He actually disliked being called that by Howard Cosell, but he let him get away with it. He realized Howard didn’t particularly care for him, not personally, but because Howard felt the jock had no place in a broadcast booth. Of course, years later, we now know every booth should have at least one! Back when Monday Night Football started in 1970, there was no prime time football, because they felt Women controlled the airwaves and would not tune into sports. Instead, a new culture was born, and football became even more popular. Meredith was the QB for the Dallas Cowboys, America’s Team, so he was a natural for the team. Howard Cosell, well he was Howard Cosell. The ABC team wanted Frank Gifford, but the Giff was still under contract by CBS, so for the first year, Howard Cosell and Kieth “Whoa Nelly” Jackson were the team. Then they got Gifford and the first trio of Monday Night Football were set. Meredith got in trouble one night, when from Mile High Stadium in Denver, CO., he came back on the air and said ” Welcome to Mile High, I am….”, once called President Richard Nixon “Tricky Dick”, and well calling out NFL Player Fair Hooker he replied “never met one” Meredith’s most famous MNF moment though, was when he would sing “Turn out the lights…the partys over” when the game was decided.
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