It was the first day of my sophomore year in high school.
Two a day practices were over and I had just been named the starting
quarterback for the J.V. team. If this was not enough excitement
for a fifteen-year-old, there was a phenomenon waiting for me when
I could get home, Football on Monday night. In a way it all seemed
surreal. One of those magic moments which occur only a few times
in a life. Be named starting QB, play our first game in San Francisco
and have pro football on a Monday night. I knew at that moment there
had to be a god and I could not wait to shed my pads and get home
to watch.
At the risk of sounding shallow, I have not missed a Monday Night
game in the entire history of the broadcast. I have viewed them
on a two-inch screen traveling across the country in an airplane.
I have survived a couple of Monday Night parties and evenings at
the local pub. A few of the games I had to tape but, for the most
part, I have been at home analyzing the games and enjoying the unique
insights and camera angles the evening afforded.
They were the first to have the reverse angle view. The first to
have a soundman close enough to pick up the obscenities on the field
and the first to have irreverent announcers whom you could love
or hate. The first team of Howard Cosell, Don Meredeth and Keith
Jackson were pioneers in their field. I had no idea who Howard Cosell
was, but I knew Don Meredeth from the "Ice Bowl" and Keith Jackson
had been doing college football since I could remember.
From the inception of the broadcast, until 1986, the booth always
contained at least two people who had strong connections to the
pro game. People like Alex Karras, Fran Tarkenton or O.J. Simpson
may not have been the most articulate broadcasters, but they had
a feel for the game and the politics involved in the NFL. They managed
to get their perceptions across to the American public in a way
that was entertaining and understandable. Despite their shortcomings,
the three most prominent broadcasters in Monday Night history had
to be Don Meredeth, Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford. Together they
had a combined total of 53 years in the Monday Night booth. Few
announcers through the decades have equaled them, and no one has
surpassed them for entertainment and intellectual value. Other broadcast
teams have been special in their own way, but this crew broke ground
and changed the complexion of football announcing forever.
Dandy Don, a great quarterback and personality, was crucified
in Dallas for never winning the big game, but he was a winner in
the booth. Don had a refreshing personality and viewpoint about
football, which was unique. He had the ability, both on the field
and in the booth, to break away from the norm and get a laugh in
the most crucial situations. His arguments with Howard and the singing
of, "Turn Out the Lights" could be annoying, but they were truly
Don. He possessed knowledge of the pro offense, and the sarcasm
to make it poignant. One could not help but listen and laugh with
the guy. He managed to give the viewer an insight to the game without
the assistance of the computerized chalkboard. Instead he did it
with accurate description and a wit rare in today's world of the
talking head.
Howard Cosell knew next to nothing about football, but he
understood the politics of sports and he had enough ego to try and
engage Don and Frank about strategy and techniques of the game.
He had a nasal tone which could be grating when he was pontificating,
but his self-effacing humor gave him an endearing quality people
at home could identify with. When Don would cut in with, "Oh Howard!
You know" and then explain why Howard was full of bologna, it was
the same thing people at home were saying. The refereeing of their
jousting, and the play by play of the game, was conducted by Frank
Gifford.
I read about Frank in, "Hero's of the NFL," when I was twelve.
I knew his career with the Giants was shortened by a wicked hit
during a game with the Eagles, but his movie star looks kept him
in the public eye doing commercials. Over the years he proved to
be a knowledgeable play by play man and his business like demeanor
made him an anchor for the Monday Night team. He survived Alex Karras,
Fred Williamson, Fran Tarkenton, O.J. Simpson and Joe Namath and
he joined with Al Michaels as a tandem in 1986. This was the beginning
of the decline of Monday night as a football game and the beginning
of the broadcast as an advertising platform for ABC and as the politically
correct face of the NFL.
I remember Al Michaels as the play by play man for the San
Francisco Giants. He knew the game and had a peppy delivery that
made the game come alive. As a former minor league player Al had
the knowledge of pro baseball and ABC noticed his work on KTVU.
It took him out of the Bay Area and placed him in the national spotlight.
He announced the 1980 Miracle on Ice and eventually wound up on
Monday Night with Frank Gifford. For the first year he and Frank
shared the booth. Al did the play by play and Frank became the commentator.
The problem was that Al did not know the game well enough to commentate
and Frank had been the play by play man for fifteen years and seemed
uncomfortable in his new role. They spent the year stumbling over
one another and then, in 1987, Monday Night added Dan Dierdorf.
Dan was the second lineman in the booth and the first who
was not attempting to have an acting career. His insight of offensive
line play added to the program. He seemed to set himself apart from
the other two because he was the only one in the booth had played
in the league over the last decade. He willingly asserted his point
of view regarding refereeing and league politics for the first few
years, but he soon fell into the web of network political correctness.
Not only did the trio dress the same, but at times it was hard to
distinguish the voices and roles of the guys. It appeared that the
line of the NFL, the political correctness of society and the cause
celeb of Monday Night became more important then the game. Celebrities
like Vice President Dan Quayle took their turn at calling a game
to the amusement, or pain, of the nation. The broadcast shed the
trappings of a football game and became a part of the cult of corporate
personality. No color, no spontaneity, no controversy, no arguing
and no fun, just a backdrop for the blandness of prime time America.
For the next several years ABC, and later ESPN, tried a variety
of people and programs to attempt to enlarge the audience base.
ESPN turned to the Monday Night Match Up and provided employment
for "Jaws", Joe Theisman and a new announcing platform for Chris
Berman. The program reached its absolute low with the hiring of
"DownTown" Julie Brown from MTV and the shallow depths of her interviews
with the night's personalities. ABC spiced up their introduction
to the game with dancing girls and Hank Williams Jr. to usher in
the evening's contest. The game itself was constantly interrupted
with promos for the latest ABC programming and commercials to the
point where viewers could watch both Monday Night and another program
and keep track of both until the fourth quarter. The games never
ended until after midnight on the East Coast and viewers there were
dropping like bowling pens in a three hundred game. Instead of making
changes to make the show more interesting, the network went the
other direction and hired Leslie Visser and Norman (Boomer) Esiason.
In the beginning Boomer and Dan had some spirited exchanges
in the booth regarding strategy, officiating and personalities in
the game. Some of these seemed to border on arguments, but they
brought some life back into the broadcast. Leslie was rarely called
upon and her nodding and smiling interviews could be ignored. In
1999 the network made another politically correct call, and let
Dan go. (One can not argue in the booth.) What this left was a play
by play man who acted more like a cheerleader for the NFL, an overly
animated sideline announcer who never played the game and a relatively
humorless quarterback doing analysis in the booth. The result has
been less then sizzling and the ratings are showing it.
I have seen each of these individuals on different programs and
I have enjoyed them all separately. Leslie did a great pre game
interview with Jimmy Johnson and Dave Wannstedt. She was professional,
patient and asked questions, which elicited on target information
about their coaching history and current relationship. The two men
seemed at ease and they all looked like they were having fun. Al
has announced almost every kind of sporting event under the sun
with professionalism and aplomb, but I get the feeling he is fronting
for an organization or his own persona. I am always left wondering
who the real Al is. Boomer has an intensity which can make him appear
unfun, but some of his commentary on Monday Night has an edge I
appreciate. He, unlike Al, is willing to challenge both game strategy
and officiating. Together they come off as the least sincere, most
programmed, NFL corporate broadcast on the air.
What made Monday Night was not so much the game, but the "real"
personalities on air. The early days were never played safe and
they were far from politically correct, but they were real. The
new Monday Night line up has all of the excitement of a snail race
and all of the personality of Buddy Lee. Monday Night Football may
fit with the league's corporate image of vanilla sameness, which
extends all the way to the players shoes, but it lacks the vibrancy
which made it the weekly game to watch.
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