It's hard to imagine that September 21 marks the 45th anniversary of Monday Night Football. In addition to being a must-see weekly game for football fans, Monday Night Football was and continues to be a staple of American television culture, period.
In the four-plus decades that the show has been on the air, it has experienced two channel changes—running on ABC from 1970-2005 with this 2015 NFL season being the 10th straight year it has been on ESPN. Along the way, Monday Night Football has had plenty of changes in the announcing booth with everyone from the late, great Howard Cosell to O.J. Simpson and even comedian Dennis Miller getting a crack at calling the weekly national game broadcast.
In celebration of the 45th anniversary of the legendary program, Tech Times ranks all of the Monday Night Football announcing teams to ever call the shots from the booth above. And there were plenty. Touchdown television!
No. 17—Al Michaels, Dan Fouts, Dennis Miller (2000-01)
Ushering in a new century and just three seasons away from the departure of original broadcast-booth member Frank Gifford, Monday Night Football wanted to create a splash and it tabbed comedian Dennis Miller to deliver. Except Miller created a buzz for all the wrong reasons in an experiment gone horribly left. Miller's punchlines and stand-up comedy routine flat out took away from games and just wasn't a good fit. Still, the broadcast stuck with Miller for two seasons until replacing him in 2002 with the legendary John Madden. Smart thinking—nobody says football like Madden with ABC delivering the clear statement that it wasn't going to sacrifice substance for style in the broadcast booth any longer. Looking back, though, the Miller experiment could have been worse, considering he beat out Rush Limbaugh for his spot in the booth. Imagine Rush Limbaugh calling football games?
No. 16—Mike Tirico, Joe Theismann, Tony Kornheiser (2006)
Back in 2000, Tony Kornheiser was one of the people that Miller beat out to be the third man in the broadcast booth. However, the longtime sports columnist and personality would get the job that he had coveted six years later, when MNF—during its first season on ESPN—put him in the booth with Mike Tirico and Joe Theismann. With Kornheiser having built up popularity on Pardon the Interruption, a daily sports debate show on the Worldwide Leader in Sports since 2001, this seemed like a natural progression. However, Kornheiser's strong personality and opinions sometimes took away from Theismann's insight and Tirico's seamless play-by-play.
No. 15—Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Tony Kornheiser (2007-08)
After a year of having Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser and Joe Theismann call games, ESPN replaced Theismann with another former quarterback, turned analyst in Ron Jaworski. Jaws just has a more fiery personality than Theismann and it showed up on MNF. Still, Kornheiser stuck out like a sore thumb, scrutinizing what he saw to the point of leaving his broadcast partners in the dust sometimes without a response.
No. 14—Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson (1983)
From 1982 to 1986, the MNF broadcast kept tinkering with its announcing team. In 1983, they ran with the four-man team of Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and O.J. Simpson. ABC had Simpson replacing Fran Tarkenton in the lineup and it was quite the catch to get him, considering the running back was a six-time Pro Bowler, surefire Hall of Famer (inducted in 1985) and had built quite an acting resume in Hollywood following his 1979 retirement. With Gifford continuing to play traffic cop Cosell's criticism and Meredith's zingers, Simpson brought some lightheartedness, as well as a former player's perspective not too far removed from the game. This was a pretty good team. However, when one looks back on it, Simpson's notorious 1995 murder case overshadows it, just as it did his career.
No. 13—Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, O.J. Simpson (1984)
There was no replacing a broadcasting giant like Cosell and so, Gifford, Meredith and Simpson didn't even try. They just were themselves and it made for good banter in the booth.
No. 12—Frank Gifford, O.J. Simpson, Joe Namath (1985)
By the time Meredith had provided his final color commentary for a MNF game in 1984, ABC paired Joe Namath with Gifford and Simpson the following season. Simpson was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.
No. 11 Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Alex Karras (1974-76)
When Meredith jumped ship to NBC from 1974-76, ABC stuck Alex Karras in his position. The thought behind the move was probably something of the effect of like Meredith, Karras could keep things light. They were right about that and it didn't hurt that Karras had built up quite an acting persona, with a role in the 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles. Karras was a good choice, but he wasn't anything more than a fill-in.
No. 10—Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf, Boomer Esiason (1998)
The fact that Boomer Esiason had just retired from the NFL in 1997, made him a solid and timely get for the MNF broadcast team at the time. But then again, Gifford had finally left his longtime post and ABC was still very much trying to figure out how to fill that void. Not a bad try.
No. 9—Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason (1999)
Not a bad one-two punch. Not spectacular, either, though. It felt like ABC was just trying to get by one season with this team.
No. 8—Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, Jon Gruden (2009-11)
Jon Gruden has enough testosterone and football fuel pumping for the entire broadcast booth and viewers at home. Perhaps, it took ESPN three seasons to figure that out, before subtracting Ron Jaworski from the booth.
No. 7—Keith Jackson, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith (1970)
There can only be one first and Cosell, Meredith and Keith Jackson was MNF's very first broadcast team. And Jackson was a solid play-by-play announcer, but the reality of the situation was that ABC wanted Gifford in that spot originally, but he couldn't wiggle out of his CBS contract at the time. Essentially, Jackson was a placeholder for Gifford, but he more than kept the seat warm.
No. 6—Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden (2012-Present)
Tirico and Gruden have something special on air. Tirico is fluid on the mic and Gruden is about as football-crazed a former NFL coach around. His passion comes out in the form of personal stories or never holding back from criticizing as slamming a player during a live broadcast as if he were still running a drill during practice.
No. 5—Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith, Fran Tarkenton (1979-1982)
As brilliant of a person and quarterback Tarkenton is, he was sometimes caught in the middle of Cosell and Meredith's friendly fire. Still, this was one of the best announcing teams that MNF ever boasted. The program had gotten so popular by then that during a December 1980 broadcast, Cosell interrupted the calling of the game to announce the death of The Beatles' John Lennon because most of the nation was watching.
No. 4—Al Michaels, Frank Gifford (1986)
This marked the first time in MNF broadcast history that it went with a two-man announcing team. Michaels and Gifford were almost surgical with their calling and commentary of the game. If anything, they were perhaps a bit too dry, prompting the need for a third member of the crew the next season. But there's no doubting their acumen.
No. 3—Al Michaels, John Madden (2002)
Need more proof that the two-man tandem worked in the booth? Look no further than the Michaels-and-Madden combo. Michaels handled the play-by-play and Madden the color commentary like only he can—with some oomph. It was like getting live Madden video-game commentary from the man himself every Monday night. Can't beat that. It would have been great to see these two together longer.
No. 2—Al Michaels, Frank Gifford, Dan Dierdorf (1987-1997)
No mix of MNF announcers had a longer successive tenure than Michaels, Gifford and Dierdorf, who worked 11 consecutive seasons calling games and providing color commentary for the program. They stayed on so long because they had great chemistry. Michaels would handle the play-by-play with Hall of Famers Gifford and Dierdorf chiming in with color commentary and analysis. They were pretty no-nonsense with the exception of Dierdorf, who had mellowed out to a jolly personality following his career as a hulking offensive lineman.
No. 1—Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Don Meredith (1971-73 and 77-78)
Although Jackson, Cosell and Meredith were the very first MNF broadcast team, Gifford, Cosell and Meredith were considered the original members. There's no doubting the trio as the best announce team that the program ever had with Gifford directing traffic, counter punching Meredith's playful jokes and Cosell's astute opinions to the best of his ability. Adding another layer was the fact that Cosell didn't really care for Gifford's style. The best of the booth was these three...so much so that when Meredith left for three seasons (1974-76) to work for NBC, ABC was more than happy to bring him back to regain some of the chemistry the three friends had on camera. It worked. During garbage time of games, Meredith would sing, "turn out the lights, the party's over." MNF's best.
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