Monday Night Football

Monday Night Football (MNF) is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From 1970 to 2005 it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series (that aired under various titles, including The Wonderful World of Disney), one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series ever, and one of the highest-rated, particularly among male viewers.

Monday Night Football can also be seen in Canada on TSN and RIS, and in most of Europe on ESPN America. On 29 March 2010 it was announced that MNF would be shown on ESPN UK, in most of Australia on ESPN Australia, in Portugal on SportTV 3 and SportTV HD and on TV 2 Sport in Denmark, and in some regions of the world outside the U.S. on ESPN International. A Spanish language version airs on ESPN Deportes in the U.S. and on ESPN International in Latin America. The games are also made available on regular over-the-air television stations in each participating team's local market so that households without cable television can still see the telecast. Is also available in Portoguese on the ESPN Brazil.

As of December 26, 2011, the Monday Night Football franchise had aired a total of 659 games.

On September 8, 2011 the first day of the 2011 regular season, ESPN extended its contract for Monday Night Football for another eight seasons, giving it rights to the broadcasts until 2021. The new deal, valued between $14.2 billion and $15.2 billion, also gives them rights to expanded highlights, international and digital rights, and possibly a Wildcard game. Cable television operators condemned the new contract, noting that ESPN has the highest retransmission consent fees of any national cable television channel, nearly five times higher than the nearest competitor (TNT), and raises fees on an annual basis.

Overview

After 42 years, there now have been a total of 730 games televised by the Monday Night Football franchise.

Scheduling problems

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. From 2003 until 2005, one game was played on Thursday and another Monday under the Monday Night Football banner. 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".

Monday night games early in the season are often highly anticipated since records are new, teams usually are showcasing fresh talent and potential, and storylines coming into the season are often played out as fans try to see if these hyped teams are up to form. Since no one knows during the first month of the season if a team is indeed good, or will rebound from a difficult start, interest is usually high for the first few weeks of the MNF season.

Unfortunately, since the MNF schedule is set in April and cannot be changed, the league and network cannot guarantee a late season match up will have any significance or be highly anticipated. Teams thought to be good during the off-season could be out of playoff contention by mid-season (a prime example occurring in 1999, when the 49ers and Falcons both entered the season's final MNF game with 4–11 records. It had seemed like a good pre-season matchup since the Falcons had played in the previous season's Super Bowl and the 49ers coming into the '99 season had posted 16 consecutive 10-win seasons). It is also possible for a team like the 1999 St. Louis Rams not to be scheduled for a Monday night game because of its dismal record the year before, and many other NFL teams (such as the 2004 Chargers with zero primetime games) have had huge unforeseen turnarounds that result in lack of MNF attention (these teams generally receive multiple MNF spots the year after their breakout success, which is great for viewers if those teams continue to play well, and not so great if they return to mediocrity or worse). However, the forecasting abilities of the NFL's schedule-makers have generally been proficient over the years, resulting in most late-season MNF games featuring at least one team that is either headed to the playoffs or needs to win the MNF game to clinch/get closer to a playoff spot.

The problem of having a national spotlight game which during the season's most critical weeks late in the year probably would not show the most important game of the week was long known by the league and network. As a result of this, the league wished to move the "Game of the Week" idea to Sunday nights as to make flex scheduling possible. This was a move which would ultimately mean the end of Monday Night Football on ABC. (Cable games are protected from the NFL's flexible scheduling rule adopted for the 2006–07 season. The new rule applies only to CBS, Fox, and NBC's Sunday night games.)

Franchises with the most appearances

The franchise with the most Monday night appearances is the Miami Dolphins, followed by the Dallas Cowboys, who have the most victories on Monday night.

The most common Monday Night Football pairings are Broncos vs. Raiders (matched up 17 times as of the start September 12, 2011), and Cowboys vs. Redskins (matched up 15 times as of September 27, 2011 season).

The show as entertainment

Monday Night Football has continued to provide as much entertainment as sports throughout its run. In addition to the extra cameras, the show has also pioneered technological broadcast innovations, such as the use of enhanced slow motion replays and computerized graphics.

Celebrity guests, such as former Vice President Spiro Agnew, singers Plácido Domingo and John Lennon (formerly of The Beatles), President Bill Clinton, and even Kermit the Frog, were often featured during the game to "liven up" the broadcast. The December 9, 1974 contest featured a rare instance of two celebrities entering the booth, with Lennon being interviewed by Howard Cosell and California governor Ronald Reagan speaking with Gifford, with Reagan explaining the rules of American football (off-camera) to Lennon as the game went along. However, the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade) saw an even more increased reliance on the entertainment factor. Some halftime shows, featuring popular music stars, were broadcast in full rather than being ignored in favor of analysis of the game by the commentators, as in previous seasons.

Hank Williams, Jr. reworked his country music hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" to be included in the telecast's introduction as "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night". (The original introduction music was an organ-based piece called "Score", written by Charles Fox and recorded by Bob's Band.) In addition, Edd Kalehoff modernized the classic "Heavy Action" theme in 1989. It was Williams, Jr. who literally had the last word on ABC's last broadcast, with his rendition of Don Meredith's famous line, "Turn Out the Lights, The Party's Over", shown as the broadcast ended. On October 23, 2006, Hank Williams Jr. shouted the catchphrase, live, on top of the "Cowboy star" at the 50-yard line of Texas Stadium before kickoff of the Dallas Cowboys game that evening.

In December 1980, one of the most memorable moments of MNF occurred when Cosell announced in a news flash that John Lennon had been shot and killed in New York City.

The program's affiliation with ABC/ESPN also resulted in numerous promotional crossovers between MNF and other ABC/ESPN programs.

2006 summary

For its 2006 debut on ESPN, Williams, Jr. re-recorded the MNF opening theme with an all-star jam band that included Brian Setzer, Little Richard, Quest Love, Joe Perry, Clarence Clemons, Rick Nielsen, Bootsy Collins, Charlie Daniels, Steven Van Zandt and others. The 2006 telecast generally began with a cinematic tease produced by Rico Labbe, Michael Sciallis and Jason Jobes. It was during one of these teases that Barack Obama spoofed his announcement for the 2008 Presidential candidacy in favor of his hometown Chicago Bears in their game against the St. Louis Rams.

The tease is followed by the show open produced by Los Angeles-based The Syndicate called Transformation. It features computer-generated imagery showing a city being transformed into a football stadium and passers-by on the street turning into players, coaches, fans, and officials set to an updated orchestral treatment of the "Heavy Action" theme song. The sequence begins every week with a different celebrity walking down the street, picking up a glowing football helmet with the ESPN logo on the side and saying, "I'm ready for some football! Are you?", thus beginning the transformation process. Celebrities for 2006 included Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matthew Fox, Hugh Hefner, Paris Hilton, Spike Lee, Ashton Kutcher, Samuel L. Jackson, Ludacris, Jack Black, Kiefer Sutherland, James Belushi, Ben Stiller, Tyra Banks, Carmen Electra and Eva Longoria.

Also, the stars returned in full force to the booth, though this proved to be the major criticism of the ESPN's first MNF season. On the opening weekend, Arnold Schwarzenegger, another celebrity turned California governor, was in the booth at McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, California; before that, Jamie Foxx appeared at FeDexField in suburban Washington, D.C. Following them have included NBA basketball superstar Dwyane Wade, Basketball Hall of Fame player Charles Barkley, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon, comedian Jimmy Kimmel (whose opening words to Joe Theismann were "how's the leg?"), actor Sylvester Stallone, director Spike Lee, hip hop artist Jay-Z, and MNF theme singer Hank Williams, Jr.

2007 summary

ESPN cut back to only one opening tease for the 2007 season. Williams Jr. and the all-star band returned, only this time they played in a "juke joint" set on a country road. The lead singer arrives in a GMC Yukon truck (GMC paid for product placement) with the license plate "BOCEPHUS", which is Williams' nickname. The Syndicate's computer-generated tease was removed and replaced by short pre-taped films focusing on a team or player in the game. Some of them have featured actor Jamie Foxx.

The guest visits continued: Barkley returned to the booth on September 17 in Philadelphia. Other guests throughout the season have included Kimmel (another returnee), Drew Carey, Miley Cyrus, Russell Crowe, and Terry Bradshaw. In addition, Gordon was a halftime guest on the game just before the season-ending Ford 400 and was joined by teammate Jimmie Johnson.

When the game ends, Williams returns to say, "See you in (city that is the site of the next week's game)." Both the open and close contain helmets of the participating teams, organized in the style of a concert poster.

2008 summary

Despite the de-emphasis on entertainment on the overall telecast, ESPN did bring back Hank Williams, Jr. for his 20th season as part of the opening. This time, the open was set in a private residence. At the end of the song, Williams Jr. touched a foot pump which supposedly contained the helmets of that night's participating teams. The helmets were launched from the home toward the stadium at which the game was held. Through computer-generated imagery, the helmets "land" at midfield during a live shot, and then explode. The "exploding helmets" gimmick was also used at various times in the 1980s and 1990s during the pre-game tease. Williams Jr. then appeared again at the end of the game to promote the next week's matchup.

ESPN also continued to promote upcoming albums through its use in bumper music. On September 29 (Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers), ESPN used "Another Way to Die", a duet between Alicia Keys and Jack White of the White Stripes. The song was part of the soundtrack for the 2008 movie Quantum of Solace, the latest in the James Bond series.

Monday Night Football celebrated their 600th game on Monday, October 20, 2008 in a game where the New England Patriots defeated the Denver Broncos 41–7.

The 39th season of MNF ended December 22, 2008 in Chicago, when the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers, 20–17, in overtime.

2009 summary

For the 40th season of Monday Night Football, Hank Williams, Jr. is seen on the steps of a building (presumably a museum), surrounded by dancers, football fans, and statues/busts patterned after those at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The statues begin to move and dance along with everyone else in the scene.

The transition to Williams Jr. is a book, with the chapter number (in Roman numerals, sequentially with each week) and a tag line about the game to be played that night.

At the end of the song, Williams Jr. plugged in the cords, thereby launching animated "helmets" into space. The helmets were launched from the building toward the stadium at which the game was held (with the exception of October 5, 2009, when the helmets zoomed towards Brett Favre instead), passing the International Space Station. And just like the previous season as mentioned above, the helmets "land" at midfield during a live shot and then crashed into each other. Williams Jr. appeared again at the end of the telecast to promote the following week's matchup, and the book closed, signifying the end of the "chapter," or game.

The scene was filmed in the summer of 2009 at The Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee.

Before Williams Jr. appears, Frank Gifford gives a short vignette about a memorable moment in the history of Monday Night Football featuring one or both of the teams playing that night's game.

The 40th season of Monday Night Football ended December 28, 2009 with the Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears game in Chicago. The Bears defeated the Vikings in overtime, 36–30. The telecast ended with a vignette that featured Gifford taking a look back at highlights of the last 4 decades – and the 40th season – of MNF. After that, the book closed, signifying the end of the season.

2010 summary

The opening was identical to the previous season, except for the final scenes. This time, Williams Jr. turns a wheel filled with paint and then, through computer-generated imagery, colors blast into the air and the helmets containing logos of participating teams are revealed. The helmets stay on top of the building. In one other minor difference, the chapter numbers in the "book" are Arabic numerals, not Roman ones. Gifford is providing new vignettes and the Parthenon scenes are repeated from the year before. The 2010 season marked Williams' 22nd as part of the telecast open.

In an unusual coincidence, both games which had the New York Jets as a home team at New Meadowlands Stadium (now MetLife Stadium) were delayed by heavy rain and lightning. The first time, September 13 against the Baltimore Ravens, the game was delayed 25 minutes; the second delay, prior to the October 11 contest against the Minnesota Vikings, lasted for 40 minutes. Prior to the 9/13 game, the last ESPN telecast to encounter weather problems was on October 2, 1999 (a Sunday night) when lightning halted Seattle Seahawks at Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter. The first delay forced ESPN to again use ESPN2 for a game telecast, this time for the Chiefs' home opener against the San Diego Chargers. As in 2007, the broadcast was shifted to ESPN once the first game was over.

The game between the Jets and the Vikings was both Brett Favre's first game in East Rutherford since his only season there in 2008 and marked Randy Moss' return to the Vikings. Moss played only four games for Minnesota until he was waived on November 2.

2011 summary

The opening sequence was set in a closed-studio setting, with Hank Williams Jr. (in his 23rd year) performing with a band in front of a live audience with large video screens in the background. The end of the opening sequence has team logos of that night's participants transitioning into the new ESPN Monday Night Football logo before going to a live shot. On October 3, 2011, ESPN pulled the theme song after Williams appeared on a Fox News Channel program, Fox & Friends, where he compared a golf outing involving Barack Obama, John Boehner, Joe Biden, and John Kasich to "Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu."^[7][8] On October 6, 2011, it was announced that Williams will no longer be singing the theme song, and that "All My Rowdy Friends" will no longer be used as its theme, as Williams still owns the song. A statement from ESPN says that the network has "decided to part ways with Hank Williams Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of Monday Night Football has always been about the games and that will continue."^[9] Williams commented on the matter: "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made my decision... By pulling my opening October 3rd, [ESPN] stepped on the toes of the First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore me, my song, and All My Rowdy Friends are out of here. It’s been a great run."^[9] A First Amendment expert at law firm Baker Hostetler said ESPN is "a private company which does not have to use a tone-deaf politico to sing into its kickoffs."^[10]

With Suzy Kolber re-assigned to the new studio show NFL32, and Michele Tafoya having left ESPN for NBC Sunday Night Football, the sideline reporter position is a rotating one.

For the second year in a row, and third time overall, the beginning of the 10:15 p.m. ET game (Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos) was shown on ESPN2 as the game that began at 7 p.m. ET (New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins) ran past the scheduled time period.

2012 summary

Lisa Salters was named the permanent solo sideline reporter for the 2012 season. Also, color commentator Ron Jaworski is not returning to the program. Jon Gruden will be the solo color commentator.

Digital on-screen graphics

Since 1986, Monday Night Football has used a constant graphics package. Before the addition of a score bug in 1997, the only graphic that utilized this was the on-screen text, which was italicized and underlined in red. It was updated in 1994, the year the network hosted Super Bowl XXIX, when Monday Night Football was given a logo for the first time.

1997–2005

Monday Night Football began using a score bug in 1997, the second network to do so after NFL on FOX began in 1994. Prior to this, the graphics package was limited, but followed a basic "ketchup and mustard" color scheme of red and yellow. The first scorebug had the numeric scores inside a gray box and the time contained in a red capsule-shaped bug, with a special box-like font. This design was used through the 1998 season.

ABC hosted Super Bowl XXXIV for 1999, and updated their graphics package to more closely resemble those of sister station ESPN. ABC began using extended abbreviations for team names (TENN, VIKES, PACK, and FINS instead of TEN, MIN, GB, and MIA), as four-letter and five-letter abbreviations were used on ESPN coverage. The result was a larger scorebug with a more conventional font. It was slightly modified in 2000 to have a border that was more in line with the red and yellow color scheme.

Monday Night Football changed its graphics in 2002, the year the network hosted Super Bowl XXXVII. The scorebug was a solid color, with a more rounded shape, and a horizontally compressed font. ESPN's graphics were no longer similar to those of ABC's (with ESPN instead using a gray and black design with rounded corners). In 2005, the final year on ABC, Monday Night Football began using a bar on the bottom of the screen rather than a scorebug. All information was contained on a single line.

2006–present

In 2006, ABC Sports was rebranded as ESPN on ABC, and Monday Night Football was moved to ESPN. ESPN changed its entire graphics package to a red and black design, but its NBA and NFL coverage used its own design. For football, a dark gray, metallic scorebug was used and was placed in an unorthodox location; the center of the bottom of the screen. It was used from 2006 to 2007. In 2008, a new rectangular scorebar that spanned the entire screen was used.

The 2008 design was short-lived. In 2009, ESPN rebranded its network-wide graphics to a metallic design. Monday Night Football was given a new scorebar to go along with the changes; though it was not the same scorebug as ESPN's college football coverage (which would follow upon the beginning of the bowl season). It was used from 2009 to 2010. For the 2009 season only, a "40th anniversary" logo was incorporated into the bar, with the "40" displayed as if it were a yard marked on a football field's 40 yard line. It was in place of the down and distance marker when it was not being used.

Since 2011, a black, metallic scorebar has been used. The current bar is considerably larger than most scorebars including the previous one (although its sizes has varied, becoming significantly wider, yet thinner in 2012). For the first time, team logos are incorporated, placed to the left of the team's abbreviation. For ESPN's first pre-season game of 2012, the timeout indicators were also accompanied by two smaller red lamps to the right, indicating the number of play challenges remaining, but these were unexpectedly removed the following game.