10/15/99
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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