47 years ago tonight...

[74_75_78_79_]

Namath's Jets at Cleveland in a game that wouldn't be on a Sunday yet alone during the day nor early evening! No, not the first of its kind, but the first of a weekly, yearly tradition still going strong to this day!

Any thoughts or memories of having actually seen it at the time? Anyone think it was odd for there to be a Monday night game? Think it would last? Thinking of that Odd Couple ep - two women complaining to Felix and Oscar about how there's already college on a Sat, pros on Sun, and now yet "another" pro game on Monday Night (just wait until Thursdays).

[rhickok1109]

Namath's Jets at Cleveland in a game that wouldn't be on a Sunday yet alone during the day nor early evening! No, not the first of its kind, but the first of a weekly, yearly tradition still going strong to this day!

Any thoughts or memories of having actually seen it at the time? Anyone think it was odd for there to be a Monday night game? Think it would last? Thinking of that Odd Couple ep - two women complaining to Felix and Oscar about how there's already college on a Sat, pros on Sun, and now yet "another" pro game on Monday Night (just wait until Thursdays).

I vaguely remember... not much about the game but thinking how terrible Cosell was, a guy who knew little about football and talked as if he knew everything about it. Feeling that Keith Jackson was oddly out of place in that booth. (But Gifford, who replaced him the following season, was absurdly bad as a play-by-play man. "It's first and 10 at the 22 and Sanders gains 7 yards to the 28, bring up second and four.")

It got to where I just turned off the sound.

[BD Sullivan]

Namath's Jets at Cleveland in a game that wouldn't be on a Sunday yet alone during the day nor early evening! No, not the first of its kind, but the first of a weekly, yearly tradition still going strong to this day!

Any thoughts or memories of having actually seen it at the time? Anyone think it was odd for there to be a Monday night game? Think it would last? Thinking of that Odd Couple ep - two women complaining to Felix and Oscar about how there's already college on a Sat, pros on Sun, and now yet "another" pro game on Monday Night (just wait until Thursdays).

Being in the Cleveland area, we didn't see it, which explains why that game remains the team's all-time record for single-game attendance: 85,000+. One retrospective later noted that the game was Jerry Sherk's first in the NFL and he struggled,, which caused Humble Howie to rip on him all night. Another local retrospective made the absurd claim that it wasn't shown because it wasn't sold out in time--even though it was three years before the blackout rule became law.

Ironically, Keith Jackson's only other professional "experience" (I think) had been when he portrayed a CBS play-by-play man in The Fortune Cookie, which used footage from the 10/31/65 game at Cleveland Stadium.

[JuggernautJ]

I don't remember the game but I remember the event.
We had dinner on TV trays (not at the dinner table) and watched on our Black and White TV in the living room.
I was 11 at the time.

My dad was an NFL (as opposed to AFL) man and it had been since Super Bowl III since we'd seen the Jets play.
So that was an oddity.

But we were from Pittsburgh and we were going to be (begrudgingly) an AFC family from now on... so we had to get used to seeing the Browns, Colts and Steelers play "that other league" on a weekly basis.
This was the first game we saw with an (pre-merger) "NFL" team in the AFC.

It was about this time I started rooting for the 49ers.

[JohnH19]

MNF was the coolest invention ever for this budding 11 year old football geek. I remember waking up to go to school on Monday mornings with the typical blahs until I remembered that there was a game on that night. I didn't hate Mondays nearly as much during football season.

I watched the first game and clearly remember Homer Jones' KOR TD and Billy Andrews' late INT return for the game clinching score. The excitement in the Mistake by the Lake that night emanated from the stadium through television sets all over North America. The first several years of MNF were absolutely must-see TV. I don't think I missed a Monday night game until 1979. Now, TNF, SNF, and the over-saturation of sports on TV in general, have taken most, if not all, of the edge off of MNF.

[74_75_78_79_]

The Halftime Highlights of yesterday's games narrated by Cosell! Especially in a pre-ESPN/just-13-channels not so football-saturated time.

Yes, Thursday every week is too much. Same with Sunday night! I'm remembering my second season following...a Steelers@Dolphins Week #2 Thursday Nighter (actually, I'd rather forget)...Eagles@Bills the following Thurs, then that's about it (maybe there was one or two more later on - forget) and just one Sunday Nighter, Rams@Dallas, near mid-season. You appreciate it more because it's just one. Sprinkle a couple Saturdays end of year with college now done and that's good enough for me! The as-of-late Thursday "roll out the banner" Opening Night tradition I do like; I think it should have started much earlier in time. No two MNFs opening week! Not necessary at all. But bring MNF back to final week though (another thread already started).

[ChrisBabcock]

No two MNFs opening week!

I've never understood the logic behind this. Ever since NBC picked up SNF, the Monday night game has been usually a blah matchup. So why have two?

[BD Sullivan]

No two MNFs opening week!

I've never understood the logic behind this. Ever since NBC picked up SNF, the Monday night game has been usually a blah matchup. So why have two?

To squeeze more money out of a desperate ESPN, since the other game makes up for not having one on the last week.

[MIKEBENNIDICT]

Don't see the fuss.

Someone probably felt MNF was too much.