Police Work, Politics and World Affairs, Football and the ongoing search for great Scotch Whiskey!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Turn out the lights, the party's over...Rest In Peace Don Meredith Dies of Brain Hemorrhage at 72

For any football fan in the 1970s, Monday Night Football was like the silver lining to the cloud of the beginning of the work week. Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Frank Gifford were superb in making it more than a game...making it an obsession and the reason you stayed home on Monday night and watched TV instead of going out with your friends.





Former Cowboys Quarterback Don Meredith Dies of Brain Hemorrhage at 72 - FoxNews.com


 If you haven't seen it watch Monday Night Mayhem (2002) showing the conception of the series and how it worked until Cosell left. As they were getting ready for the premier there was a practice session with a taped game and it was an absolute disaster. Their timing was wrong, they didn't really know when to talk or be silent. Next scene the Meredith is walking on the sidewalk in the pouring rain, head down with his cowboy hat, completely depressed. A limo pulls up and a hand comes from the back window with a glass.

Meredith asks "What's this?"

Cosell answers with that famous nasal voice "Scotch...and water!"

Cosell gets him back, talked him out of his despair and finished up with a great quote. “You’ve seen a cowboy movie before Don…you wear the white hat, I’ll wear the black one!”

The rest is history.

MNF, like Saturday Night Live is still entertaining but it doesn’t push the envelope like the original does. No one ever beats an original and Dandy Don was one, and a great one. Here he is with his signature song when his number 18 was retired by SMU a few years ago.






Rest in Peace Don…another great one goes. You will be missed.
SANTA FE, N.M. -- Don Meredith, one of the most recognizable figures of the early Dallas Cowboys and an original member of ABC's "Monday Night Football" broadcast team, died Sunday. He was 72.


Meredith's wife, Susan, told The Associated Press on Monday her husband died in Santa Fe after suffering a brain hemorrhage and lapsing into a coma....

Meredith played for the Cowboys from 1960-1968, becoming the starting quarterback in 1965. While he never led the Cowboys to the Super Bowl, Meredith was one of the franchise's first stars.


Over his nine-year career, Meredith threw for 17,199 yards and 111 touchdowns. He retired unexpectedly before the 1969 season.


Just two years after retiring from football, Meredith joined Keith Jackson and Howard Cosell in the broadcast booth as part of the "Monday Night Football" crew.


He quickly became one of the most popular broadcasters in sports because of his folksy sayings and country humor.


Meredith's signature call was singing the famous Willie Nelson song "Turn Out the Lights" when it appeared a game's outcome had been determined.
...Meredith led the Cowboys to three straight division titles and to consecutive NFL Championship games in 1966 and 1967...
In 1966, Meredith guided the Cowboys to their first-ever winning season (10-3-1). He was named NFL Player of the Year after throwing a career-high 24 touchdown passes and 2,805 yards.


Meredith was one of nine Dallas players selected to the Pro Bowl that year -- the first of his two Pro Bowl years.


...Meredith and Don Perkins were the second and third players inducted to Cowboys Ring of Honor in 1976.


Meredith was one of the first athletes to make the transition from the field to the color analyst -- and the move to calling "Monday Night Football" was an easy one for him.


While on the show, Meredith was part of many memorable moments on ABC's landmark hit.
In 1970, Meredith was in the booth for the St. Louis Cardinals' 38-0 whitewashing of his former team. The Cotton Bowl crowd late in began chanting "We want Meredith!"


Meredith quipped, "No way you're getting me down there."


Another famous Meredith moment occurred in 1974 at the Houston Astrodome. The Oakland Raiders were in the process of beating the Houston Oilers 34-0.


A cameraman had a shot of a disgruntled Oilers fan, who then made an obscene gesture.


Meredith said of the fan: "He thinks they're No. 1 in the nation."

No comments:

Post a Comment