Nominate Howard Cosell to Pro Football Hall of Fame

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• published: 04 Aug 2011
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The question is..... how can the Pro Football Hall of Fame write the history of the NFL without mentioning Howard Cosell? Whether revered or reviled, remembered as a hero or villain, "Cosell was just as good at creating an audience as he was at alienating it, and THAT was just what sports needed." It's time for the late Howard Cosell, devoted NFL football fans, (and surviving members of the Cosell family) to see him receive proper recognition in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in return for his contributions to the game of professional football. Director Chet Forte is quoted as saying, "Howard Cosell was Monday Night Football. Without Howard Cosell, there was no Monday Night Football." Cosell was an iconic combination of pioneering sports journalist, color commentator and broadcast legend. True sports enthusiasts remember Howard Cosell for many different reasons. To some Cosell is remembered for his notable commentary reporting directly from the Olympic Village in Munich during the "Black September" murders in 1972, for others it was covering Muhammad Ali and the world of boxing at large, and still others for Cosell's interviewing John Lennon of the Beatles during a MNF game on December 9th, 1974, and almost exactly six years later, sadly announcing Lennon's death during another MNF game on December 8th, 1980. The exciting manner with which Cosell delivered his weekly "Halftime Highlights" recap of Sunday's games from the day before is still viewed with reverence in the sports broadcasting industry today. Hollywood actors and actresses, governors, and Presidents would seek out Cosell in the ABC broadcast booth just for an interview. Who else but Cosell had interviews with the great NFL players and coaches like Roger Staubach, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Fran Tarkenton, Franco Harris, O.J. Simpson, Don Shula, Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and many others. The award for Howard Cosell should be the "Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award" http://howard-cosell-pete-rozelle-award.blogspot.com/ It was over thirty years ago that John Lennon of the Beatles rock band was shot dead in front of his Manhattan apartment on December 8th, 1980. Howard Cosell announced it at the end of the Monday Night Football game between the New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins scored on the first possession of overtime to win 16-13. "Remember, this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses," Cosell told TV viewers. "An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead ... on ... arrival. Hard to go back to the game after that news flash, which in duty bound, we have to take." --HOWARD COSELL As fans watching the game on TV listened to Howard Cosell deliver the stunning news, all they saw was Patriots kicker John Smith preparing for a field goal attempt. Meanwhile, players and fans inside the stadium were not aware of that Howard Cosell had just announced the shooting death of John Lennon on national television.