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What if Monday Night Football had never existed?

It would have existed somehow, regardless; Pete Rozelle would have syndicated it, if nothing else. But would it have been as big a deal? What about Howard Cosell, whose career was made by the show? Would he have become the icon he did? Could a syndicated version have led to the demise of the ABC Television Network? Most of the stations Rozelle targeted for a syndicated version were ABC affiliates who might have been willing to dump network programming for the NFL.

My personal guess is that CBS and NBC would have been persuaded somehow to split the package along conference lines, with CBS taking the NFC games (including interconference games in AFC stadiums) and NBC taking the AFC games (including interconference games in NFC stadiums). Frank Gifford, who was already with CBS, would have stayed there, perhaps as part of a three-man booth with Ray Scott and Pat Summerall (the number-one CBS broadcast team in 1970) on Monday nights. Don Meredith, Gifford's close friend, would have also joined CBS as an analyst, although he might not have become the star that he did at ABC. Keith Jackson, MNF's original play-by-play announcer, would have remained at ABC and done college football, the sport that made him famous. As for Humble Howard, he would have had to content himself with riding Muhammad Ali's coattails.

Thoughts?
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