monday night football
In comparison to previous seasons only six of the fourteen teams playing in the Monday Night game in the final seven weeks of the 2003 season qualified for the playoffs.
Two TD passes last night looks good for today’s thoughts but a “winner” doesn’t always have all the tools.
What suprised me last night was how bad the Saints looked.
I spent over half an hour one night last week, trying to find some information online.
Matt Schaub is simply better at being an NFL quarterback.
I didn’t write about Mike Gundy’s tirade in The Sunday Oklahoman because I thought Oklahoma State football fans deserved better.
The Monday Night Football intro from 1985. Cosell’s presence initially caused Henry Ford II, chairman of the Ford Motor Company, the show’s main sponsor, to ask for his removal.
ESPN’s score banner used since acquiring Monday Night Football from sister-channel ABC is placed in the middle of the screen on the bottom. Madden was a coach for the Oakland Raiders, namesake of the seminal Madden NFL video game series, and successful broadcaster with the CBS and FOX networks for 21 years before joining Monday Night Football.
In 2003, ABC and the NFL dropped the Monday Night Football game for the final week of the regular season. The move, which had been in effect for the first eight years of the broadcast , was the result of declining ratings, as well as problems involved for potential playoff teams, as there was a potential of only four days rest between their final regular season game and first round playoff game.
After the final contract for Monday Night Football was signed, ABC Sports producer Roone Arledge immediately saw possibilities for the new show.
The Monday Night Football intro circa 1973. In 1971, Gifford became available and Arledge brought him to ABC, replacing Jackson .
From 2003 until 2005, one game was played on Thursday and another Monday under the Monday Night Football banner.
Monday Night Football was rarely defeated in the ratings during the 1970s. ESPN Monday Night Football is the only time this score banner is used.
Monday Night Football began using a more traditional score banner, the “MNF Dashboard”, at the bottom of the screen in 2008, with player stats and information being displayed the score and time.
on ESPN International.
The highest-rated Monday Night Football telecast to date was the Miami Dolphins ‘ victory over the previously-undefeated Chicago Bears on December 2, 1985.
What would eventually be named the “NFL’s comeback of the year” was played on Monday Night Football on October 16.
One of the most remembered moments in Monday Night Football history occurred on December 8, 1980, yet had nothing to do with the game or football in general.
On December 5, 2005, dubbed “The Monday Night Massacre” by NFL Films, the Seattle Seahawks shut out the Philadelphia Eagles 42-0 with three defensive touchdowns to tie the then-largest margin of victory mark in Monday Night Football history and set the mark for the greatest margin of victory in a Monday night shutout, as well as setting the NFL record for scoring the most points with under 200 yards of offense.
On ABC, the demand to broadcast Monday Night Football games live across the United States was difficult to reconcile with other prime time programming, which is usually set to begin at a certain local time regardless of time zone.
Eerily, both the first and last ABC Monday Night Football telecast games ended with a score of 31-21 with the Jets on the losing end.
In the last network broadcast on December 26, 2005, the Jets lost to the New England Patriots ; the final score was also 31-21. The Monday Night Football team of announcers anchored the telecasts, except for the first of two wild card playoff games, where ESPN’s Sunday Night NFL crew of Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann anchored that telecast. The original crew for one of the two wild card playoff games in 1990 and 1991 consisted of Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil .
Monday Night Football first aired on ABC on September 21, 1970, with a game between the New York Jets and the Browns in Cleveland.
ABC aired a total of 555 Monday night games. These were billed by the network as Thursday Night Editions of Monday Night Football.
Originally airing on the ABC network from 1970 to 2005, Monday Night Football was the second longest running prime time show on American broadcast network television and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male viewers.
Meredith would be absent from Monday Night Football for a broadcasting and acting career on rival NBC from 1974 through 1976. Fred Williamson, a former Kansas City Chiefs defensive back nicknamed “The Hammer” for his often-brutal hits, was selected by ABC to replace Meredith in 1974, but following a few pre-season broadcasts, proved so inarticulate that he was relieved of his duties prior to the start of the regular season, becoming the first MNF personality not to last an entire season.
The September 25 edition of Monday Night Football highlighted the New Orleans Saints ‘ first game back in the Louisiana Superdome following Hurricane Katrina to take on the Atlanta Falcons.
Franchises with the most Monday night appearances include the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, and Miami Dolphins. Washington, with each matchup having been televised 14 times; both are division games between bitter rivals and draw substantial interest from fans of other teams as well.
The highest scoring game in Monday Night Football history occurred on October 17, 1983 between the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Redskins which was won by Green Bay 48-47. Madden was a former coach for the Oakland Raiders, namesake of the seminal Madden NFL video game series, and successful broadcaster with the CBS and FOX networks for 21 years before joining Monday Night Football.
Monday Night Football has continued to provide as much entertainment as sports throughout its run. Celebrity guests, such as former Vice President Spiro Agnew, singers Pl”cido Domingo and John Lennon, President Bill Clinton, and even Kermit the Frog, were often featured during the game to “liven up” the broadcast.
The lowest scoring game on Monday Night Football happened on September 18, 2006 when the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 9-0 on ESPN’s second Monday night broadcast.
Cosell continued to draw criticism during Monday Night Football with one of his offhand comments during the September 5, 1983 game igniting a controversy and laying the groundwork for his departure at the end of that season.
Monday Night Football was rarely defeated in the ratings during the 1970s. One such occasion was on October 28, 1974, when the Steelers-Falcons game was outdone by a heavily-promoted episode of the CBS comedy Rhoda, in which Rhoda Morgenstern married Joe Gerard.
Nielsen numbers for the first 17 weeks of the 1998 TV season showed that Monday Night Football averaged a 13.9 rating, down 8 percent from 1997’s 15.0 - the previous standard in ratings futility.
For the 1998 season, ABC pushed Monday Night Football back an hour .
After the final contract for Monday Night Football was signed, ABC producer Roone Arledge immediately saw possibilities for the new show.
ABC Monday Night Football - The long ‘Heavy Action’ instrumental version used when introducing the teams.
Monday Night Football has enjoyed success throughout its 36-year run. Teams are selected for MNF games based partially on their success during the previous season, rewarding the best teams and biggest stars.
Beginning in 1999, Monday Night Football telecasts used a computer-generated yellow line to mark where a team needs to get a first down.
In 1998, Lesley Visser became the first female commentator on Monday Night Football. She had been the first female beat writer in the NFL when she covered the New England Patriots for the Boston Globe in the mid-1970s, and was the first and only woman to handle a Super Bowl Trophy presentation when she was a sportscaster with CBS.
The former New York Giant had been an NFL announcer for CBS during the 1960s but never a play-by-play man prior to joining Monday Night Football. In that capacity for Monday Night Football from 1971 - 1985, Gifford was often criticized for his see-no-evil approach in regard to discussing the NFL, earning him the dubious nickname “Faultless Frank.”
During that season, the Miami Dolphins again made Monday night history with the biggest blowout in Monday Night Football history in a 45-3 rout of the then 10-1 New York Jets. In 1986, when Al Michaels became unavailable because he was calling Major League Baseball’s League Championship Series, Frank Gifford moved up into the play-by-play spot while Lynn Swann filled-in as the color commentator.
The MNF crew of Michaels, Gifford and Dierdorf made a cameo appearance in the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire, during the fictional Monday Night Football game in the film.
Monday Night Football is a live television broadcast of the National Football League.
In 1974, Lennon had appeared in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth and was briefly interviewed by Cosell.
Monday Night Football can also be seen in Canada on TSN, in most of Europe on NASN, on Five and Sky Sports in the UK and in some regions of the world outside the U.S. on ESPN International.
One of the trademarks of Monday Night Football is a music cue used during the opening teasers of each program, a Johnny Pearson composition entitled ” Heavy Action “, originally theme music for the BBC’s Superstars series.
Monday Night Football and its surrounding shoulder programming are the most profitable franchise on cable television.
Since its inception Monday Night Football has also been carried on national radio networks.
ESPN’s Monday Night Football now accounts for eight of the ten biggest cable audiences in history.
The largest win in Monday Night Football was on December 19, 2005 when the Baltimore Ravens beat the Green Bay Packers 48-3.
One of the best remembered moments in Monday Night Football history occurred on December 8, 1980, yet had nothing to do with the game or football in general.
On ABC, the demand to broadcast Monday Night Football games live across the United States was difficult to reconcile with other primetime programming, which is usually set to begin at a certain local time regardless of time zone.
The first regular season Monday Night Football game to air on ESPN was on September 11, 2006.
ESPN had begun using it first. NBC will air Sunday Night Football starting in the fall of 2006.
The baby of the late ABC Sports executive Roone Arledge, ABC’s Monday Night Football became appointment television.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Monday Night Football”.
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Below you will find the 2008 Monday Night Football Schedule as well as a link to each teams full season football schedule.
If there are any changes to the Monday Night Football Schedule we will keep you up to date right here on our website.
If you are looking for lines, odds and scores for the monday night football games take a look at our right side navagation bar and you will find the links you need. Be sure to check out our individual team schedules for both College College and NFL NFL that include results from each game.
In two seasons on ESPN, Monday Night Football has registered nine of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history, led by the New England Patriots-Baltimore Ravens telecast , which attracted cable’s largest audience ever .
New Orleans, also a division game, has been on the Monday night schedule for three years in a row.
The season would serve as a study in contrasts as one of the most exciting Monday night games ever was followed the next week by one of the most badly-played in the run of the series.
To avoid any scheduling unfairness, there is no Monday night game during the final week of the regular season.
Prior to 1978, there would be one “bye week” per season in which no Monday night game would be scheduled or televised.
Starting in 2006, ESPN began airing the Monday night games and NBC got ESPN’s Sunday night package.
Two games are played on the opening Monday night to capitalize on fan interest during “Kickoff Weekend”.
Undaunted, Rozelle decided to experiment with the concept of playing on Monday night, scheduling the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions for a game on September 28, 1964.
Pieces of the sequence were shot around an actual Monday night game between the Cardinals and the Cowboys in 1995.
There have been a few occasions when two Monday night games were played simultaneously.
During subsequent negotiations on a television contract that would begin in 1970, Rozelle concentrated on signing a weekly Monday night deal with one of the three major networks. In their place the following year came veteran broadcaster Al Michaels, who had previously anchored ABC’s pregame coverage of Super Bowl XIX and had been since 1983 the lead play-by-play announcer of Monday Night Baseball.
Starting in 2006 when the series moved to cable, two games are played on the opening Monday night to capitalize on fan interest during “Kickoff Weekend”.
Since 2003, to avoid any scheduling unfairness where a team may have five days between games and others six before the first playoff game, there is no Monday night game during the final week of the regular season.
The Seattle Seahawks have the most Monday night shutouts with five. From 1990 until 2005, ABC’s MNF television package has included seventeen regular season games , the first two wild card playoff games , and at times, the AFC - NFC Pro Bowl.
After the 1984 season, ABC replaced Meredith with Joe Namath the following year, with the quarterback making his debut in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. For example, the MNF crew of Michaels, Gifford, and Dierdorf called the 1992 Sugar Bowl.
The November 26, 1973 contest featured a rare instance of two celebrities entering the booth, with Lennon being interviewed by Cosell and California governor Ronald Reagan speaking with Gifford, with Reagan explaining the rules of American football to Lennon as the game went along.
In 1971, Gifford became available and Arledge brought him to ABC, replacing Jackson .
Pacific Standard Time , leaving little or no time for additional network programming on Monday.
Speculation was that had Rozelle signed with Hughes, many ABC affiliates would have pre-empted the network’s Monday lineup in favor of the games, severely damaging potential ratings.
For that reason, NBC gained rights to the Thursday night season opening game, the wild card doubleheader that has traditionally aired on ABC, as well as a share of the rotating rights to the Super Bowl .
ABC replaced the telecast with an opening weekend Thursday night game, and in exchange ESPN got a Saturday night game on the final weekend.
From 1974 - 77, a Saturday night game was scheduled for week 14 and televised live by ABC.
An early bid in 1964 to play on Friday nights was soundly defeated, with critics charging that such telecasts would damage the attendance at high school games.
The Sunday night game now will be the “showcase” game of the week on the NFL schedule.
Monday Night Football Schedule - 2008 Printable Monday night football schedule
