1970 -HENRY VS. HOWARD: The day after the premiere of "Monday Night Football," Henry Ford II, whose Ford Motor Co. was the principal sponsor of the telecasts, called ABC Chairman Leonard Goldenson to demand that Howard Cosell be taken off the show. Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports president, secured a monthlong probation for Cosell, and, as the ratings climbed, Ford changed his mind.
1970 - A VIRULENT VIRUS: On a frigid November night in Philadelphia, Cosell tried to stay warm with the help of a jugful of vodka martinis sent up to the booth by Eagles owner Leonard Tose. He struggled to get his sentences out whole and then went white, pitched forward and threw up on Meredith's cowboy boots. Howard hailed a cab at halftime, headed home and later reported that a "virulent virus" had invaded his inner ear.1972 - THE GREAT ESCAPE GAME: In Oakland, play-by-play man Frank Gifford told viewers that Raiders wide receiver Warren Wells was flanked wide right. His booth mates were astounded because Wells was then serving time in prison, after being convicted of sexual assault. "Did Frank just say Wells was flanked out wide?" whispered Meredith. Replied Cosell: "He's flanked out wide all right! He's all the way out in San Quentin!"
1973 - THE ODD COUPLE: Even though the Monday night booth had become a hangout for celebrity visitors, Gifford was astounded one night in San Francisco when he turned around to see Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, with his arm around shaggy-haired John Lennon, explaining the finer points of American football to the bemused ex-Beatle.
1973 - TARGET COSELL: In Buffalo, Cosell announced a game flanked by FBI agents after getting a bomb threat in the mail. The man who threatened Cosell was later caught and jailed.
1976 - THE EARL OF HOUSTON: In perhaps the most exciting "Monday Night Football" game ever, rookie running back Earl Campbell rushed for 199 yards and four TDs to lead the Houston Oilers to a seesaw 35-30 victory over Bob Griese and the Miami Dolphins.
1980 - A NEWS FLASH, AND A POEM: Cosell interrupted a game in Miami with the bulletin that John Lennon had been shot and killed outside his New York apartment. Cosell put the ex-Beatle's life into perspective, spoke sensitively of knowing Lennon, then dared to quote a line from Keats. "My heart aches," he said, "and a drowsy numbness pains my sense."
1983 - HOWARD, HOW COULD YOU?: A thrilling Dallas-Washington opener was overshadowed by the furor set off by Cosell's reference to Redskins receiver Alvin Garrett as "that little monkey." Some civil rights leaders and sports writers accused Cosell of being racist, a ludicrous charge given his longtime support for black causes in sports and his friendships with Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali.
1985 - WE'RE NO. 1: In a bid to become the first team to go unbeaten since the Miami Dolphins in 1972, the Chicago Bears were upset by the Dolphins, 38-24, in a wild game that attracted 35 million viewers - the biggest "MNF" audience ever.