Dennis Miller Debuts as NFL Commentator

C A N T O N, Ohio, July 31, 2000 -- 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.

Game Concludes Weekend’s Festivities

The game concluded a weekend of festivities. More than 100members of the Hall were on hand for a reunion. They were joined byJoe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Howie Long, Dan Rooney and Dave Wilcox,all inducted into the Hall on Saturday.

The debut of Miller — who paid tribute to the sacrifices to their bodies that players made to become Hall-of-Famers — adds some spice to a game pitting a pair of teamsthat missed the playoffs last year.

San Francisco went 4-12 and finished a distant fourth in the NFCWest behind Super Bowl champion St. Louis. New England was 8-8 andtied the New York Jets for fourth place in the AFC East.

Tonight, the Patriots won the exhibition game, 20-0. Kevin Faulk, a second-year back, set up a field goal with a punt return, then turneda short pass into a 25-yard touchdown.

Patriots’ quarterback Drew Bledsoe started the first series, but other players soon were taking the snap. New England coach Bill Belichick said hewanted to take a long look at young backups Tom Brady, a rookie outof Michigan, and second-year player Michael Bishop. In addition to throwing the TD pass to Faulk, Bishop also scoredon a 22-yard run.

Bledsoe also won’t play much in the Patriots’ second exhibitiongame against Detroit. The Patriots plan to save him until veteranoffensive linemen Bruce Armstrong and Max Lane fully recover fromknee injuries and several young prospects gain experience.

“I’d be happy with two preseason games. I’d be ready to go,” Bledsoe said. “Five preseason games is a lot and I don’t feel Ineed to play all those games to be ready for the season. So I’llsee a little bit of time in the first two and then we’ll pick it upfor the last three.”

Rebuilding Process for 49ers

The 49ers were also sorting out their quarterback situation,because Steve Young retired.

Jeff Garcia, who started 10 games filling in for Young lastyear, was ready at quarterback along with Rick Mirer.

Young’s 37-year-old batterymate, Jerry Rice, returned for anotherseason, saying he wanted to be around to teach younger players of the 49ers winning ways

The 49ers face bigger questions on defense, where they rankedlast in the NFL a year ago.

Belichick, who replaced Pete Carroll in the off season, will becoaching his first game with the Patriots — and was expected to geta strong reaction from partisan Ohio fans. Belichick coached theCleveland Browns from 1991 to 1995 and was there when owner ArtModell moved the franchise to Baltimore after the ’95 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.