Kicking Off the Week - by Wesley Hyatt (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the complete history of Monday Night Football's 35-year run on ABC, from its inaugural 1970 season through 2005, when the network announced that its longest-running series would move to cable. Chapters cover Monday Night Football's inception, its many lineup changes in the announcers' booth, how it influenced sports coverage on other networks, and the relationship between the NFL and ABC. Appendices provide a list of Monday Night Football cast and crew and seasonal ratings.

Book Synopsis

This is the complete history of Monday Night Football's 35-year run on ABC, from its inaugural 1970 season through 2005, when the network announced that its longest-running series would move to cable. Chapters cover Monday Night Football's inception, its many lineup changes in the announcers' booth, how it influenced sports coverage on other networks, and the relationship between the NFL and ABC. Appendices provide a list of Monday Night Football cast and crew and seasonal ratings.

Review Quotes

"the book adds a great deal to our understanding of the influence of Pete Rozelle, television, Howard Cosell, and even Richard Nixon on the rise and peak of interest in professional football"-Journal of Sport History; "thirty-five years of football and how the ABC program featured the game are the focus here"-Communication Booknotes Quarterly.

About the Author

Wesley Hyatt, a senior writer with MMI Public Relations, has also served as a television historian and consultant for several media sources. He is the author of several McFarland titles and lives in Durham, North Carolina.