Tonight marks the season kickoff of the Monday Night Football regime, the second-longest running show in television history, trailing only 60 Minutes. While the show moves from its 35-year spot on ABC to its rookie season on ESPN, it has left a lasting legacy upon sports, television and North American culture. In its long and illustrious career, Monday Night announcers have come and gone, from the forgettable run of comedian Dennis Miller to Hall-of-Fame coach John Madden. Here are two stories from when play-by-play man Keith Jackson, former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Don Meredith, and the ever-popular Howard Cosell manned the booth in the show’s first season, back in 1970. Their colourful personalities and constant antics cemented the show’s place in annals of sport TV.
Cosell gets tanked
On a frosty November 23 evening, the Monday Night team was in Philadelphia broadcasting live as the Eagles took on the New York Giants. As a welcome token of his esteem, Eagles owner Leonard Tose sent up a generous jug of vodka martinis. Cosell, who was freezing in the open-air TV booth, started knocking back the refreshments in order to keep warm. He apparently drank too much, as by the end of the first quarter he began slurring his words, with Philadelphia becoming “Full-a-dull-fa.” Right before half time, Cosell pitched forward and vomited.
“He got sick in the booth, all over his mike, his clothes, and on my boots,” Meredith recalls. Cosell would remain in the game, but phone boards lit up with inquiring calls in ABC’s studio call centre. The incident was just the boost the fledgling show needed, as rumors of Cosell getting bombed spread the show’s reputation of being absolute mayhem on Monday night.
Cosell sets pants on fire
Covering a game in Dallas, Cosell discarded his cigarette into a trash container under the booth’s table. The still-lit butt kicked up and set fire to the paper debris within the can, setting aflame Jackson’s pants. The consummate professional, Jackson continued announcing the series of plays as his pants burned, eventually putting the blaze out once they cut to a commercial.
-Christophe Poirier
