Since it first aired on ABC on September 21, 1970 — Joe Namath and the New York Jets taking on the Cleveland Browns at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium — the powers who run Monday Night Football have occasionally opted for an unconventional broadcasting team. Most famously, the network hired Howard Cosell for its inaugural voyage despite Cosell having no experience as an NFL player or coach — and mostly being known nationally for his coverage and reporting of Muhammad Ali. In 2000, ABC brought on the comedian Dennis Miller to work with Al Michaels and Dan Fouts. It was a short gig. Six years later, with the package moving from ABC to ESPN and the NFL’s showcase game becoming Sunday Night Football, Tony Kornheiser, a writer-turned-television pundit, was hired as one of the analysts alongside Joe Theismann and then Ron Jaworski.



The last 10 years of Monday Night Football have been conventional and mostly stable. Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden worked as a...