I’m continuing with the NFL opens with the first cable partner for the league. Being awarded rights to eight Sunday Night games in 1987, ESPN has been a fixture with the NFL ever since, gaining full season rights in 1998 after TNT had the first half of the season, then taking over Monday Night Football from ABC in 2005.
Surprisingly, I don’t find too many videos. I guess ESPN has removed them from YouTube, but the ones I do have, I will definitely pass along.
This intro is from 1989, the second year of ESPN’s foray into the NFL. After using Mike Patrick, Roy Firestone and a series of guest analysts, ESPN tapped Joe Theismann from CBS Sports and continued to use him until 2006. Here’s Mike and Joe doing the Dallas-Washington game from the old RFK Stadium.
This is the opening to the very first ESPN Monday Night Football game, a doubleheader as a matter of fact. Try to figure out what ESPN was trying to do here.
Here’s the intro from the Redskins-Eagles from last year. Hank Williams and his all star band is in this one.
One can’t forget about NFL Primetime which has yet to be equaled by NBC’s Football Night in America. This is from September 27, 1992 when Brett Favre made his first start for Green Bay.
And don’t even ask me to find NFL on TNT videos because there aren’t any. If you do want to check the last three weeks for ABC Monday Night Football opens, NFL on NBC videos and NFL on CBS, feel free to do so.
