Tonight marks the 57th anniversary date of a weekly sporting spectacle that changed American popular culture, It made NFL football into the true national pastime. The program blurred the distinctions between sports, entertainment, current events, and even politics.
It wasn’t just a game. It was a party. A national gathering. How many of our memories were freeze-framed in time watching television on Monday night?
The very first NFL MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL game debuted on this night way back in 1970 (I was 8 years old).
A few years ago, famed syndicated radio personality and interviewer Paul Harris and I combined our voices into a one hour show looking back on MNF. and its colorful history We picked our personal favorite announcers (and added some least favorites). This was a fun conversation, and even though we did this show in 2020, it’s still pretty accurate.
Incredibly, nearly 100 announcers have sat in various MNF broadcasts over the past five-plus decades. And even more incredibly, NO FEMALE has ever been either a play-by-play or color commentator up to this point. Many have done sideline reporting–but that’s it. In this video, we probably should have addressed that void. I wonder if and when that breakthrough might happen (that former ESPN analyst Suzy Kolber wasn’t picked years ago is absurd, or Robin Roberts many years ago before that, the list is impressive).
Our focus here is on the best and worst announcers, plus a look back on many of our favorite memories of watching MNF. Note: Paul Harris also has the personal connection to the subject matter of having interviewed a number of these announcers over the years on his radio shows — so he’s an ideal guest.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH VIDEO (long conversation).
