the Falklands because they had ESPN and the Argentines wanted to get the late scores. (1986)

ESPN is like your family, it’s always there. The networks are like your mother-in-law. They are there on the weekends. (1988)

When they list the great thinks of the 20th Century, they’ll say, penicillin, Sophia Loren, jet travel and ESPN. (1992)

Known for his fear of flying, he would often point out that the first word you see at an airport is “terminal.”

Cook became the 38th recipient of the Bert McGrane Award, which is symbolic of the association's Hall of Fame, during the 2011 College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival. The award is presented to an FWAA member who has performed great service to the organization and/or the writing profession.

Cook’s name is on display in the College Football Hall of Fame rotunda on a special plaque that includes the names of the previous McGrane winners. The award is named after Bert McGrane, a Des Moines, Iowa sports writer, who was the executive secretary of the FWAA from the early 1940s until 1973.

Cook was graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954 with a bachelor of arts degree. He also served 21 months in the Army, and upon his return, became his alma mater’s sports information director from 1956-1966.

Born September 1, 1931, Cook’s family moved from Boston to Pittsburgh when he was seven. One of his new friends gave him his nickname, “Beano.” Never married, he resided in Pittsburgh the rest of his life.