Dennis Miller Debuts as NFL Commentator
C A N T O N, Ohio, July 31 -- For Monday Night Football, the buzz has turned to quip-filled reality.
Producer Don Ohlmeyer hired standup comic Dennis Miller to shake up the broadcast booth tonight, and the Saturday Night Live alum was there withplay-by-play man Al Michaels and new analyst Dan Fouts. At the Hall of Fame game, the teams on the field, the San Francisco 49ers and the New EnglandPatriots, were also intent on better seasons.
Miller, known for long “rants” on his weekly HBO comedyshow, said he didn’t plan on dominating the broadcast, but he did get off to a fast sardonic start.
“I do know football reasonably well. I know well enough that Ididn’t play the game,” Miller said. “So therefore I would deferon most things to people who had the guts to play it. I watch it asmuch as anybody and I can bring a little humor, hopefully. I justwant to make it entertainment to some extent.”
Judging by the laughing reactions of his colleagues in the broadcast booth, he had a decent chance of succeeding.
“Al, if there’s anybody in this stadium more pumped up than me they wouldn’t pass the league’s standardized drug test,” Miller told a chuckling Michaels during the game’s opening remarks.
Making Football Into ‘Entertainment’
MNF’s Nielsen ratingshave gone down each of the past five seasons.
Michaels, before the game, said the MNF crew, like any young team, will need timeto grow.
“Everybody will make a certain judgment after five or 10minutes of the game and that’s going to be unfair,” Michaels said.“I think over the course of the season it will get better andbetter, it’ll get smoother and smoother.”
The kickoff was moved up an hour to 7 p.m. so the game would notconflict with the network’s coverage of the opening night of theRepublican National Convention in Philadelphia. During brief intermissions during the game, Michaels exchanged comments about the convention with ABCNEWS anchor Peter Jennings.
Related Stories
ABC News Live