Monday Night Football has continued to provide entertainment as sports throughout its run. In addition to the extra cameras, the program 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 former
Beatle John Lennon, former President
Bill Clinton, and even
Kermit the Frog – were often featured during the game to "liven up" the broadcast. The December 9, 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
Frank 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 saw an even more increased reliance on the entertainment factor. Some halftime shows, featuring popular music stars, were broadcast in their entirety rather than being ignored in favor of analysis of the game by the commentators, as in previous seasons. On December 8, 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.
Monday Night Football was the first national broadcast to announce his death. An
ABC advertisement for
MNF featuring
Nicollette Sheridan of
Desperate Housewives dropping her towel in front of
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver
Terrell Owens created some controversy, including at least 1,997 complaints being sent to the
FCC and outrage from
FCC chairman
Michael Powell.
The Walt Disney Company, owner of ABC and the majority owner of ESPN, has used
Monday Night Football to promote its other properties, releasing a trailer for the 2015 film
Star Wars: The Force Awakens during one broadcast and incorporating
The Muppets into another trailer.
2000s 2006 summary For its 2006 debut on ESPN, Williams Jr. re-recorded the
MNF opening theme with an all-star jam band that included among others
Brian Setzer,
Little Richard,
Questlove,
Joe Perry,
Clarence Clemons,
Rick Nielsen,
Bootsy Collins,
Charlie Daniels, and
Steven Van Zandt. 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. That year, the tease was 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 began 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. In addition, celebrities returned in full force to the booth, though this proved to be the major criticism of 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, celebrity appearances included
NBA basketball superstar
Dwyane Wade,
Basketball Hall of Fame player
Charles Barkley,
NASCAR Cup Series driver
Jeff Gordon, comedian
Jimmy Kimmel (whose opening words to
Joe Theismann were "how's the leg?"), actor
Sylvester Stallone, film director
Spike Lee,
hip-hop artist
Jay-Z, and
MNF theme singer
Hank Williams Jr. 2007 summary ESPN scaled 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's nickname. The Syndicate's computer-generated tease was dropped and replaced by short pre-taped films focusing on a team or player in the game. Some of them have featured actor Jamie Foxx.
Joe Theismann did not return to the
MNF booth after 1 season, and was replaced by
Ron Jaworski. The guest visits continued: Barkley returned to the booth on September 17 in
Philadelphia. Other guests throughout the season 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. At the end of each game, Williams returned 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 opening sequence 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 film
Quantum of Solace, then the latest in the
James Bond series.
MNF celebrated its 600th game broadcast on October 20, 2008, in a game which the
New England Patriots defeated the
Denver Broncos, 41–7. The 39th season of
MNF ended on December 22, 2008, when the
Chicago Bears beat the
Green Bay Packers, 20–17, in overtime at home at
Soldier Field in Chicago.
2009 summary The title sequence for the 40th season of
MNF featured Hank Williams Jr. seen on the steps of a building (presumably a museum), surrounded by dancers, football fans, and statues/busts – which, along with everyone else in the scene, begin to move and dance – patterned after those at the
Pro Football Hall of Fame. 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, 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. As with 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. After that, the picture was freezeframed and the shot zoomed out to the book, which showed the freezeframed picture as part of a page. As this happened, the NFL end-of-game bumper music was played and the book closed, revealing a golden NFL logo on the back cover and 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 gave a short vignette about a memorable moment in the history of
MNF featuring one or both of the teams playing that night's game.
Tony Kornheiser did not return to the booth after 3 seasons and was replaced by former
Oakland Raiders and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach
Jon Gruden. The 40th season of
MNF ended on December 28, 2009, with the
Minnesota Vikings–
Chicago Bears game in Chicago, in which the Bears won in overtime, 36–30. The telecast ended with a vignette that featured Gifford taking a look back at highlights from the previous four decades – and the 40th season – of
MNF, after which the book closed, signifying the end of the season. The 40th season had the highest season viewership for
MNF since ESPN acquired the rights to the broadcast. This was primarily due to the buffo ratings ESPN received for airing the October 5, 2009, game which featured Favre taking on his former team, the
Green Bay Packers.
2010s 2010 summary The opening for the 2010 season was identical to that used in 2009, except for the final scenes. This time, Williams Jr. turns a wheel filled with paint, with CGI colors blasting into the air, revealing the helmets containing logos of the participating teams – which stay on top of the building. In one other minor difference, the chapter numbers in the "book" were changed from Roman to
Arabic numerals. Gifford provided new vignettes and the Parthenon scenes were repeated from the year before. The 2010 season marked Williams' 22nd as part of the telecast's 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 because of heavy rain and
lightning in the area. In the first instance, the September 13 game against the
Baltimore Ravens, it was delayed 25 minutes; the second delay, prior to the October 11 contest against the
Minnesota Vikings, lasted for 40 minutes. Prior to the September 13 game, the last ESPN telecast to encounter weather problems was on October 4, 1998 (a Sunday night) when lightning halted a game between the
Seattle Seahawks and
Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter. The first delay forced ESPN to 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's return to the Vikings. Moss played only four games for Minnesota until he was waived on November 2.
2011 summary The opening sequence for the 2011 season was set in a closed-studio setting, with Hank Williams Jr. (in his 23rd year) performing with a band with members such as Jimi K Bones from
KIX and
Blondie,
The House Jacks, and Jenny Morrison (
bass guitar), Chris King (
trumpet), Clay Lucovich (
trombone), and Florizel Dennis (
baritone saxophone) from
Orlando, Florida ska band Tef London, in front of a live audience with large video screens in the background. The end of the opening sequence featured the 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 the
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." On October 6, 2011, it was announced that Williams would no longer be singing the theme song, and that "All My Rowdy Friends" would no longer be used as its theme, as Williams still owns the song. A statement from ESPN said that the network has "decided to part ways with Hank Williams Jr. We appreciate his contributions over the past years. The success of
MNF has always been about the games and that will continue." Williams commented on the matter: "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made my decision... By pulling my opening October 3, [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."
Sean McDonough and
Joe Tessitore traded places, with McDonough taking Tessitore's place in the
college booth, and Tessitore taking McDonough's place in the
MNF booth. In addition,
Booger McFarland, who has been a college football analyst for the network since 2014, joined the
MNF team as field analyst and consultant. Finally,
rules analyst Gerald Austin left
MNF to work as an adviser to Gruden and the Raiders and was replaced by recently retired referee
Jeff Triplette.
Lisa Salters remained the sideline reporter. Also, ESPN once again scaled back to only one opening tease for the 2018 season, as the Hollywood-themed open was dropped after two seasons. "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night" featuring country music legend Hank Williams Jr., country music duo Florida Georgia Line and R&B singer Jason Derulo returned from the previous season and is once again seen just before the opening kickoff. Due to the
Thousand Oaks shooting, and the then-ongoing Northern California wildfires, the opening intro was not shown during the November 12 broadcast between Pro Bowl wide receiver
Odell Beckham Jr. and the
New York Giants and Super Bowl-winning cornerback
Richard Sherman and the
San Francisco 49ers and also, the historic
Kansas City Chiefs–
Los Angeles Rams game the following week (November 19). In the case of the latter, it was originally scheduled to be played at
Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, but was moved to the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (the Rams' home stadium at the time, which itself last hosted a
Monday Night Football game in 1985) due to the poor field conditions at the former. The game would be the highest scoring game in
MNF history, with the Rams defeating the Chiefs by a score of 54–51. In addition, ESPN also added musical performances during the halftime segment, branded as the
Genesis Halftime Show as part of a sponsorship deal. These performances typically aired at the end of the commercial-free halftime segments and, with the expectation of the Chiefs–Rams game in which there was a live performance, were typically prerecorded in various locations, usually around the city where that week's
MNF game took place.
2019 summary ESPN underwent another broadcast booth shakeup, as
Jason Witten left to return to the
Dallas Cowboys, and rules analyst
Jeff Triplette left after one season. Triplette was replaced with
John Parry, who retired after
Super Bowl LIII. Witten was not replaced, therefore making the 2019 broadcast team consist of Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Booger McFarland (color commentator) and Lisa Salters (sideline reporter). The network also brought back
Hank Williams Jr. to perform "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", which for the first time since 2011, he performed solo, as
Florida Georgia Line and
Jason Derulo all departed after two seasons. The intro to
Monday Night Football also celebrated the 50th season of the program with NFL Legends and Hall of Famers or current NFL players (Texans'
J. J. Watt for the Playoffs) saying "Are you ready for some football?" before Williams Jr. begins playing. The
Genesis Halftime Show returned for another season and continued to feature prerecorded musical performances; however they were later dropped on October 28 due to poor reception from viewers and was replaced with additional game analysis although Genesis continued to sponsor the halftime show for the remainder of the season.
2020s 2020 summary After poor reviews and major criticism, the 2020 season saw another major revamp to ESPN's booth, with
Steve Levy,
Brian Griese, and
Louis Riddick, who called one of ESPN's opening week doubleheader games the year before, replacing
Joe Tessitore and
Booger McFarland. McFarland, however, would switch places with Riddick, taking over in the studio. ESPN/ABC's lead college football commentary team of
Chris Fowler,
Kirk Herbstreit, and
Maria Taylor called the first game of the Week 1 doubleheader (as Fowler and Taylor were already in the New York area handling the
US Open (Fowler) and the
NBA Playoffs (Taylor) respectively). Fowler and Herbstreit were considered as the new MNF booth, if the
2020 college football season were to be canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. To formally celebrate the 50th anniversary of
Monday Night Football, the Las Vegas Raiders' Week 2 home opener (their first after
relocating from Oakland) was simulcast by ABC. The game also featured a special
Monday Night Megacast, hosted by
Rece Davis and Herbstreit. This alternate broadcast aired on
ESPN2, the first time it had aired an NFL game in its entirety. The Hank Williams Jr.
MNF theme was once again dropped, being replaced by a cover of
Little Richard's "
Rip It Up" by Virginia-based band Butcher Brown. As the game was postponed to October 12 due to a player testing positive for
COVID-19, the Week 5 game between the
Denver Broncos and
New England Patriots was reassigned to ESPN as the first half of a rare in-season
MNF doubleheader, with the game scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. ET kickoff. Fowler and Herbstreit were slated to return and call the game. This time, they would have been joined by
Laura Rutledge, host of
NFL Live and
SEC Nation on
SEC Network. However, the game was ultimately postponed to the following Sunday as a Week 6 game due to further positive tests. Rutledge would eventually fill in for Lisa Salters during the Week 16
MNF game in Foxborough, as Salters had been following ESPN's COVID-19 protocols. ESPN announced on November 30 that two December Monday night games, both involving the
Buffalo Bills, would be simulcast on ABC. Also announced on November 30 was the debut of the NFL Playoff Megacast, which featured alternate feeds of the
Baltimore Ravens–
Tennessee Titans matchup on ESPN2,
ESPN+, and
Freeform. The December 21 matchup between the
Pittsburgh Steelers and
Cincinnati Bengals featured the
Muppets and was themed as "Muppet Night Football." In the opening broadcast of the game,
Kermit the Frog and
Miss Piggy served as announcers from the booth while Fozzie Bear reported from the sidelines. After their appearance in the opening broadcast, the Muppets soon re-appeared with
Rowlf the Dog,
Scooter,
Gonzo,
Animal,
Beaker, the
Swedish Chef and others singing a football-themed rendition "
Carol of the Bells". As a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the segments involving the Muppets were shot with
puppeteers in front of a
green screen at home.
2021 summary For the first time since 2005, there was no season-opening doubleheader as the opening game of
Monday Night Footballs 52nd season consisted only of the
Baltimore Ravens–
Las Vegas Raiders matchup, which was aired on ESPN and simulcast on ABC,
ESPN2, and
ESPN+, as part of the network's
Megacast series. Also, Butcher Brown's cover of Little Richard's "Rip it Up" returned for the second consecutive year as the intro theme for
MNF. Like last season, two late-season games, both being NFC rivalries, were simulcast on ABC, as well as ESPN+. ABC and ESPN+ also simulcast the first ever Week 18 Saturday Doubleheader, a new addition to ESPN's schedule, which was part of the NFL expanding their regular season from 16 to 17 games, and to accommodate ESPN's new NFL media rights deal, which includes the Saturday Doubleheader, a Sunday International game for ESPN+ subscribers, more games on ABC, a Divisional playoff game, and Super Bowls LXI and LXV on ABC, along with rights for ESPN+ to simulcast every ESPN/ABC game, accommodate select games with alternate broadcasts, and flex scheduling beginning in 2023. On July 19, ESPN announced an agreement with Omaha Productions, the production company of
Peyton Manning, to produce
alternate telecasts of
Monday Night Football with Manning, his brother
Eli, and guest celebrities for ten games each season on
ESPN2 and
ESPN+, from 2021 through 2023. The Manningcast would also be a part of ESPN's first ever Monday Night Super Wild Card Megacast, which had alternate broadcasts of the game on ESPN2 and ESPN+, to accommodate the main broadcast on ESPN, ABC, and ESPN+. The success of the Manningcast's first season would lead to ESPN adding an extra year to their deal with Omaha Productions in the offseason.
2022 summary This season, ESPN will be working under a new bridge deal to transition themselves into the next television contract. The 2022 season will see ESPN+ add a Sunday International game, an exclusive
MNF game on ABC, and the continuation of the Week 18 Saturday Doubleheader. ESPN made a colossal change to the
MNF booth, the fourth change since 2015, when the network hired
Joe Buck and
Troy Aikman, who were
Fox's lead commentary team for the past 20 seasons, as the new announcers for
MNF, replacing Levy, Griese (who eventually left ESPN to become the new quarterbacks coach of the
San Francisco 49ers), and Riddick. Levy and Riddick will continue to call doubleheaders as the #2 team, with
Dan Orlovsky replacing Griese and Laura Rutledge serving as that team's sideline reporter. Butcher Brown's cover of "Rip it Up" did not return as the intro theme for MNF. Instead, a remix of "Heavy Action" was used, produced by EDM producer and DJ
Marshmello.
2023 summary For the 2023 season, ESPN aired four exclusive
MNF games on ABC (Cleveland Browns vs Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, Philadelphia Eagles vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3, Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants in Week 14, and Baltimore Ravens vs. San Francisco 49ers in Week 16). On September 18, 2023, as previously mentioned, ABC did simulcast 10 additional
MNF games that were originally slated to air only on ESPN, starting with the Week 4 game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Giants, making this the first time since 2005 in which ABC will air
Monday Night Football games all season long. During this season, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman became the NFL's longest-tenured broadcasting team surpassing Pat Summerall and John Madden. The #2 booth saw ESPN's lead college football play-by-play announcer
Chris Fowler take over for Levy with Riddick and Orlovsky. The trio called all three ESPN-exclusive games, as well as the London game (Atlanta Falcons vs. Jacksonville Jaguars) in Week 4 and one of the two Week 18 Saturday doubleheader games. The London game also featured a youth-oriented alternate broadcast on ESPN+ and
Disney+, using the league's player tracking data to render a live animated version of the game portrayed by characters from the
Toy Story franchise. This was the first year in which flex scheduling would now apply to
MNF games between Weeks 12 and 17, enabling ESPN to select more viable matchups in later weeks of the season. On November 30, 2023, the Week 15 matchup between the
Kansas City Chiefs at the
New England Patriots was flexed out of Monday Night Football in favor of the
Philadelphia Eagles at the
Seattle Seahawks.
2024 summary For the 2024 season, ESPN originally reduced the amount of ABC simulcasts to four, but maintained the three exclusive
MNF games on ABC (Washington Commanders vs Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, Seattle Seahawks vs Detroit Lions in Week 4, and Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings in Week 15). In addition, in lieu of a London game, ESPN+'s exclusive game will air on a Monday night in Week 7, with the Los Angeles Chargers facing the Arizona Cardinals. It will be the first MNF game that ESPN+ exclusively streams. On October 11, ESPN announced that four more ABC simulcasts were added to the schedule. This is the second year in which flex scheduling applies to
MNF games. Games between Weeks 12 and 17 enable ESPN to select more viable matchups in later weeks of the season, though ESPN waived Week 12 due to the lead time involving pre-production elements for
The Simpsons Funday Football broadcast. ==Music==